I know why you still might like ol' Nicholas... But you are not the only one who still likes saban... There are a few others who are rational, as i believe you put it. I like him in that he is a good football coach, and if he irons out the overall political etiquette and morals, which he is doing (only time will tell) then I will continue to like him. I can't say that I miss him all that much, seeing as how Miles is 29-5 at LSU, but I still like him.
Kinda like dating one of the "Lee" sisters and winding up with "Ug"! :helmet::helmet::helmet::helmet:
Mandel went with the 'villian' angle to make a good story. But I believe that the vast majority of Tiger fans do not 'hate' Saban. We want to beat him sure. But we like beating Tubs too!
I know talking to my friends and family, most of them do not hate Saban (they are very appreciative for what he did as LSU head coach) they just want to kick his ass. The general feeling among them is that they believed Saban when he said he wanted to go to the NFL because it was his dream job, and most still believe that is was his dream job (they don't think it was just about the money). They didn't like how he handled leaving LSU, and most thought he was making a huge mistake (i.e., wrong francise to succeed in the NFL, not the same kind of control over pros than college players, etc.) but in the end they understood the man had a dream and wanted to follow it. But he abandoned that "dream" really quickly, as soon as things got tough, and that pissed a lot of people off. It pissed them off that he ran into the exact issues many of them spoke about before he ever left LSU. And the swiftness of his exit from the NFL (and the clumsy way it was handled) said a lot of things about his character to many people.
LOL WHAT DID HE DO ??? LOL He took a team that stopped playing because a coach would not let a bum play that got into trouble !! A team that had talent !! He did nothing just the same thing he is doing at Bama , taking credit for another mans work !! Someday you people have to understand Saban has done nothing he has used the work of other people ,he left LSU while he was on top !! He knew the team could only go down , That was Jerry's team !! I don't give a damn what you say !! Saban did not rebuild this LSU team !! Do not give him that credit , Do not give him the credit for this Bama Team this Bama team is Mike 's team !! Saban has not been there long enough for this to be his team !! Saban knows this !! If he says anything else he is a lair !! He is not half the Coach that Les Miles is ! You are looking at a Les Miles Team the wimpy Saban left his team , he thought when he left LSU would fall apart , it did not !! Saban is a average College coach !! That is all , he is not a great coach , in fact we know he will lead them to probation !! Don't we !! he will have the Bama players not going to class , right !! It was happening where ?? We know him !! Don't we ! We have a better Coach now ! Les Miles is no Wimpy Coach !!
Jerry's (I assume this means Gerry DiNardo) last two teams went 4-7, 3-8. Nick Saban recruited and coached all of the players that won the 2003 National Championship. This is my favorite part: "[Saban] left LSU while he was on top !! He knew the team could only go down." LSU football since Nick Saban left: 29-5.
I think the comments he made when he was first introduced as coach were to help with recruiting. He only had one month until signing day and I'm sure he wanted to plant that seed in the minds of the recruits. In his press conference yesterday he stated that those kids came to LSU because of LSU, not because of him, and that the present coaching staff has developed them over the years. That's giving some props where the should be in my opinion.
I have no personal stake whatsoever in Saban's business decisions, and that's exactly what leaving LSU and Miami were: business decisions. But I think the NFL "dream job" argument doesn't hold any more water since he bolted after two years for Bama. It was/is about money, and that's OK, especially in a college football era where ADs hand coaches their walking papers after 9-win seasons. My issue has always been how Saban handled his business in the media, swearing up and down that he had no interest in NFL/Bama/whatever, only to do the exact opposite days later. To be fair, he is far from the first coach to do this (Tubby and his Ole Miss pine box, and Meyer at Bowling Green come to mind). But to do this repeatedly suggests an integrity problem. I'll always be grateful for what he did at LSU, but I'll take CLM over Saban in a heartbeat.
