I would hate to agree with FightinTIGER...

and essentially, I don't...I believe that if you're unhappy with Nick Saban now, you should have been unhappy with him five years ago...

It's like being outraged when your girlfriend-who cheated on her ex with you and eventually left him for you-cheats on you and then leaves you for the guy she cheated on you with.

You KNEW she was capable of it...Why be surprised?

Look, no one here is saying that the PC didn't leave a little to be desired. But, when has Nick Saban ever been the type to handle the media with ease and flair? Of course LSU could have benefitted from some kind words in that farewell announcement press conference. Everyone knows that, Nick included.

But, I think we benefitted from Nick Saban just as much as Nick Saban benefitted from us. If you want my honest opinion, I think that Nick's going to have a lot of trouble at the next level, simply because he takes over a team with a decent but aging defense, and a totally inept offense, devoid of skill players. To think that in one offseason you'll bring in enough free agent talent, find a good enough offensive coordintor, while at the same time reshaping the organizational structure of the Miami Dolphins from the ground up, well, even for a man of such drive and determination as Nick Saban, the going will get rough.

What if he fails? What if Nick Saban does not win? What does it mean? I can tell you what it will mean. It will mean nothing...Because we know what he is capable of. It will mean nothing...Because the NFL is not in the hearts of any LSU fan reading this message. It will mean nothing...Because our ultimate goal is LSU, not making Nick Saban a lifer. It will mean nothing...Because LSU will move on!

Having said all of that...and having thanked Nick tremendously for the world of good he did for LSU, to LSU, and while at LSU (Thanks goes to Emmert as well), I think that he played the media, the Dolphins, and used LSU while playing us as well.

There is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure Sexton did the same thing when Nick bolted from East Lansing.

It's widely accepted that FightinTIGER's mentioning of Saban calling in reference to the Eagles GM is correct and accurate. It's also a fact that on www.collegefootballscoop.com the week before last, it seems as if Dennis Erickson had the Ole Miss job all sewed up, but mysteriously backed his name out at the last minute, allegedly because he heard the LSU job was coming open.

The pieces fit very well together...and some who don't like conjecture nor conspiracy theories won't want to hear any of this...But I do believe that Saban knew he would take this job a long, long time ago. Not years, mind you...But he has known for a significant period of time. He bandied about the "I'm changing my mind," card for political clout with Huizenga, and it worked to a charm with Blockbuster Boy...It also left some of our more vociferous fans in the lurch...

But, in reality...This is the way the game is played...He did it to Michigan State...and you had to know he was capable of doing it to us as well. We can't be angry now...Because we should have been angry in 1999...Plain and simple...

Thanks Nick...We appreciate everything...Sincerely....

 

If you think back, how many times did we hear Coach Saban say that the coaching staff did a much better job this year than they did during the National Championship year?

If he said it once he said it a thousand times. Over and over again he said something about how proud he was of the staff and the way they ACHIEVED SUCCESS WITH MUCH YOUNGER, LESS TALENTED PLAYERS.

I never understood why he kept saying this over and over again, but now it's obvious he was never talking to us.

Televised self-promotion right there under my nose time and time again and I never saw it coming...

P.S. TE, your girl told me she didn't have a boyfriend.

 

you can't tell people how they should feel or think regardless your view. everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

 

So you agree that your next head coach needs to be a mixture of Saban's guile and coaching ability, and DiNardo's posturing towards the media and fanbase?

I'd rather talk all of the former, and none of the latter, than any type of mixture in between. No one feels as if it is a gift...They feel as if we were lucky to have snagged him. We were, TIGER...We most certainly were. He rewarded us, and we rewarded him. On both sides, we achieved goals that while we secretly wished and desired for, neither honestly and truly felt possible at the outset. How could they have?

I'm sure the student section of Tiger Stadium who refused to leave after the final home game until Saban came out and spoke to them agree totally and are a case in point to justify your comment that Saban never did anything for the fans.

We were lucky to get Coach Saban. He was a gift, in a sense. We could not have asked for better...and you're confusing contexts...People often view luckiness with a sort of reverential tone. Especially when that luckiness includes two SEC Championships and two BCS Bowl Victories just down the road in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl, coupled with almost 50 victories in 5 years...

You've mellowed somewhat...and I'll give you that...But your tone at the outset was much more sour and dour...

 

Well, I guess you just need to listen to Aaron Neville's song, then, Tirk...

"Everybody Plays The Fool"

Ok, so your heart is broken/
You're sitting around mopin', mopin', mopin', cryin', cryin'/
You say you're even thinking about dying/
Well, before you do anything rash, baby, listen to this/

Everybody plays the fool, sometime/
There's no exception to the rule, listen baby/
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I ain't lying/
Everybody plays the fool/

Fallin' in love is such an easy thing to do/
But there's no guarantee that the one you love, is gonna love you/
Oh, loving eyes they cannot see a certain person could never be/
Love runs deeper than any ocean, it clouds you're mind with emotion/

Everybody plays the fool, sometime/
There's no exception to the rule, listen baby/
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I ain't lying/
Everybody plays the fool/

How can you help it, when the music starts to play/
And your ability to reason, is swept away/
Oh, heaven on earth is all you see, you're out of touch with reality/
And now you cry, but when you do, next time around someone cries for you/

Hey, everybody plays the fool, sometime/
Use your heart just like a tool, listen baby/
They never tell you so in school, I wanna say it again,/
Everybody plays the fool/

Everybody plays the fool, sometime/
There's no exception to the rule, listen baby/
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I ain't lying/
Everybody plays the fool/

Every plays the fool, sometime/
There's no exception to the rule, listen baby/
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I wanna say it again/
Everybody plays the fool/

 

no I think you need to understand people are entitled to think and feel as they wish and you shouldn't feel you are right or above them if yours differ.

 

Try this. Real simple. If you broke up with your girlfriend and tell her you want to be with someone else and will be with someone else, do you think she would let you stay around with her one more week? I think the majority of girls would say bye.

Don't think Saban should be coaching the team. He asked the same of Michigan St. and they said no way.

 

Here's the deal...I've been in the position I described metaphorically up there. I've been the guy that the girl cheated on her man with...I'm the guy she left him for...and I honestly did not express any shock when she did the same to me...It was something I figured she was capable of...

I took it in stride...Because I saw the WHOLE situation...and not just the relationship I had developed...

No one is projecting themselves above you, they're asking you to take a step back and to utilize some perspective when trying to figure out how to think or feel about the situation...

 

I had an ex of over one year show up at my grandfather's funeral, and it was merely because she thought I might need her...She found out by reading the obituaries in the paper...No one in my family-myself most decidedly-ever contacted her...

That meant a lot to me...Being there when I needed her...and I'm not trying to get too deep into the metaphors here...But LSU needs Saban for the Capital One Bowl....

 

If you are trying to tell someone to try and keep things in better perspective, say so. Don't say, "We can't be angry now" because many surely are regardless your perspective. Some have a different view on loyalty or commitment which NS often cited.

I am completely in understanding that my anger lies within the fact I know many people who trusted his word that he was committed to LSU and not interested in the NFL or other jobs as recently as 2 weeks before today. Deep down I know better.

Many are naive and I cannot fault them for that yet I feel he owed those fans a little more out of sheer respect and I will always feel that way. I was actually of the belief I would never feel that way and had prepared myself long ago about him leaving...yet the manner in which he did it, on christmas while barely acknowledging those faithful fans that I know it crushed, hurt me knowing how they felt. right or wrong, its how i feel. Personally, I know he owes me nothing....for others from the old LSU aunts and grandmas and kids who believed in him, a nicer gesture upon his exit was warranted....especially on christmas knowing the torture most fans had already endured given it was strung out so damn long.

and the only reason so many people hurt is because they truly cared for him and simply thought the same was felt in return. I think it was handled about as good as can be expected minus that one point. I still say he should address the LSU fanbase directly out of respect but that, of course, is my opinion.