Saban may not be our Bear, but Les Miles is our Teddy Bear. Every argument for or against him that I've heard has usually started with "He's a nice guy...".
I would love to say YES but Saban simply didn't stay long enough for us to find out. After the 2003 National Championship, I think most of knew that it wouldn't be too long before he was gone. I, like many others just wished it wouldn't have been so soon. But there was no way Saban could turn down what the Dolphins were offering him. The biggest difference to me was the eras - pro football in the 60's and 70's was still a fledgling entity It was no where near the billion dollar monster it is today. So because of that Bear Bryant, who was the king of college football, was never going to leave Alabama to go to the AFL or NFL, which was arguably third in the pecking order of pro sports popularity back then. Everyone knew Saban was going to go to the NFL, it was just a matter of time. Every year he was being propositioned by NFL teams and finally got THE sweetheart deal with the Dolphins.
I think most are equally right and wrong here. From my perspective, the Bear couldn't have done what he did while at Kentucky. He did it at Alabama cause he was the right man at the right place. Saban was the right man at the right place. He would have won anywhere just like Bear but to have the success he had, LSU was the right place. Charlie Mac, what can I say: great man, did the best job he could but he was no Bear Bryant friends. The reason he got run off was he couldn't beat Bear Bryant along with others. Not many could beat Bear but you try and go and find somebody who can.....and that's what we did. LSU had the resources and he couldn't reach the top of the mountain. Dietzel was good but left to go to Army cause he thought Army would be what it always had been....a powerhouse. But when he got there and it actually happened a few years earlier, Army wasn't able to get the best players anymore. He made a big mistake that he always regretted. He thought he could just keep getting those players like Army always had but times had changed. Bill Arnsparger was closer to to the best thing we ever had than Charlie Mac. But Bill was old when he got here and didn't want to put up with the glad-handing he had to do here. But he was a manager and a hell of a coach, just like Saban. So, IMO Saban was our Bear. The best coach available at the right time hired by a guy who knew professionals, Emmerit. Bottomline. In my estimation, Emmerit was the key here. I don't think it's a coincedence that when Emmerit left, Saban left. Emmerit was as important if not more important to our success than Saban. And the reason is, if Emmerit's excellent hire Saban left, Emmerit was qualified to go and find us another one. Now, we don't have that. We're back to searching until, a.) we get lucky or b.) We get another professional like Emmerit to hire another professional like Saban.
emmert. its just local hacks pronounce it wrong so you'd think that's how its spelt. :hihi: :hihi: we need another marcus von emmert asap.
I LIKE EVERYONE (except tirk, saltyone, brett, jsracingbbf, contained chaos, sourdoughman, mystikalilusion, cparso, marinetiger, crawfish, & locoguano) So how did I get on this list?
It's actually a not so secret list of members of our new Masonic organization, the Freeposters. You and Brett still owe your dues.
