Insights To Nick Saban Retiring

[Bayou Tiger]

his is doubly true with the portal supplementing that talent. Just take a hit on the initial recruiting class and let the culture you built survive, then IF the recruits figure it out and enter the portal from the other school, then take the talent that fits the culture. Alabama, under Saban, should have never gotten into bidding wars over recruits. It just leaves you with a group of mercs. It's not that he was just the GOAT coach, it was Alabama had the GOAT culture. It took a coach like Saban to develop that culture and it was that culture that won him the championships. It is almost like judging kids on character issues except I am not saying it is bad character to want to make the most money. It is a bad culture though.

Yup! You did that well. I was reading some of the posts in this thread with this in mind.

When Saban came to LSU he always preached his motto to the players to never try to play "better" than their opponent but instead to simply play THEIR own personal best as often as possible and hopefully more often than whomever they may be matched against, week to week.

I think he applied that metric to himself and didn't like what it revealed.

When he announced his retirement he stated he didn't feel he had the stamina and energy he knew he would need to continue coaching at that level. No one would know that better than him.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

As much as you enjoyed Michigan doing what Georgia couldn't last year?!?! I'm sure you enjoyed watching Michigan retire Saban. The way Saban outcoached Smart this past year -- I'm thinking the least you could do is say thank you. Hopefully Smart can outcoach DeBoer, the way Harbaugh did.

Just stop. You didn't "retire Saban" ... you are trying to be cute but you aren't. As recent reports have indicated, the Bama AD knew this was Saban's last year over a year ago. The last time UGA and UM played, in the CFP, we beat you like a red headed step child and would have done so last year. Don't @ me with we lost to Bama and you beat them so you are somehow better than us ... that type of logic doesn't work in CFB, and you know it. You aren't built for sustained success, you are about to fall off the cliff when your cheating coach abandoned you for the NFL. Enjoy your NC ... you really should. You won't see another for what, 60 years?

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

It will get better than it is but there will be panic moves by Rogue Boosters that start military build-ups pretty much every year. Take 2010 if Auburn makes a run and wins a natty you will see other SEC teams start throwing money around like crazy and that scenario will happen in every conference.

This thing is too emotional for market principals to solve it.

We've already seen it with ATM ... how did that work out. I've said this dozens of times ... the next time an NIL purchased team wins the NC will be the first. Money alone can't be sustained long enough, to win. It requires years of top classes, a great coach, and a great culture which is often contra of the NIL mindset. NIL will certainly distribute the talent more ... I think we are seeing some of that already. But sustained success is not built that way.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

The term “student athlete” has been kicked around quite a bit. Major college football has been/seems to be even more and more about being a minor league or farm system for the NFL.

It would be interesting to see how many players would still take classes if they didn’t have to. Just collect their NIL and play football. Eliminate the requirement that they enroll in classes and end the charade.

I personally think a great majority of them would still choose to take classes. They know the odds of a pro career are slim. jmo

You are correct, IMO. Only 3% go to the NFL. CFB is path to a free education for most of the players.

 

[Deep Creek]

You are correct, IMO. Only 3% go to the NFL. CFB is path to a free education for most of the players.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t buy the whole “they aren’t student athletes” anymore.

I’ll be the first to admit there are many that we are wasting tuition on due to the fact they put absolutely no effort into the student part. Still, most would choose to take/attend class even if they weren’t required to.

 

[Wild Turkey]

We've already seen it with ATM ... how did that work out. I've said this dozens of times ... the next time an NIL purchased team wins the NC will be the first. Money alone can't be sustained long enough, to win. It requires years of top classes, a great coach, and a great culture which is often contra of the NIL mindset. NIL will certainly distribute the talent more ... I think we are seeing some of that already. But sustained success is not built that way.

LSU won a nattie in baseball through NIL so it’s happening.

Granted harder in football but you could definitely pull it off in most of the other sports with the exception of men’s basketball and honestly 5mm might buy you that championship with some luck.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Yeah, that’s why I don’t buy the whole “they aren’t student athletes” anymore.

I’ll be the first to admit there are many that we are wasting tuition on due to the fact they put absolutely no effort into the student part. Still, most would choose to take/attend class even if they weren’t required to.

It's funny, I think that it is in direct relation to how good your team is. The better your team, the more likely most players are there to get to the next level. Let's face it, anyone at Vanderbilt is there to be a student-athlete. Same with ISU, Iowa, Pitt, UCLA, etc. It's only the top 10-15 teams where the student-athlete moniker is probably not applicable, but even then there are probably 50% of the players what want the education, too.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

LSU won a nattie in baseball through NIL so it’s happening.

Granted harder in football but you could definitely pull it off in most of the other sports with the exception of men’s basketball and honestly 5mm might buy you that championship with some luck.

We ain't talking baseball, and you know it.

NC in football are won with (1) a great coach, (2) great high school recruiting year in and year out (see 1), (3) great culture (see 1), (4) being able to retain players, especially the 2-4 round guys who you can get to play a 4th or 5th year, and (5) use of the portal to fill in the gaps.

 

[Red_Alert]

You are correct, IMO. Only 3% go to the NFL. CFB is path to a free education for most of the players.

Is that just FBS level?

I was trying to find the answer to that a few days ago and I kept getting "1.6% of CFB players make it to the NFL".

I assumed that 1.6% includes FCS, DII, and DIII as well, so I never really did come up with an absolute answer. There are a lot of FCS, DII, and DIII teams which would dilute the total % considerably.

 

[Red_Alert]

We ain't talking baseball, and you know it.

NC in football are won with (1) a great coach, (2) great high school recruiting year in and year out (see 1), (3) great culture (see 1), (4) being able to retain players, especially the 2-4 round guys who you can get to play a 4th or 5th year, and (5) use of the portal to fill in the gaps.

^^ THIS ^^

 

[NewPhoneWhoDis]

Just stop. You didn't "retire Saban" ... you are trying to be cute but you aren't. As recent reports have indicated, the Bama AD knew this was Saban's last year over a year ago. The last time UGA and UM played, in the CFP, we beat you like a red headed step child and would have done so last year. Don't @ me with we lost to Bama and you beat them so you are somehow better than us ... that type of logic doesn't work in CFB, and you know it. You aren't built for sustained success, you are about to fall off the cliff when your cheating coach abandoned you for the NFL. Enjoy your NC ... you really should. You won't see another for what, 60 years?

Just so I have this straight -- you want to say, you would have beaten Michigan, because you beat them a few years ago, yet after you get manhandled by Bama, while Michigan beats Bama -- that means Georgia would have beat Michigan last year.

You literally say - that type of logic doesn't work in CFB, while using an even worse version of that logic just before it, by saying Georgia beat Michigan A FEW YEARS AGO, so they would have beat Michigan last year. You must be a tremendous lawyer.

Just say thank you to UM for doing what you could not do and move along.

 

[Across The Field]

Just so I have this straight -- you want to say, you would have beaten Michigan, because you beat them a few years ago, yet after you get manhandled by Bama, while Michigan beats Bama -- that means Georgia would have beat Michigan last year.

You literally say - that type of logic doesn't work in CFB, while using an even worse version of that logic just before it, by saying Georgia beat Michigan A FEW YEARS AGO, so they would have beat Michigan last year. You must be a tremendous lawyer.

Just say thank you to UM for doing what you could not do and move along.

In 2021, MSU beat michigan while Kenny Walker ran for nearly 200 on the ground. MSU then lost to OSU by 49 points, and michigan beat OSU by 15. Then again, you guys had Stallions, so maybe not a fair comparison.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Is that just FBS level?

I was trying to find the answer to that a few days ago and I kept getting "1.6% of CFB players make it to the NFL".

I assumed that 1.6% includes FCS, DII, and DIII as well, so I never really did come up with an absolute answer. There are a lot of FCS, DII, and DIII teams which would dilute the total % considerably.

I had heard some numbers in the past and just went with 3%. I know it's really low, so let's go with your number. It's really small, and outside the top programs, even smaller.

 

[Deep Creek]

It's funny, I think that it is in direct relation to how good your team is. The better your team, the more likely most players are there to get to the next level. Let's face it, anyone at Vanderbilt is there to be a student-athlete. Same with ISU, Iowa, Pitt, UCLA, etc. It's only the top 10-15 teams where the student-athlete moniker is probably not applicable, but even then there are probably 50% of the players what want the education, too.

Even for those teams I still think it is higher than 50%. Players may whine/bitch because coaches are on their asses about going to class, etc. But they still know it is best for them.

True story. Staying at the Sheraton one summer for a meeting in Austin. Got on the elevator and heard a "hold the door". Kevin Durant and another guy walk in the elevator wearing work out clothes and their slides with their shoes hung over their shoulders. This was 2-3 years into his pro career. Struck up a conversation and asked what he was doing back in Austin. He was taking summer school classes. I asked "Why?". He said his momma told him to.

 

[Deep Creek]

I had heard some numbers in the past and just went with 3%. I know it's really low, so let's go with your number. It's really small, and outside the top programs, even smaller.

Yep. We only have four currently in the NFL.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Just so I have this straight -- you want to say, you would have beaten Michigan, because you beat them a few years ago, yet after you get manhandled by Bama, while Michigan beats Bama -- that means Georgia would have beat Michigan last year.

You literally say - that type of logic doesn't work in CFB, while using an even worse version of that logic just before it, by saying Georgia beat Michigan A FEW YEARS AGO, so they would have beat Michigan last year. You must be a tremendous lawyer.

Just say thank you to UM for doing what you could not do and move along.

You are letting that one loss do a lot of work. We lost by 3 points ... we weren't manhandled. You watched a different game.

Your response is somewhat correct ... "we won, so fuck off." I get that and it is how I would respond. But you are ignorant if you don't think you dodged a bullet by not having to play us last year. Again, you won the NC, congrats, but your path was easier by not having to play UGA.

Let me show you how intelligent people look at this. I think we dodged a bullet in 2022 when Bama was eliminated from the NC conversation. They were better than any team that made the CFP that year. And, our path was easier because you guys some how lost to TCU. You would have been a far tougher opponent in the NC than TCU was. See, that's how smart people can talk about these things, understanding the reality of how things are, yet still being able to say your are the NC.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

Even for those teams I still think it is higher than 50%. Players may whine/bitch because coaches are on their asses about going to class, etc. But they still know it is best for them.

True story. Staying at the Sheraton one summer for a meeting in Austin. Got on the elevator and heard a "hold the door". Kevin Durant and another guy walk in the elevator wearing work out clothes and their slides with their shoes hung over their shoulders. This was 2-3 years into his pro career. Struck up a conversation and asked what he was doing back in Austin. He was taking summer school classes. I asked "Why?". He said his momma told him to.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of UGA players come back and get their degrees. Keith Marshall got his MBA. Roquon Smith finished his degree. And those are guys who made millions.

 

[Deep Creek]

Yeah, I've seen a lot of UGA players come back and get their degrees. Keith Marshall got his MBA. Roquon Smith finished his degree. And those are guys who made millions.

From what I understand, Joe Namath finally got his degree from Bama in the early 2000s or something like that. Said he did it to shut up his kids and grandkids that ragged him about being the only one without a degree. Don't know if true but that's what his old teammate Don Maynard told me.

 

[Across The Field]

You are letting that one loss do a lot of work. We lost by 3 points ... we weren't manhandled. You watched a different game.

Your response is somewhat correct ... "we won, so fuck off." I get that and it is how I would respond. But you are ignorant if you don't think you dodged a bullet by not having to play us last year. Again, you won the NC, congrats, but your path was easier by not having to play UGA.

Let me show you how intelligent people look at this. I think we dodged a bullet in 2022 when Bama was eliminated from the NC conversation. They were better than any team that made the CFP that year. And, our path was easier because you guys some how lost to TCU. You would have been a far tougher opponent in the NC than TCU was. See, that's how smart people can talk about these things, understanding the reality of how things are, yet still being able to say your are the NC.

OSU was able to put up 40+ on UGA, we would've easily kept up with Bama that year.

 

[WhosYourDawggy]

OSU was able to put up 40+ on UGA, we would've easily kept up with Bama that year.

Yeah, I didn't mean to denigrate tOSU ... you guys played a hell of a game and should have won. When people say it takes luck to win the NC, you can look at 2022, especially our game with you, as a great example. We dodged Bama, we beat you guys in a game where just one or two plays go differently, and we lose, and then UM lays an egg and gets beat by TCU, a team we then beat by the worst bowl margin ever (until the following year when we beat FSU by more). You have to be good - we were - but you must also have some luck. Every champ has it.