Clearly, something is not right with me today. I'm affraid to say what I have to say for fear of being shunned by this community that I love. I just have to come out with it. In the post game last night and seeing him in a press conference today I have to say I like Nick Saban! I'm ashamed to say it really, but I've never seen that side of the guy before.
He was asked if he keeps any momentos or what he does with the rings and his response was, "Oh, I just keep them on the coffee table for all the recruits to see."
Then on why he keeps coaching: The reporter says why, why keep doing it? Saban responds, "Why do you do what you do? I think you should be the best at what you do. If you are a street sweeper why not sweep the street like Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel"
I can't help it, both of those comments really made me have some respect for the guy. I hope this doesn't last long, it's much easier to hate the guy than to admit that not only is he a legendary coach, but maybe he's not the devil afterall.
I don't know for sure, maybe you're drunk. Make an appointment with your local proctologist.
This is probably the best idea, odds are they'll find his head up there.
Just a life long Buckeye fan wanting to talk to other lifelong Buckeye fans. Our honor defend, we will fight to the end for OOO HIIII OOOOOO!
Rectalcrainialinversion is no laughing matter. He could sneeze and stop his heart or fart and start spewing a whole bunch of useless facts about Nick Saban and Bear Bryant!....lol
I've got to be honest, since we're on the verge of singing Kumbayah around the campfire, that I've never understood the Saban hate... There've always seemed to be a lot more hate-worthy guys out there, if you want bang for your buck.
Okay, let's stop this crazy talk before someone hears us and throws us out...
Oh, I don't know, just that little thing where he ignored a guy dying on the floor, stepped over him on the way to his office and shut the door. Maybe it's a character flaw of mine, but I don't like people who have such a lack of value and respect for another human's life.
No, clearly I'm in the wrong, you and BT are obviously the sane ones here. No reason to remember that he would let a guy die because that would somehow prove he's a hardass. Yeah, what a respectable guy.
By the way, both of those comments are stupid. The first is just a recruiting pitch, the second, well, I'd like to see him sweeping a street.
Clearly I have no idea what you're talking about.
Wow. Read this http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-57340382-10391697/former-dolphin-says-nick-saban-walked-over-convulsing-player/
(unless I'm not picking up on your sarcasm?)
Jason Taylor disputes that story though and says Saban sat along with Taylor for hours at the hospital that night.
I can honestly say that that is the first I have ever heard of that incident. I will say that I find it hard to believe that any person could be so impersonal to do what was said in that article. I would guess there is more to the story that what was written, but that is just my opinion.
This came from a recent article about Saban. It was Jason Taylor's take on the incident:
Taylor says there were some unfortunate incidents with Saban, but some are overdone. The James' incident, for instance. Most players side with fullback Heath Evans, who first told the story to South Florida radio host Jorge Sedano.
Says Taylor: "No way Nick knew how serious it was. He went to the hospital for hours (to see James) that night. I was there with him."
I'm with Oyster - if ignorance is bliss, I was the happiest clueless guy in this thread until you brought this up. Sad story, but it sounds like it's far from settled that Saban "ignored a guy dying on the floor."
Sorry to rain on your parade.
A couple telling things:
1. Most players side with Evans
2. Taylor doesn't explicitly deny that the incident of stepping over a convulsing guy on the floor happenned (unless that wasn't quoted from the original article)
So maybe it was somewhere in between, if not the uglier side of the story.
Just saw the same thing n thought the same thing great answers. Legendary coach football ties to ohio. Hopefully future browns coach? I can dream can't i
O'Deez330
stark county football
He wasn't legendary at MSU...oversigning is a hell of a drug.
He did pull off one of the biggest upsets in B1G history in my mind, when his team beat the best Buckeye team I've ever seen. Then the next year he went 9-2 and beat Notre Dame, Michigan, Penn State, and Ohio State. He was starting to get good recruits in East Lansing too. Had LSU not offered him the job who knows what happens. I expect at the time LSU offered him a nice pay raise.
I was only 7 when that happened, but it stung.
I was a senior in high school and I just sat there stunned on my couch watching the game. Couldn't believe that loss. That loss may have hurt more than Florida. I was so sure that team was going to be a champion.
Sad upvote :(
It was a bummer man. Took me 3 weeks to get over. Florida took me 2 so I know which one bothered me more...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
Florida took you two weeks? It took me....nvm, I'll let you know when i'm over it. :/
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
I was 3. I do not remember that day.
In the stadium that day...what a let down that was. Damn you Plaxico Burress!
In all honesty, Dantonio accomplished a hell of a lot more than Saban ever did at msu.
In my opinion, Saban left just as he was getting that program running. Look at his last year there. In 99, they had more wins than any Michigan State team since 60's and they were ranked higher than they had been since the 60's too. He was starting to land some really nice recruits there.
Saban's 5th year is when the Spartans were really good. It took Dantonio til 2010 to really get them going. Granted he did have a very good 2010 and 2011, but this year's team sucked. Had MSU paid him the kind of money to keep him around, who knows what he would of built up there.
He went 9-4 in his second year taking them to the Alamo Bowl with virtually no talent. Meanwhile it took Saban 5 years to get to 9 wins, plus Dantonio had back to back 11 win seasons and got jobbed not going to a bcs bowl either year. You put Dantonio at a big time job and I think he does great things.
That was the last football game I got to watch with my dad! He passed away the following weekend after Thanksgiving. He was deer hunting and shot a buck, took two steps and fell over dead. I'll never forget that game! I remember being at Damons in Delaware for the game against Texas A&M and the significance of the game. For me, they won that for my dad! That season was one of the most special for me...
Really? Just dont start throwing kisses at each other and crying. Ahhh Im just jokin. But seriously dont start crying.
That response was good, but did you see his reaction after getting doused with Gatorade. I know he's been there before, but that is supposed to be a moment of pure jubilation, and he just looked annoyed. It is that attitude that still rubs me the wrong way.
Gatorade corrodes robot parts.
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
I love his work ethic and his approach to the game. However, you dont have to be insatiable to be a great coach. He's the type of guy that nothing is ever good enough. That approach might work on 18 and 19 year old kids but sooner or later the " I want more" starts to sound like crying wolf and it has an opposite motivating effect. I'm not saying that everyone cant get better but you have to have a breather and smile every now and then. Make no mistake, he is a sad sob and I feel sorry for him!
You notice that his players rarely mention him when they are giving thanks? He seems to be the CEO of the program that isn't a guy who is close to his players.
I dislike him because I am a Dolphin fan and saw what a liar and petulant little baby he was while in Miami. His tough guy routine doesn't work with grownups. When the going got tough he quit and left the team in shambles after refuting claims vehemently that he was staying. He also insisted on total control, meaning he had the resources to assemble the team he wanted. He then bolts to the hated rival of the school he left 2 years before to coach against many of the same players he left behind. Total dick in my opinion.
urban is still my favorite
mark may wins douchebag of the year... again
Saban is like tressel with a competent O-line coach.
Tressel had an O-Line coach? Are you sure about that?
Saban is like tressel with an O-line coach.
Fixed it for you.
I just do not believe Nick Saban is 100% squeaky clean like the media paints him out to be. He's always sort of given me the same feeling as a used car salesman. Of course, I dont believe anyone is perfectly clean these days but I am seeming to think that since he is such a control freak that he is just better at getting away with stuff. And how good a coach would he be if oversigning were banned across the board? He'd be successful but not 3 titles in 4 years successful. I'm no where near ready to put him in the same conversation as Woody, Bo or Bear Bryant. That's just silly.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
I doubt Bear Bryant was squeaky clean either though, and didn't the old school guys like Bryant just sign a ton of kids to their teams?
Yes, the restrictions on scholarships were nothing close to like they are now. But that was the case for everyone also. OSU did the same thing, as did all the schools.
I just really don't think it would impact things that much. Remember Pete Carol and basically his stranglehold on the top spot at the recruiting rankings every year? Urban at Florida? I think it's laughable that people discount anything Saban's teamd do because he oversigns. He'd still be pulling in top 5 classes every year, and a coach like that with that level of talent is going to win a lot of games and titles. If Urban pulls off the victory over Saban in 2009, he would have 3 titles in 4 years to his credit too.
There is more competition now and the schools that wouldn't even get a look by a great player back then now have them on their teams so the talent is spread around. That is why the oversigning is an issue because he tosses out the ones that don't pan out and just grabs the next kid in line, where other schools honor the scholarship and lose the spot. In the old days it didn't matter because they could just sign more players to make up for the ones that didn't work out as expected.
Bryant left Kentucky and then A&M with sanctions after he left.
I have a hard time liking him because he never looks the slightest bit happy about anything...even winning another national championship:
"I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying." -Woody Hayes
Watch out Nick! That vampire is going for your neck!!!
In my opinion Urban Meyer is to:
As Nick Saban is to:
Okay, not totally but kinda. Haha.
"I'm One Bad Buckeye, and I approve this message."
I got to be honest. I was cheering for bama during the game as well. Course, that was after Brent Musberger pointed out this chick in....
Anyways, I'd thought I would share.
I also hate myself for admitting this, but I secretly kind of like Saban, too (and I don't despise Bama the way I do Florida, LSU, etc.).
A little while back, I went to an Alabama scrimmage and Saban spoke afterward. When Saban talks, he comes across as likable, not because he smiles or has a magnetic personality (obviously, he doesn't); but because Saban's terse comments are filled with coaching wisdom and because he commands authority.
In Saban's presence, you almost feel like he's the colonel in command of your regiment. An officer in that position probably wouldn't smile very often or show much levity, and yet if he's a great colonel, you'd hang on his (few) words and be drawn to his leadership qualities.
That doesn't mean that Saban is necessarily a good guy. For all I know, when a gullible sap like me is not directly under his spell, I might discover that Saban really is dirty and/or heartless. But I have no reason to assume that's true. Keep in mind that the Bama infrastructure (boosters, etc.) can take care of business just fine without including Saban in loop, if that's still going on these days (wink, wink).
Perfect analogy and a great point - people get caught up in "charisma" and often lose sight of the substance... There are a lot of really likable guys who suck and coaching.
The media oozed about Pete Carroll because they all wanted to be like him - super cool, great hair, surfer-dude attitude, blah blah blah. But, he managed to win games. On the other hand you have others with similar likability who couldn't game plan their way out of a Wal-Mart.
On the other hand, prior to his coming to Ohio State, many of us thought of Pope Urban the I as a real jerk because he's hard-nosed, no-nonsense, etc. It wasn't until this season that we saw those bursts of emotion that have helped further endear him to Buckeye Nation.
I think wins and losses definitely shape how the casual fan - and media member - view the personality of a given head coach.
I think it just mostly has to do with the fact that they are opposing coach's who just happen to be beating our beloved Buckeyes at the time!
Your analysis points me to an interesting thought/question (not to toot my own horn): you're right, the media would love for more coaches to be like Pete Carroll, because that type of personality is more fun to be around in press conferences, interviews, other media availability sessions, but also because big personalities like Carroll's are good for copy and/or ratings.
The media tends to dislike coaches with personalities and/or media approaches that remain guarded, or "close to the vest," like JT's or Saban's. However, as long as Saban is winning 5 national championships, the media will continue to promote a positive narrative on Saban because greatness (substance) is also very good for copy and/or ratings. If JT had followed up the 2002 NC with NCs in 2006 and/or 2007, the media narrative on him probably would have shifted back in a more positive direction.
As soon as the media notices weakeness, however, their pent-up animosity toward personalities like JT or Saban is unleashed because it's also very good copy and/or ratings to bring down those who were on top. Eventually, they media will go after any good story (even Pete Carroll), but the feeding frenzy will be much more vicious if the fallen great had previously made their lives more difficult by being plain vanilla or secretive in his media dealings.
That's all old hat, I know. By what I'm puzzling over is the weird similarity between the media feeding frenzies and how the NCAA seems to most aggressively go after programs right after they've started losing on the football field, as if sight of a wounded animal gives them more courage. The difference is that the NCAA doesn't care about the personalities of the coaches/programs, only that they're wounded. But that the behavioral patterns of NCAA investigations/sanctions possibly run along similar lines as the media's gets me thinking . . .
I remember one time they were talking about Saban and Rece Davis made the comment about Saban talking to one of his players and Holtz shot back that Saban doesn't "talk" to his players, he "lectures" them. So I get the impression that Holtz wasn't to fond of Saban either.
I think the media loves coaches that give them a lot of access to the program. Carroll,Saban and Urbz are media friendly, where Coach Tressel shut them out. I understand that Saban isn't warm and fuzzy, but he does allow the media in his program. I honestly think that was a huge factor in the media's venom towards Tressel.
One-hundred percent agree with this assessment.
He is from Ohio.....
-The Aristocrats!
No he's actually from West Virginia I'm pretty sure. He just went to Kent State.
"I'm One Bad Buckeye, and I approve this message."
Yeah, he's from West Virginia and went to Kent State. Most of us know this already, but he was an assitant @ OSU from 1980-1981 too.
His first head coaching job was the Toledo Rockets. While this fact is not well known most experts believe that his training at the glass bowl is the basis for his current run and that alabama is toledo south. Bama fans are required to come to Toledo once in their life and attend a mud hen game.
that was my attempt at sarcasm, hence the .....
-The Aristocrats!
I don't have to like him to acknowledge that he's great at what he does.
I think this this is similar to how I felt about Urban not too long ago. Urban was (and is) obviously one of the best coaches out there. I didn't ever want to face him, but I would be happy to have him on my side. I feel that way about Saban. It's mostly a feeling of respect, not liking. And, if we had anyone other than Urban at the helm of the Buckeyes, I would probably be a little jealous of Bama and Saban, too.
He's just monotone and lifeless/emotionless at times....I personally think he was wondering who they're going to play next year in the NC game during the post game press conference IMO.
"There's nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you."
"I love football. I think it is most wonderful game in world and I despise to lose."
Woody Hayes 1913 - 1987
Nah, he already knows.
I don't deeply have a reason to dislike a guy like Saban. To be honest I dont have much disdain for him. He just looks like a scumbag to me. Whenever I try to put into words my thoughts on Nick Saban I always come back to, "Hell, I don't know. He just looks like the kind of guy that kicks dogs."