“[Saban's] got a nice little gig going, a little bit like Calipari. He tells guys, ‘Hey, three years from now, you’re going to be a first-round pick and go.’ If he wants to be the greatest coach or one of the greatest coaches in college football, to me, he has to go somewhere besides Alabama and win, because they’ve always won there at Alabama.“ –Steve Spurrier
http://www.secondlevelfootball.com/2013/01/10/bryant-and-saban/
“Fortunate enough to have ridden Secretariat?”
What a ridiculous article. There’s nothing more Saban needs to do to be an “all timer”…3 titles in 4 years, and another at LSU?
You might find 3 or 4 coaches at best with as impressive a resume, and few in such a short times span….and ALL OF THEM road a secretariat. Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame.
Bryant will never be forgotten, no matter what Saban does. Bryant never beat ND, and now Saban has, but does that mean we forget Bryant? Of course not. Bryant had 323 wins, Saban is still way short of that figure, so….Bryant’s still ahead, and not forgotten
If being better in terms of stacking up numbers against Bear Bryant is what Saban is all about, Saban is more of a shallow man that I even thought of. He’ll never do it, and he’ll have a heart attack trying. Bryant was a legend. Saban is a great coach, and may be called a legend himself one day. But they are separate animals, and you can not compare the two.
I read a biography of William O. Douglas, a Supreme Court justice who died 30-40 years ago. He said when he finished Columbia law school and took a job with a New York firm back in the 1930s, he noticed that members of his firm would die within a short time of their retirement. He attributed this to their not having any other interests than the law. When they retired they had nothing to do, so they died. Douglas said he determined that he would always have interests to hold his attention after work. He lived to be close to 90 years old IIRC–and married a young honey late in life also IIRC.
I have always tried to observe the truth of what Douglas observed. Bryant is a classic case. After he retired as Head Coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, he died withing six months. He had nothing else to do except drink.
If Saban is so driven by football and a quest to do better than Bryant, and has no other interests, then when he hangs up his cleats he will likely die soon thereafter. he is already 60-something. I hope for his sake he will find something else to fulfill his life. How many times have we all heard the old statement, “It’s only a game”?
“Egotism is the anesthetic had deadens the pain of stupidity.” Knute Rockne, ND Coach back in the 1920s. Nick, being driven to success is stupid. It does not get you into heaven.
Saban already has established his legacy: 4 – NC’s in less than a decade at 2 – different schools and 3 in 4 years @ Alabama. There are probably more coming.
However, what sets Bryant apart from Saban is his connection to Alabama’s storied past: He played on ‘bama’s 1934 NC team.
Like so many other poor southerners of the era, Bryant was inspired by the accomplishments of the 1925 and 1926 Alabama teams which won back-to-back NC’s. He grew up dreaming of playing for the ‘tide. It was an era in which the south had little else to point to to be proud of.
He also was the instrumental force in integrating the SEC. Alabama was the first SEC school to recruit and play black players.
Alabama football was in Bryant’s blood. He was no mercenary. In his biography of Bryant, “The Last Coach,” Allen Barra tells of Bryant leaving aTm for Alabama: “momma called and when momma calls, you come.”
Who knows but that Saban may win more NC’s for Alabama than Bryant but he will never displace him in the minds of the ‘tide faithful.