Posted by SNIX on 1/27/2016 6:20:00 AM (view original):
Posted by caesari on 1/26/2016 11:43:00 PM (view original):
Posted by bjschumacher on 1/26/2016 9:31:00 PM (view original):
Saban, no way. He doesn't even come close to some other coaches in total wins. I'd say Paterno, Bowden, or Eddie Robinson.
I believe Saban is the greatest coach of all time, period. I certainly get the arguments for other coaches, but to act like Saban isn't in the same class as these other names is ludicrous.
he is 8-8 in bowl games, below .500 in the NFL and .585 winning percentage at Michigan State. A great run the last 7 years but the best of all time LOL!
Oh, good grief.
Bowl games rarely matter. If you're coaching a bunch of 4 and 5 star athletes with the mentality of winning a championship, try motivating them to play Utah in the Sugar bowl.
The NFL record is also a completely irrelevant point. He never had a capable QB at Miami and he still finished just below .500. Look at how great Pete Carroll was before he had Russell Wilson. Bill Belichick was fired from Cleveland and then not doing well with New England just before Bledsoe got injured and Brady stepped in. Now, all of the sudden both Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are geniuses. Another coach to add to that list is Ron Rivera. He was almost canned from Carolina before Cam started playing out of his mind. You aren't going to consistently win in the NFL without at least a capable QB.
The season before Saban took over Michigan State, the Spartans went 0-11. Immediately after Saban left, they fell right back into mediocrity.
Before he took over Alabama, Mike Shula, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Dubose had successfully turned the Crimson Tide into a complete tire fire. Since Saban has been at Alabama, they've played in 7 BCS/playoff games and he's only been there for 9 seasons. They've won 4 championships during that time as well.
Keep in mind that he's been doing this during an era when it's much, much more difficult to build a dynasty. 20-30 years ago, schools like Penn State, Texas, USC, Oklahoma...etc., had more scholarships than Stanford, Baylor, Auburn. I believe at one time, USC had close to 120 scholarship athletes on their team. Then, you could just simply offer a recruit a scholarship because you don't want him to play for Texas Tech. Now, everyone has 85 scholarships and even the private schools like Baylor or Duke are investing much more heavily into football than ever before. Yet, Saban has managed to double Joe Pa's titles in just nine seasons with the Tide. If that doesn't put him into the top 3 or 4 coaches in history, than that's your own personal bias.
1/27/2016 8:55 AM (edited)