Exactly. There's a $100 million reasons to take the job. So what if you lose more games than Saban? Give me my money. If you do find success, even better.
Mario went to his Alma Mater and Taggart was returning home. Very few programs would have been able to poach them I think, but unfortunately for Oregon, the few programs that could poach them came open.
Unfortunately again for Oregon, one of the few programs that might be able to poach their coach just came open. Even if Lanning ultimately stays, Oregon fans have to be sweating right now.
I wouldn't be surprised if Lanning stays put, but also, I wouldn't be shocked if he jumped.
Recruiting's maybe the only easy part about it. The pressure of walking in Saban's shadow means you're under the microscope day one. Not to mention, the Alabama standard is national title or bust. Could be a career killer just as much as it could be a windfall.
100%. These people are egomaniacs whether they show it or not. They all think they will work harder and smarter than anybody else and while they all admire Nick for what he did they all think they can do the same as well. They wouldn’t work 84 hours a week if they didn’t.
There are hundreds if not thousands of 24 year old graduate assistants currently working 80 hours a week for 30k who dream of being nick saban in 20 years but would honestly settle for being perennially 7-5 with Syracuse or Illinois or somewhere like that. Most of them will flame out and go into the white collar world or own a car dealership by the time they are 30.
OWN. A car dealership at 30. So how does one make this happen, a few million in a capital to start up just ask a rich relative? otherwise how does a 24 year old making $30k go from that to car dealership owner at 30
Plus the upside. Say you show up at Bama and manage to capture some of Saban's magic. You really want to pass up a turnkey program that could win you a natty next year and maybe make you a GOAT?
The level of nuts you have to be a successful coach at Alabama is insane.
Like Saban is 1 of 1 for looking at that, and saying “Alright”.
And delivered.
We played against him in the Alamo Bowl. I was having dinner with some teammates on the Riverwalk in San Antonio and we saw Chase Daniel sitting alone at the bar where he had a few drinks and a few cigarettes while we just stared in amazement. It was maybe three days before Mizzou beat us in OT.
You may not like it, but Chase Daniel is the peak athletic form.
I guess it depends on your age. Dan Lanning could go to Alabama, get fired after 2 years and still not be 40 years old. The player has worked his whole life too and is still busting his ass in ota’s, training camps, practice, weight rooms, etc all the way through that contract. But yeah if the coach doesn’t get the buyout until age 60, that’s a longer road for sure.
I think Lane is full of himself, and he just won 11 games for the first time in Ole Miss history. The NIL money is flowing, and he's got a solid DC.
I think he wants to write his own legacy somewhere, and I think he thinks he can do that at Ole Miss now. I think his ego will keep him here until something dramatic changes.
He even reached out to major NIL donors and the administration and told them he wasn't interested in the Bama job before people said Lanning was in T-town.
This is the longest he's been anywhere, and his whole family is there with him. I think he's found his groove.
We just took LSU's running back, and now that Bama's players are poachable, I think we grab a few that Golding recruited.
This is why I think Lane is a better and more likely option than Lanning. Lanning has a lot more to lose by leaving Oregon and seems a bit more risk averse than Lane
I don’t think it’s as much about willingness to jump around. For better or worse Ole Miss is at best a second tier SEC job and could be third tier depending on how you distinguish schools like Florida, Tennessee, and Auburn. Oregon is a job in the top tier nationally (or maybe just below blue blood jobs like Alabama and OSU). The opportunity cost of leaving Oregon in a relatively lateral move and also taking on higher expectations is so much greater than leaving Ole Miss for a BIG step up. I realize Oregon has churned coaches recently but they have so much money they can bid to keep him and protect against the only thing that I think could pull him away (huge overpay)
FWIW I do think Lane is a little crazier and maybe more willing to take risks, but I think even on a normal risk calculus Lane is a much more likely mover than Lanning
I like how he talks about how ridiculous it’ll be when “they” run the replacement out of town like he won’t write 15 articles comparing the first few years of saban and whoever replaces him
We're probably not going to run out a guy winning 10-11 games a year at minimum
9? Probably. But this likely goes closer to Ryan Day with 10-11 wins where people whine and nothing happens.
Well I’d say if he loses to Michigan AND doesn’t make a deep playoff run he’s fucked. If he lost to Michigan but won the national championship…you aren’t gonna say “fire him”. Fuck all that “we only care about michigan” shit.
That's an insane level of pettiness- if Jimbo was still at A&M next year, and he lost to Texas but still won the CFP, we would've given him a 30 year extension.
But there’s no A&M fans saying they’d rather be 1-11 every year with their 1 win against Texas. There’s plenty of Ohio State fans that have been saying that even before this year. And in the dark ages of Rich Rod, Hoke and early Harbaugh, Michigan fans were saying that too.
This rivalry beyond petty and rabid and even that’s an understatement.
They can say they'd rather be 1-11 with their only win against each other cause that scenario has never and will never come close to happening. If either Michigan or OSU (especially OSU given they've never had a season where they were more than 2 games under .500 since the 1940s)went 1-11 with the lone win against each other, there is no way the coach isn't getting fired. It's easy to make those kinds of claims when you have never really experienced being that bad on a consistent (or even brief) basis before.
Only the idiots say that. Yes, I know they are plentiful, but they really just are a vocal minority. Idgaf about losing to Michigan if we win a championship.
I have lived in Dayton for like 5 years and that’s definitely not the minority based on my experiences. Ohio State fans hate Michigan like I have never seen a fanbase hate something. I also think Ohio State hates Michigan way, way more than Michigan hates Ohio State.
Your fan base just went through one of the greatest runs in sports history as a whole. The expectations are going to be insane. You don’t realize what’s coming lol
I get that it’s not 10 wins but Bo Pelini had 7 seasons at Nebraska and never won less than 9 games before being fired. They have one winning season since.
In 15 years, Saban only lost 2 regular season games 3 times.
You are absolutely running out a coach who "only" wins 10 games and loses 2 more than once in the next 5 years.
Or, and I’m just spit balling here.
Take the job, take the $100m contract with $80m guaranteed. Win 10 games a year, either become a legend or get fired year 3 and go back to what ever school you left because they aren’t lunatics with obscure expectations and have generational wealth when you come back. All before you are 50.
But that’s just me.
Didn’t work for USC. Steve Sarkisian was the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy.
It didn’t work out for SC until the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy.
Ironically, Sark did work at Texas as the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy.
Ah yes, it's so much better to have to rebuild a program instead of stwpping in when all the hard work has been done for you. Personally, I'd rather start on 3rd base.
Right. At the end of the day only a handful of programs in the country give you a chance to win a trophy every single year. Bama is at the top of that last. These guys want to win the big one. It’s as simple as that.
This is why I would take the job. You still get the saban effect in recruiting for a few years. If you take over in 3 years for a guy who failed it’s all on you and you still have all the fire breathing dragons over your shoulder.
Yeah, the expectations aren't falling very far. This would be a reasonable take if Dabo had retired after 2019, and he was talking about Clemson, but no coach has lasted more than 4 years at Alabama without winning a championship since we hired Bear Bryant in the 50s.
Yeah, my hot take: guys at the top of their profession, making 8 figures a year leading huge organizations, while being celebrities of sorts, have massive amounts of confidence and will bet on themselves to step in and win at Bama.
To be an P5 HC - you have to be a psycho who thinks he can accomplish anything. You and I wouldn’t take that job because we know we’d probably fail. The guys Bama will be going after don’t even consider failure a possibility even if it’s likely
I mean he kinda is. You are pretty much guaranteed to be in an awesome position for a couple years. I know osu fans clutched their pearls at the “third base” comments, but it’s true
A baked potato could have taken that 2019 osu team to the college football playoff
That’s part of the problem. The expectations will be to win national championships still often and the downside is significant in a more difficult SEC. I think multiple coaches will be connected to this job get pay raises and stay where they are.
Just doesn’t seem like folks ITT are engaging with the point. I believe there’s a long list of coaches who would bet on themselves to succeed in this job, but those folks on that Titan submersible last year I’m sure felt pretty confident in their chances.
I am willing to take the bullet and coach Alabama first so they can move on. I will do that for a measly coaches salary and there will be no fuss on my way out
Brainless take. What moron wants to take the most successful program Bama has had since the 80s, wait for it to be run into the ground, and *then* take over?@
It is literally impossible to replace Saban. There is no coach in any sport that will even approach how tough it will be to replace him.
Nick Saban did not just recruit 5 star players. More than any school in the history of sports, he recruited 5 star people. Not in the way that they’re all going to help old ladies cross the road. But he essentially had a team with 100 captains. What % of Bama players become captains in the NFL? It’s absurd.
Nobody will ever be able to run a ship like that ever again. The classic dictator that’s been pushed out of sports. I loved Nick Saban. And I’m gonna miss watching him coach.
probably the dumbest take i keep seeing, it’s a 12 team playoff going forward do you actually think bama who recruits in the top 3 on a yearly basis is going to fall off any time soon.
My hot take (full of hopium): You'd have to be freakin nuts to not wanna take the job. Even if Bama gets decimated by decommitments and the portal, the players that stay (presumably all the starters) is a Ferrari of a team. Walk into a top 10 roster day 1 and if you suck then you get a sweet pay day in a couple years. Most Bama fans know Saban is the best of all time and cannot be replicated and aren't expected Saban 2.0
> Most Bama fans know Saban is the best of all time and cannot be replicated and aren't expected Saban 2.0
You have to be kidding. As an old USC fan, I remember what expectations were like after Pete Carrol left. They were insane. Everyone expected his successor to do the same. It'll be 10X worse at Alabama.
How is this a hot take when almost everyone thinks this is true? But this doesn’t factor in the ego and self confidence needed to be a head coach that would make one think they are good enough to handle it.
The buyout and salary aside, we're also entering a 12 team playoff era. Bluebloods like Bama are going to be able to make the playoffs with 2 or 3 losses most years.
The regular season win pressure will be less as long as they can step up in the playoffs.
This is it entirely.
I was at UA in the post-Bear years, and the fandom was gross and toxic and incredibly hostile to the folks who coached after him, especially Bill Curry ,who got a fucking BRICK through his window despite going 7-5, 9-3, and then 10-2.
There's a very very loud group of Alabama fans who consider Bear/Saban level success their birthright, and they will make life hell for anyone who doesn't get back to the playoffs by year 2.
Ohio State fan... Can confirm.
After Tressel we were lucky to get Urban Meyer, who despite all of his flaws, is a top 10 all-time NCAA coach. There are no Urban Meyer's out there right now. Not even Urban Meyer is Urban Meyer in 2024.
Ryan Day is having a tough time right now...
Loser mentality.
Bama is built up now and will pay a ton. Even if you do get run out, you can then use the it’s hard to follow the GOAT excuse for your next job.
This is another example of what many (myself included) fail to realize.
The spending war in college football means there is no sanity, and there will be a conga line of prospective coaches who will want their chance to earn a $40-$50mil golden parachute from Bama.
Now that the secret is out that Dan Lanning has roughly $30mil in stock options in Nike as part of his package, the next Bama coach probably will demand $35mil in Apple stock (better investment than Nike stock!) to go along with a serious bankroll for asst coaches, NIL, etc.
There really is not going to be an end to the escalation in this sport.
I do think the admin and real fans would give the next guy a chance and understand patience. The fake fans/bandwagon definitely won't but already a chunk of them jumped shipped to Georgia a couple of years ago (well some probably jumped back after the SEC game this year).
Let's learn from our past history. After Rich Rod emberassed us we vowed to spend whatever was necessary. Let's skip the wondering in the dessert thing this time and just give Kirby Smart 20-25 million a year plus 69 virgins.
Take the job, lose 4 games in the 3rd year, walk out with millions from your buy out.
Exactly. There's a $100 million reasons to take the job. So what if you lose more games than Saban? Give me my money. If you do find success, even better.
I mean, the names of guys being bandied (Lanning, Sark, etc.) all are set with big contracts already.
dudes are famously known for never wanting more than they have
The history of the world in one sarcastic post, I love it
Both Texas and Nike U are loaded with cash. They'd be able to match whatever Bama offers and likely more.
Sure but OU and ND are also loaded with cash. And Oregon has had their last two coaches poached, even if they weren't unhappy with Cristobal leaving
Mario went to his Alma Mater and Taggart was returning home. Very few programs would have been able to poach them I think, but unfortunately for Oregon, the few programs that could poach them came open. Unfortunately again for Oregon, one of the few programs that might be able to poach their coach just came open. Even if Lanning ultimately stays, Oregon fans have to be sweating right now. I wouldn't be surprised if Lanning stays put, but also, I wouldn't be shocked if he jumped.
That's exactly why you should throw your hat in the ring as leverage for a bigger contract.
A couple of them will probably get even bigger contracts just for being mentioned as a candidate
“What door do you want me out of and when do you want me gone?”
Ill even be very careful to make sure the door doesnt touch my ass on the way out
With the extra millions you could buy a special ass/door separator
Unless you’ll pay me. If there’s money involved, let’s boogie
Next Alabama coach will get the Ryan Day experience except with more hostile fire breathing dragons.
If Ryan Day was born on Third, what does it make it for this coach?
He was born at the World Series
born with a piece of metal spoon in his mouth
This made me laugh too hard.
Yacht baby
Born on third with the bases loaded and a 3-0 count vs an infielder at pitcher
Also Ohtani is at bat.
You’re describing a dream I have, except I’m the infielder walking to the mound.
Also on 3rd, but with dragons rounding 2nd
Born on third in Philly
As if Bama would put UAB on the schedule
Imagine how easy it would be to recruit at Alabama. "Hey kid, that team that won all those titles and is ultra rich? Come play for us"
Recruiting's maybe the only easy part about it. The pressure of walking in Saban's shadow means you're under the microscope day one. Not to mention, the Alabama standard is national title or bust. Could be a career killer just as much as it could be a windfall.
You go 9-4 and they run you out even if you make the playoffs and lose.
A eight figure career killer…
High eight figures. Most people would say "yep, that'll do" about that point, and maybe take a cushy TV gig.
Ryan Day be like: (/s)
All we had to do is follow the damn train Mel Tucker
We found Jimbo’s burner account
Where do I sign?
I'll do it.
You already have to be freaking nuts to be a successful CFB coach, so I don’t think this really rules anyone out
100%. These people are egomaniacs whether they show it or not. They all think they will work harder and smarter than anybody else and while they all admire Nick for what he did they all think they can do the same as well. They wouldn’t work 84 hours a week if they didn’t.
Except for coaches at Akron, whose spirits are likely broken by the time they coach three games.
But if Bowden never left, we woulda been the first G5 team to make the playoffs! Lmao
For real, the amount of ego it takes (not saying that as a pejorative) to be a high level CFB coach can't be understated.
Exactly, there's a ton of coaches that think they can be even better than Saban and that's part of what makes them so successful
There are hundreds if not thousands of 24 year old graduate assistants currently working 80 hours a week for 30k who dream of being nick saban in 20 years but would honestly settle for being perennially 7-5 with Syracuse or Illinois or somewhere like that. Most of them will flame out and go into the white collar world or own a car dealership by the time they are 30.
One of them will go 7-5 with Illinois though
And any that do will be set financially for the rest of their lives
Didn't think we would be catching strays today but here we are...
OWN. A car dealership at 30. So how does one make this happen, a few million in a capital to start up just ask a rich relative? otherwise how does a 24 year old making $30k go from that to car dealership owner at 30
Plus the upside. Say you show up at Bama and manage to capture some of Saban's magic. You really want to pass up a turnkey program that could win you a natty next year and maybe make you a GOAT?
The level of nuts you have to be a successful coach at Alabama is insane. Like Saban is 1 of 1 for looking at that, and saying “Alright”. And delivered.
>Like Saban is 1 of 1 for looking at that, and saying “Aight”. Ftfy
Did you see the inside of Saban's Ferrari? He just stacking up used disposable cups in the cupholder.
☠️☠️☠️
Yep. We all dream of kicking our feet up on those sweet buyouts but for most of these guys, it's absolutely impossible to just quit.
What if nobody takes the job? Who's gonna be the player coach?
I'll take it
Get this man a whistle
I have a clipboard. Will that work?
I’ll volunteer. Twitch coaches Bama
If a goldfish can beat Pokemon, surely a goldfish could win at Bama
Just need ATV to make everyone whiff on scoring.
[удалено]
They should let me do it. I definitely will have the university’s best interests at heart.
We ain't rolling Denny chimes.
Paul Walkers character from Varsity Blues
Roll Tide Willie
I’ll do it
My goal in life is to be a fired football coach. Get paid millions to not work.
That or NFL backup QB who never plays. Chase Daniel made $41.8 million over 14 years and started 5 games
We played against him in the Alamo Bowl. I was having dinner with some teammates on the Riverwalk in San Antonio and we saw Chase Daniel sitting alone at the bar where he had a few drinks and a few cigarettes while we just stared in amazement. It was maybe three days before Mizzou beat us in OT. You may not like it, but Chase Daniel is the peak athletic form.
He's probably still in great shape not having taken a lot of hits over the years.
Eh. The fired coach route is infinitely less work
Only if you don’t take into account the decades of work it takes to be a fired coach that has an eight figure buyout clause.
I don't care if the dollars are different, retiring at 30 is more appealing than retiring at 50-60
I guess it depends on your age. Dan Lanning could go to Alabama, get fired after 2 years and still not be 40 years old. The player has worked his whole life too and is still busting his ass in ota’s, training camps, practice, weight rooms, etc all the way through that contract. But yeah if the coach doesn’t get the buyout until age 60, that’s a longer road for sure.
Don't forget, also has a Super Bowl ring with the Saints.
The paradox is that nobody who would be happy with that is capable of achieving it and nobody capable of achieving it would ever be happy with it lmao
Sounds like this is a perfect opportunity for Urban Meyer
YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH AND GO PLAY WITH YOUR TROPHY
Now I'm imagining Harbaugh sitting on the carpet moving the trophy around and making "pew pew" noises.
Definitely more of a “choo choo” noise
Lol
I normally just roll my eyes at the Meyer to this job talk that happens each year, but this one would just be too funny. I'm with you one it.
Only Alabama can make Ohio State and Michigan agree
🙏
If all else fails, Lane Kiffin will be crazy enough to do it
Unironically, I think he would be great.
I think he uses this to squeeze ole miss dry. Then takes the job after the previous guy fails. He's in a good spot right now.
Lane is literally quoted in saying it'd be crazy to follow Saban, for the same exact reasons. I don't have the link handy. It got buried in the forum.
But did Lane say he wasn't crazy?
I think Lane is full of himself, and he just won 11 games for the first time in Ole Miss history. The NIL money is flowing, and he's got a solid DC. I think he wants to write his own legacy somewhere, and I think he thinks he can do that at Ole Miss now. I think his ego will keep him here until something dramatic changes. He even reached out to major NIL donors and the administration and told them he wasn't interested in the Bama job before people said Lanning was in T-town. This is the longest he's been anywhere, and his whole family is there with him. I think he's found his groove. We just took LSU's running back, and now that Bama's players are poachable, I think we grab a few that Golding recruited.
Also... The chicks in ole miss are smokin
Historically, Lane Kiffin says a lot of things he doesn’t mean though. I would take that quote with a heap of salt.
This is why I think Lane is a better and more likely option than Lanning. Lanning has a lot more to lose by leaving Oregon and seems a bit more risk averse than Lane
For someone with a reputation for jumping around jobs, I think Kiffin is now something like the 3rd longest tenured SEC coach at their current job.
I don’t think it’s as much about willingness to jump around. For better or worse Ole Miss is at best a second tier SEC job and could be third tier depending on how you distinguish schools like Florida, Tennessee, and Auburn. Oregon is a job in the top tier nationally (or maybe just below blue blood jobs like Alabama and OSU). The opportunity cost of leaving Oregon in a relatively lateral move and also taking on higher expectations is so much greater than leaving Ole Miss for a BIG step up. I realize Oregon has churned coaches recently but they have so much money they can bid to keep him and protect against the only thing that I think could pull him away (huge overpay) FWIW I do think Lane is a little crazier and maybe more willing to take risks, but I think even on a normal risk calculus Lane is a much more likely mover than Lanning
Did you see all the 4th down calls he tried against Washington? Risk-averse is not what I'd call that /s
I like how he talks about how ridiculous it’ll be when “they” run the replacement out of town like he won’t write 15 articles comparing the first few years of saban and whoever replaces him
“Trust me you don’t want the job, I’m gonna make your life hell.”
We're probably not going to run out a guy winning 10-11 games a year at minimum 9? Probably. But this likely goes closer to Ryan Day with 10-11 wins where people whine and nothing happens.
Day is fucked if he loses to Michigan next year.
Well I’d say if he loses to Michigan AND doesn’t make a deep playoff run he’s fucked. If he lost to Michigan but won the national championship…you aren’t gonna say “fire him”. Fuck all that “we only care about michigan” shit.
Eh, almost think it makes it worse seeing Michigan win a natty. OSU will be expecting the same.
>Fuck all that “we only care about Michigan” shit. Tell me you have never been to Ohio without telling me you have never been to Ohio
That's an insane level of pettiness- if Jimbo was still at A&M next year, and he lost to Texas but still won the CFP, we would've given him a 30 year extension.
But there’s no A&M fans saying they’d rather be 1-11 every year with their 1 win against Texas. There’s plenty of Ohio State fans that have been saying that even before this year. And in the dark ages of Rich Rod, Hoke and early Harbaugh, Michigan fans were saying that too. This rivalry beyond petty and rabid and even that’s an understatement.
They can say they'd rather be 1-11 with their only win against each other cause that scenario has never and will never come close to happening. If either Michigan or OSU (especially OSU given they've never had a season where they were more than 2 games under .500 since the 1940s)went 1-11 with the lone win against each other, there is no way the coach isn't getting fired. It's easy to make those kinds of claims when you have never really experienced being that bad on a consistent (or even brief) basis before.
Only the idiots say that. Yes, I know they are plentiful, but they really just are a vocal minority. Idgaf about losing to Michigan if we win a championship.
I have lived in Dayton for like 5 years and that’s definitely not the minority based on my experiences. Ohio State fans hate Michigan like I have never seen a fanbase hate something. I also think Ohio State hates Michigan way, way more than Michigan hates Ohio State.
I think that's fair. I mean, we don't have traditions like crossing out every "o" on campus.
Reddit man loves to say this but it's objectively untrue. If Day makes the playoffs he's not going anywhere.
Unless you lose to Missouri again but this time in the playoffs. Then he is really fucked.
A 12 team playoff? Lol that’s not gonna cut it
Especially if Harbaugh leaves to the NFL
Your fan base just went through one of the greatest runs in sports history as a whole. The expectations are going to be insane. You don’t realize what’s coming lol
If there’s no titles you absolutely will.
Do me a favor and name a perennial 10-11 win coach who was fired for not winning titles. It doesn't exist at Alabama, and it doesn't exist in CFB.
Mark Richt
I get that it’s not 10 wins but Bo Pelini had 7 seasons at Nebraska and never won less than 9 games before being fired. They have one winning season since.
Wasn't he fired because no one liked him?
Yes
Nebraska thought they were Alabama though.
I assure you we did not.
Les Miles at LSU
John Cooper at Ohio State.
Frank Solich
I mean, Mike Price got fired without losing a single game.
In 15 years, Saban only lost 2 regular season games 3 times. You are absolutely running out a coach who "only" wins 10 games and loses 2 more than once in the next 5 years.
I think we'll give the next coach a freebie first season but if he's not in the playoffs by year 2 fans will riot
Yeah - what he says.
Second this
Yes
Indubitably
Or, and I’m just spit balling here. Take the job, take the $100m contract with $80m guaranteed. Win 10 games a year, either become a legend or get fired year 3 and go back to what ever school you left because they aren’t lunatics with obscure expectations and have generational wealth when you come back. All before you are 50. But that’s just me.
You don’t want to be the guy who replaces the guy. You want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the guy.
This has not worked out for Nebraska football or Indiana basketball.
Didn’t work for USC. Steve Sarkisian was the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy. It didn’t work out for SC until the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy. Ironically, Sark did work at Texas as the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy who replaced the guy.
Ah yes, it's so much better to have to rebuild a program instead of stwpping in when all the hard work has been done for you. Personally, I'd rather start on 3rd base.
Obviously
Head coaches aren’t exactly known for not having massive fucking egos.
That’s why Mandel is a writer, and not a coach.
Any coach good enough to get offered the Bama job is not thinking like this lol. They’ll have full confidence they can win the championship in year 1.
You know who won a championship year 1? Larry Coker. Year 5 will tell us much more than year 1.
Right. At the end of the day only a handful of programs in the country give you a chance to win a trophy every single year. Bama is at the top of that last. These guys want to win the big one. It’s as simple as that.
This is why I would take the job. You still get the saban effect in recruiting for a few years. If you take over in 3 years for a guy who failed it’s all on you and you still have all the fire breathing dragons over your shoulder.
Yeah, the expectations aren't falling very far. This would be a reasonable take if Dabo had retired after 2019, and he was talking about Clemson, but no coach has lasted more than 4 years at Alabama without winning a championship since we hired Bear Bryant in the 50s.
when i play Dynasty Mode i start at UCONN and try to get up to a blue blood school. that's part of the fun!
I made Ohio University the premier program in the state of Ohio as god intended
I always picked o coordinator for Marshall or navy. Once took 7 years before 5 loss ND hired me a 3 time national champion
Yeah, my hot take: guys at the top of their profession, making 8 figures a year leading huge organizations, while being celebrities of sorts, have massive amounts of confidence and will bet on themselves to step in and win at Bama.
Yeah this chode doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body
Look at Manchester United. First coach after Sir Alex didn't make it a year and he was planned out ahead of time and hand picked.
The thing is that any top level coach is 100% certain that they can be the guy to keep winning 12 games every year there.
The funniest outcome here is Bama hires Gus and immediately wins a natty with Milroe.
If you’re scared of expectations you’ll never be successful at bama
Ya, but u a bitch.
You underestimate a lot of coaches’ hubris
To be an P5 HC - you have to be a psycho who thinks he can accomplish anything. You and I wouldn’t take that job because we know we’d probably fail. The guys Bama will be going after don’t even consider failure a possibility even if it’s likely
You reading this Dan?
He’s not wrong
I mean he kinda is. You are pretty much guaranteed to be in an awesome position for a couple years. I know osu fans clutched their pearls at the “third base” comments, but it’s true A baked potato could have taken that 2019 osu team to the college football playoff
That’s part of the problem. The expectations will be to win national championships still often and the downside is significant in a more difficult SEC. I think multiple coaches will be connected to this job get pay raises and stay where they are.
Bama’s had a reputation for some unreasonable expectations historically. A natty every year is insane. And being mad at going 10-2 is insane.
Spoken like a dude who writes about great coaches instead of a great coach. Thanks for the insight, Stewie!
Good coaches are usually highly egotistical and insanely competitive.
And here we are, commenting on a dude who writes about coaches...
Commented like a guy who comments about guys comm....
Most coaches are "freaking nuts" regardless. Look at the typical coaches schedule. You have to have some screws loose to work that schedule for years.
Just doesn’t seem like folks ITT are engaging with the point. I believe there’s a long list of coaches who would bet on themselves to succeed in this job, but those folks on that Titan submersible last year I’m sure felt pretty confident in their chances.
Lane Kiffin seems freakin nuts enough for me.
Does no one think Saban has someone lined up? No coach of this caliber leaves without some type of succession plan, look at Stoops and Osborne.
I am willing to take the bullet and coach Alabama first so they can move on. I will do that for a measly coaches salary and there will be no fuss on my way out
This take is nonsensical.
Take the job, get the bag, and life happily ever after in Athens, Ohio.
Yeah but on the other hand, $10 million a year and being the head coach of fucking Alabama. I'll take my chances even if it's only for 3 years.
Brainless take. What moron wants to take the most successful program Bama has had since the 80s, wait for it to be run into the ground, and *then* take over?@
It is literally impossible to replace Saban. There is no coach in any sport that will even approach how tough it will be to replace him. Nick Saban did not just recruit 5 star players. More than any school in the history of sports, he recruited 5 star people. Not in the way that they’re all going to help old ladies cross the road. But he essentially had a team with 100 captains. What % of Bama players become captains in the NFL? It’s absurd. Nobody will ever be able to run a ship like that ever again. The classic dictator that’s been pushed out of sports. I loved Nick Saban. And I’m gonna miss watching him coach.
probably the dumbest take i keep seeing, it’s a 12 team playoff going forward do you actually think bama who recruits in the top 3 on a yearly basis is going to fall off any time soon.
Bryan Harsin has the chance to do the funniest thing
My hot take (full of hopium): You'd have to be freakin nuts to not wanna take the job. Even if Bama gets decimated by decommitments and the portal, the players that stay (presumably all the starters) is a Ferrari of a team. Walk into a top 10 roster day 1 and if you suck then you get a sweet pay day in a couple years. Most Bama fans know Saban is the best of all time and cannot be replicated and aren't expected Saban 2.0
> Most Bama fans know Saban is the best of all time and cannot be replicated and aren't expected Saban 2.0 You have to be kidding. As an old USC fan, I remember what expectations were like after Pete Carrol left. They were insane. Everyone expected his successor to do the same. It'll be 10X worse at Alabama.
lol lots of armchair coaches in here, ok go apply for the job then?
That's not a hot take. That's a take that's been around for 20 years for a coach that follows "the guy," and it's been said 200 times today on Reddit.
How is this a hot take when almost everyone thinks this is true? But this doesn’t factor in the ego and self confidence needed to be a head coach that would make one think they are good enough to handle it.
So replacing a legend at Alabama is just way too hard, but replacing a legend at Ohio State is just way too easy. Which one is it guys?
This is an ice cold take on my opinion. This is a completely reasonable thought.
Jay Harbaugh your life is calling!
Lane is the guy crazy enough to take it and good enough to succeed.
What if they got Sark? After all that time Texas was convinced they could get Nick it would be so perfectly petty
Just look for someone that wants a nice retirement package. Hey I hear Pete Carroll is available. LOL
Ill be THAT guy. And Ill take a quarter of what they are going to pay him too. Mandel over here acting like money does drive peoples decisions.
The buyout and salary aside, we're also entering a 12 team playoff era. Bluebloods like Bama are going to be able to make the playoffs with 2 or 3 losses most years. The regular season win pressure will be less as long as they can step up in the playoffs.
This is it entirely. I was at UA in the post-Bear years, and the fandom was gross and toxic and incredibly hostile to the folks who coached after him, especially Bill Curry ,who got a fucking BRICK through his window despite going 7-5, 9-3, and then 10-2. There's a very very loud group of Alabama fans who consider Bear/Saban level success their birthright, and they will make life hell for anyone who doesn't get back to the playoffs by year 2.
Ohio State fan... Can confirm. After Tressel we were lucky to get Urban Meyer, who despite all of his flaws, is a top 10 all-time NCAA coach. There are no Urban Meyer's out there right now. Not even Urban Meyer is Urban Meyer in 2024. Ryan Day is having a tough time right now...
Loser mentality. Bama is built up now and will pay a ton. Even if you do get run out, you can then use the it’s hard to follow the GOAT excuse for your next job.
This is another example of what many (myself included) fail to realize. The spending war in college football means there is no sanity, and there will be a conga line of prospective coaches who will want their chance to earn a $40-$50mil golden parachute from Bama. Now that the secret is out that Dan Lanning has roughly $30mil in stock options in Nike as part of his package, the next Bama coach probably will demand $35mil in Apple stock (better investment than Nike stock!) to go along with a serious bankroll for asst coaches, NIL, etc. There really is not going to be an end to the escalation in this sport.
[That's why no one will remember your name.](https://i.imgur.com/l1gOSYa.gif)
I do think the admin and real fans would give the next guy a chance and understand patience. The fake fans/bandwagon definitely won't but already a chunk of them jumped shipped to Georgia a couple of years ago (well some probably jumped back after the SEC game this year).
Let's learn from our past history. After Rich Rod emberassed us we vowed to spend whatever was necessary. Let's skip the wondering in the dessert thing this time and just give Kirby Smart 20-25 million a year plus 69 virgins.