The guy has done a tremendous job at Alabama, no doubt about it. An Auburn guy asked me: “What makes him so good?” I think it’s a combination of things. He has earned the right to be the head coach at one of the top jobs in America through all of his hard work at other places. He paid his dues in the pro and college ranks and had a lot of success at LSU. He’s an outstanding coach.
But he’s also been in very good situations. At LSU, he was at a place that was and is committed to football and has about 10 Hoovers in its state. There are a ton of good football players in Louisiana. After Texas, Florida and California, Louisiana may have the next best group of athletes. I guess you could throw Georgia in there too.
Saban hires tremendous assistants and he’s an awesome recruiter. He comes across very impressively to the recruits. If you saw the movie, The Blind Side, or better yet, read the book, you would see how impressive he is as a recruiter. He knows how to sign players. He’s a master at it.
He has top flight assistant coaches. Kirby Smart is the best in the business in my opinion, both as a defensive coach and recruiter. He’s just got an infectious personality and he loves what he does. He inspires his defensive players. Saban had Jimbo Fisher and Will Muschamp at LSU, both excellent coaches and recruiters. He’s has some other great assistants now at Alabama. All of them are good.
At Alabama, he’s in a state that maybe the more serious, along with Texas, about their football than any other state in the country. And there are great football players in Alabama. This state is a hotbed for good football players.
He’s got an administration, just like at LSU, where he can do whatever he wants and has all the resources he needs to sell his program and coach it.
I’m not saying just any coach could do this; you have to be a special coach. Saban is elite. Maybe Mack Brown and Urban Meyer are as close as you could get and Pete Carroll was up there, though he kind of ran a renegade program it looks like now. Carroll is the closest thing to Saban in college football.
Will he stay at Alabama? He seems pretty entrenched right now, but what if Jerry Jones comes to him next year, if Dallas has another mediocre season, and throws 15M a year at him for 10 years? Will he stay? You never know with Saban. He probably still wants to win a Super Bowl. Then again, he may be perfectly happy in Tuscaloosa.
You just never know.