ESPN's Chris Low Talks to Nick Saban
by kleph on Aug 13, 2009 10:05 AM CDT
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Phelon Jones and Coach Saban
Chris Low, ESPN's SEC correspondent, has been in Tuscaloosa the past few days watching the Alabama football practices and has a two part interview with Coach Saban. He talks about an array of issues such as the importance of recruiting, the state of "the process" and how Joe Willie an inspiration to him when he was younger. It's well worth a gander. You can find Part One here and Part Two here.
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The one final piece, because we had a problem with it last year in the bowl game, is doing a better job in agent education. We hired Joe Mendez to come in here and help us with that.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Scoring against Alabama will be like birthing a child: rare, painful, and messy
freakin awesome!!
I was working at the station when I was about 15 years old. I remember being in a bad mood because I had a fight with my girlfriend, and we broke up. So I wasn’t treating the customers very well and talked back to a customer. In those days, everything was full service. You cleaned the windows, checked the oil, put the gas in, said ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ got the change and gave it back to them. I was a little curt that day. My dad said, ‘Your mom told me you broke up with your girlfriend. You’re a little upset about that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m a little upset about that.’ He said, ‘Let me just tell you this: When you let one bad thing that happens to you affect other things, sometimes you create more negative consequences than you like. You’re about ready to cause a couple more. You don’t have a girlfriend right now. Pretty soon, you’re not going to have a job, because I’m going to fire you. And if I fire you, I’m going to whip your ass.’ It was that kind of stuff from him all the time.
Scoring against Alabama will be like birthing a child: rare, painful, and messy
Awesome, indeed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this answer. Gives you some insight into his thought processes.
Also, the part where he talks about his public speaking anxiety and nervousness with the media is interesting. It’s obvious he’s worked quite a bit on that if you watch his press conferences. Not that he’s any more relaxed, but he’s very good at knowing EXACTLY what he says and never letting anything unintentional slip.
by Bama philosophe on Aug 13, 2009 11:46 AM CDT up reply actions
Am i the only person who remembers Gene Stallings?
FTFA:
“Not since Bear Bryant was dominating college football in the 1960s and 1970s and on his way to becoming an icon in this state has there been a more indomitable presence on Alabama’s campus than Saban.”
I mean really, Stallings would fit this discription wouldn’t he?
/sorry for the premature post above.
I'm in no condition to drive...wait! I shouldn't listen to myself, I'm drunk.
by That Other Dave on Aug 13, 2009 10:55 AM CDT reply actions
i dont remeber
but was Stallings as polarizing as Saban?
Scoring against Alabama will be like birthing a child: rare, painful, and messy
one thing is certain about stallings...
he was not nearly as polarizing as the coaches that preceded him.
No
but wining 70 games in 7 years and the first/only NC since Bryant you’d think he would be easily remembered. That probably speaks to the high level of tradition of Alabama football though, you have a coach that would’ve probably been a legend at any other school in his own right.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
by Bens4vcobra on Aug 13, 2009 11:08 AM CDT up reply actions
Not Polarizing but
certianly he was an “Indomitable presence”. Indomitable meaning (From websters) : incapable of being subdued : unconquerable. That’s the definition of what a Stallings team was, and what the feeling of the team and the head coach was at the time on campus (with the exeption of people wanting to open up the offense more). But certianly, the early ninties Stallings was an Indomitable presence.
I just hate that people tend to overlook Stallings in the rush to compare things to the Bear, but i guess that’s just inevitable.
I'm in no condition to drive...wait! I shouldn't listen to myself, I'm drunk.
by That Other Dave on Aug 13, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Stallings is a part of the legend of what is Alabama football
He is/was a walking giant. I think that he is dismissed from some discussions, because of his relatively short stay and his connection with Coach Bryant.
He played for Coach Bryant at Texas A&M. He beat Coach Bryant when he coached at A&M. He talked liked Coach Bryant. He isn’t viewed as independent of Coach Bryant.
Coach Saban has no real tie-in with Coach Bryant, other than coaching at Alabama. His ‘legend’ can stand a part from previous Alabama football legend. I think that his Alabama success will have to eclipse his LSU accomplishments, first, though.
I loved Stallings and wished we had hired him instead of Perkins
but when Saban was at LSU I said he was the best coach to come through the SEC since Bear. I still can’t believe he is at Alabama.
I would put the best post-Bear SEC coaches as:
1) Saban
2) Spurrier
3) Stallings
Saban is controversial because he came to Alabama after the media started mocking us and it ticked the media off. But msot of the media are punks and they shut up once someone starts winning.
Homerism
A little bit of homerism there, definitely do not think Saban has passed Spurrier yet, and if Urban has the kind of year some our predicting it would be tough to keep him off the top of that list. Still, I do agree if Saban can continue to resurrect Alabama, along with the incredible work he did at LSU he will have a rightful claim at the top of that list.
Unfortunately
you have to put Meyer ahead of Stallings. So yeah, a little homerism there.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
Maybe . . .
but I base my opinion on how challenging the job a coach has. I give Spurrier his due but look what he is doing at SC? I personally think Saban would be doing a better job if he had that job. Or put another way, I don’t think Spurrier would have won a NC if he had gone to LSU when Saban did. I reserve judgment on Meyer until Tebow leaves. These are my opinions.
Dammit
One day I’ll learn to read on ahead before posting….
by rolltidefromaz on Aug 13, 2009 10:11 PM CDT up reply actions
To be a good recruiter, it’s always been my feeling that you have to do it every day. You can’t recruit in recruiting season. You can’t start recruiting when spring recruiting starts. It’s every day.
No comment needed.
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
He acts like there are coaches out there...
that go duck hunting when they should be recruiting, or something. This mentality is commonplace, right?
Oh, it’s not?
"There's a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success" - Coach Bryant
See
you have to keep in mind the level of logic used by Auburn fans. Its similar to the underpants nomes:
Phase 1 – “ZOMG BAMMERS CHEATING!11”
Phase 2 – ????
Phase 3 – Profits
"A demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." -H. L. Mencken
lol
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. ~W. Somerset Maugham
by BamaReturns07 on Aug 13, 2009 5:24 PM CDT up reply actions
Stallings
is a legend at Alabama and I blame a lame AD for his too early departure.
But, he blew the Langham thing which cost us probation when it didn’t have to and he was too conservative for the day in which he was coaching.
We won, but in 1992 I thought we were on the verge of a Bryant like run and it just didn’t happen the way it could have happened. That is not all Stalling’s fault, but I still think if we had not had the probation/distractions we could have been the team of the 90’s in the SEC and won at least one other NC in Barker’s senior year—94.
Instead we got bowl banned in 95, lost schollys, and then basically booted Stallings in 96 all of which set the stage for Dubose/Fran/Shula all lost years in many ways.
So for Saban his real legacy is still to be written. It depends on what he does going forward at Bama and how it all ends. If he stays 10 years, wins 3 SEC titles, and even 1 NC, he will be a Bama legend for sure. But the final chapters of this book have not been written.
And because of his dad and his type A personality I hope he has his heart checked regularly etc.
I hate the NCAA more than UT & AU combined. At least with UT & AU you got a fighting chance.
Team Speed Kills
distills this wide-ranging interview to the one salient bit of information that matters.
Team Speed Kills is letting his anti-Alabama bias color his interpretation.
Its obvious – at least to me— that Low means in his question to ask whether Saban “instigates” a media confrontation to accomplish his team goals rather than “script” a confrontation which vaguely suggests some sinister media conspiracy.
You can tell Saban has an agenda in pretty much every press conference — and sometimes interprets a question in a way out way to get an opportunity to address what he wants. But its about sending a message to his team or to the fans to help him win. (As opposed to Tuberville who manipulated the press as well as any coach I have seen — but it was for his own personal aggrandizement rather than to help his team.)
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