No Saban to OSU Rumors and That Of Course Means

[Townhallsavoy]

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Nick Saban has accomplished a lot of things during his four years at Alabama, but his greatest accomplishment may have nothing to do with winning a national title or earning a statue.
The coach who arrived in Tuscaloosa with a reputation for rebuilding and then relocating has convinced people that he plans to finish his career right where he is.

It's not easy to change the scoreboard, but it's even harder to change perception.
Saban has managed to do both.

The latest evidence comes in the wake of Jim Tressel's resignation at Ohio State. Speculation about Tressel's eventual successor, after assistant Luke Fickell rides out this season as the interim guy, hasn't centered on the Alabama coach.

In fact, he's not even mentioned in the preliminary discussion.

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, as good a source for informed speculation as any in this case, offered a list of five potential replacements in its Tuesday editions.

The five: Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Bo Pelini, Mark Dantonio and Jon Gruden.

It's a strong list, full of quality coaches, each of them with strong Ohio ties, but there's one name that's conspicuous by its absence from that group.

Nick Saban.

He's not an Ohio native, like the five names on the list, but he certainly has Ohio ties. He went to college there at Kent State. He served as an assistant in the state in college at Kent State and Ohio State and in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. His first head coaching job came at the University of Toledo. He also knows the Big Ten, having spent five successful years as the head coach at Michigan State.

In terms of accomplishments, Saban can do more than match resumes with anyone on that list. He can trump all of them. Pelini and Dantonio, a former Saban assistant at Michigan State, haven't won national titles as head coaches. Neither has Gruden, but a Super Bowl ring is a pretty good equivalent.

Stoops has one BCS championship in his bank account, one less than Saban. Meyer has two, but they both came at Florida.

Saban is the only coach since the Great Depression to win national titles at two different schools, and not long ago, the opportunity to win a third crystal football at a third program would've seemed a powerful lure.
Instead, the conventional wisdom on Saban has shifted. Where once he was viewed as someone whose dictatorial approach wouldn't play at the same place in the long run, now he looks like a man who's put down roots.   

The leadership role he's assumed in the recovery from the April 27 tornadoes is the latest sign that Tuscaloosa isn't just his temporary place of employment anymore.

It's his home.

Even when critics questioned Saban's long-term commitment to a particular job, no one could question his intelligence. At the moment, there's no doubt that the Alabama job is better than the Ohio State job by any tangible or intangible measure.

They're both top-five national jobs in terms of resources and possibilities, but only one of them is staring at both barrels of the Infraction Committee's gun.  Which one has the most in the last couple of decades?

What will the Ohio State program look like when the committee gets through with it? For a clue, see Alabama circa 2003 and 2004.

Coaches such as Saban don't take over programs that just got knee-capped by major sanctions. Coaches such as Mike Shula and Luke Fickell do.

So, as Saban enters his fifth season with the Crimson Tide, it doesn't seem to worry Alabama fans or excite Ohio State supporters that this matches his longest tenure anywhere as a head coach.

Maybe it's his age. He'll turn 60 on Halloween, even though there's no sign of wear on his tires.

Maybe it's his contract. There may be no buyout clause in the new deal he signed two years ago, which runs through 2017, but it's hard to imagine another school giving him more of what he wants or needs.

Saban got to Alabama with a reputation as a winner. He's started to earn another rep that seemed unthinkable at the time: Lifer.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/06/lack_of_ohio_state_speculation.html

[ssgaufan]

 

[AU_Tiger_2000]

In other news Tiger Wench, Sweets, Kaos, and Townhallsavoy have also not been linked to the opening in OSU or the future opening at Bama.  Vandyvol has been connected to several openings at the local naval base.

[Snaggletiger]

In other news Tiger Wench, Sweets, Kaos, and Townhallsavoy have also not been linked to the opening in OSU or the future opening at Bama.  Vandyvol has been connected to several openings at the local naval base.

Will be in charge of lighting?

[AUJarhead]

Will be in charge of lighting?

I chortled.

[Saniflush]

Will be in charge of lighting?

I thought he liked to keep the glory holes dark?

[AUTiger1]

I chortled.

^^This^^

[Snaggletiger]

Where Lord Saybinz is concerned, I always thought he'd jump to PSU when Joe Pa finally croaked.  He's from West Virginia so finishing up close to home at a major D1 program would be logical.  Having played in college in Ohio and WV bordering that State too, tOSU would make sense too. 

However, if tOSU does go out and hire Burban Creyer, I think that, as much as anything else, would show that they're a win at all costs program.  The number of arrests under Creyer's watch at UF is amazing and personally, I think that unstable bastard is as dirty as any in the game. 

[Townhallsavoy]

Where Lord Saybinz is concerned, I always thought he'd jump to PSU when Joe Pa finally croaked.  He's from West Virginia so finishing up close to home at a major D1 program would be logical.  Having played in college in Ohio and WV bordering that State too, tOSU would make sense too. 

However, if tOSU does go out and hire Burban Creyer, I think that, as much as anything else, would show that they're a win at all costs program.  The number of arrests under Creyer's watch at UF is amazing and personally, I think that unstable bastard is as dirty as any in the game.

But he hasn't come out and said anything about liking Penn State.

And we all know what that means.

That means that Saban doesn't care about Penn State and loves Tuscaloosa and wishes he had been born and raised there.

[Snaggletiger]

But he hasn't come out and said anything about liking Penn State.

And we all know what that means.

That means that Saban doesn't care about Penn State and loves Tuscaloosa and wishes he had been born and raised there.

Don't we all?

[The Prowler]

tOSU fans are setting themselves up to be disappointed.  Cowher, Gruden, Parcells, Jesus, Tebow, sabbin, Stoops...

[JR4AU]

tOSU fans are setting themselves up to be disappointed.  Cowher, Gruden, Parcells, Jesus, Tebow, sabbin, Stoops...

I don't know.  Some of those guys wouldn't take any college job.  But, they were paying 3.5 to Tressel.  That's big money.   High expectation this year at OU.  Stoops under-performs and he may feel the need for a change of scenery.   Meyer is a good bet.   I doubt they'd go for him, but Leach would take the job for half of Tressel's money.  Sabin?  Well, the bammers are all worked up over thinking they reload at the Ginger, Who Leo and Ewok slots, and the Defense wins a championship.  Sabin goes 9-3 and he may not feel the mullet nation appreciates the prawcess like they should.   

The wild card is how bad the NCAA hits them.  Getting rid of Tressel and Pryor may mitigate some of that damage. 

[jmar]

I don't know.  Some of those guys wouldn't take any college job.  But, they were paying 3.5 to Tressel.  That's big money.   High expectation this year at OU.  Stoops under-performs and he may feel the need for a change of scenery.   Meyer is a good bet.   I doubt they'd go for him, but Leach would take the job for half of Tressel's money.  Sabin?  Well, the bammers are all worked up over thinking they reload at the Ginger, Who Leo and Ewok slots, and the Defense wins a championship.  Sabin goes 9-3 and he may not feel the mullet nation appreciates the prawcess like they should.   

The wild card is how bad the NCAA hits them.  Getting rid of Tressel and Pryor may mitigate some of that damage.

Looks grim for "the" OSU and could be as bad as the Alabama outcome and certainly worse than USC in terms of sanctions and scholarship loses even with influential people in its corner. I doubt Gee survives as this should fester throughout the entire summer with relentless media coverage.

Corch Saban aint leavin. He got him a champinship an statcha an he dominatin. He got tahnada on his mine rite now jus you let him be.

[wesfau2]

Looks grim for "the" OSU and could be as bad as the Alabama outcome and certainly worse than USC in terms of sanctions and scholarship loses even with influential people in its corner. I doubt Gee survives as this should fester throughout the entire summer with relentless media coverage.

Corch Saban aint leavin. He got him a champinship an statcha an he dominatin. He got tahnada on his mine rite now jus you let him be.

You are the Boomhauer to dallas's Dale.

No clue as to your pussy-getting skills, though.

[The Prowler]

Whomever they get had better want to crawl on broken glass to have the job, because there will be broken pieces of tOSU everywhere.

[jmar]

You are the Boomhauer to dallas's Dale.

No clue as to your pussy-getting skills, though.

I play the geetar and sang like Mmmmel Tillis.

 

[djsimp]

You are the Boomhauer to dallas's Dale.

No clue as to your pussy-getting skills, though.

Great cross thread references I must say.

[djsimp]

Another thing, Urban Cryer will be the next HC the Blackeyes hire.