With all the Head Coach Sparano love that is floating around, I thought this would add a nice perspective to the discussion: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpa...7A15754C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all 4 a days? The Saban comparison:
Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! I do not want perspective. I want complete homerism and total Fanaticism!
exactly. I have to suffer enough with it being May. I do need to have anything but optimism at this point
I think on an Xs and Os basis it was a fair comparison. Saban was/is a brilliant coach. I think the difference was in the character of the men.
Lil Nicky was a super sharp Coach, he wasn't a leader of men though. We won the East last season with Saban's draftee's or signees at a couple of positions, his eye for talent wasn't bad, he didn't have the stomach for the NFL though. Tony Sparano is the opposite, he seems to like the grind.
Exactly! Shula was a guy the players (actually almost everybody) respected. Saban turned out to be a guy who treated most everybody like crap. He tried to lead by intimidation and bullying. That works better in college b/c players who aren't quite men yet are easier to bully. Or men who know they have a short time frame may decide to put up with it for a bit until they can make it to the NFL.
I wouldn't say Shula was a brilliant Xs and Os coach. Shula was a leader who prepared and drilled his teams to have very solid fundamentals and then dared you to beat him by out executing him. Shula also had the gift of getting everybody to contribute to their fullest. I remember the year marino snapped his achilles, Scott freakin' Mitchell steps into the lineup and plays at pro-bowl level and when Micthell goes down Steve Deberg (?) hobbles onto the field using a zimmer frame and plays damn good football.
Saban couldn't wear Don Shula's jock strap. Saban is a pretty good college coach, where you can be a god and your players have no choice but to get on their knees for you. But he could not cut it in the NFL because players are not motivated the same way, his way won't work in the NFL. The only credit I'll give Saban was he knew defense and he knew enough to get out of the NFL, fast.
Comparing the likes of satan to Shula is laughable. Shula was a great coach, a great man and respected by his players, fans and peers. satan only had his mouth, temper and self love IMO. Plus a bald faced liar. Even if he could draft good players what good did it do us in the long run?
