Seriously, how does Saban do it?

[4down20]

You seem angry that despite saban having the best players every year he still manages to lose games to less talented teams. Calling people names must make you feel better.

Yes, I'm just so terribly angry at how Alabama football has been for the past 6 years.

Is there any thread dealing with Alabama or Ohio St on these forums you haven't shit all over and ruined lately?

 

[fredmccallyRTR]

Hmm. Do some interesting research for us. Find out recruiting rankings compared to following year results and let's see what it looks like over say the past 5 or 6 seasons.

Chart: Which NCAA Football Teams Outplay Their Recruit Rankings?

Some1 done it for us already.

 

[The Authority]

Yes, I'm just so terribly angry at how Alabama football has been for the past 6 years.

Is there any thread dealing with Alabama or Ohio St on these forums you haven't shit all over and ruined lately?

Lol. Go fix yourself a drink, relax and take a few deep breaths. It will all be better in the morning.

 

[trojanfan12]

Well I think one has to keep in mind that these are still kids were talking about.

And you never know how they're going to react to be forced to play in bowl games that they don't want to play in.

 

[4down20]

Chart: Which NCAA Football Teams Outplay Their Recruit Rankings?

Some1 done it for us already.

Pretty interesting. People focus on the few losses Alabama has, but forget the impact the 3 national championships have as well.

Average BCS rankings: 3. Oregon is next with 5.2 and then there is a large drop from there to Stanford with 10 and LSU with 10.2

Stanford is the most surprising of that.

Good data even beyond the topic.

 

[TROJAN-MAN]

And you never know how they're going to react to be forced to play in bowl games that they don't want to play in.

Are you talking about:

Bama - Utah

USC GT

Ore who

 

[ArrogantBAMAFan]

What are we talking about again?

 

[PIBuckeye]

honest question......


Has the ncaa microscope ever been turned on in Tuscaloosa?

 

[Red_Alert]

honest question......


Has the ncaa microscope ever been turned on in Tuscaloosa?

Yeah. They've been put on probation a couple of times in the past.

 

[Red_Alert]

Alabama no longer on NCAA probation | AL.com

The NCAA has called Alabama "A Serial repeat offender" for recruiting and extra benefits violations.

 

[PIBuckeye]

Yeah. They've been put on probation a couple of times in the past.

between '08 and now?

 

[Locke888]

Not all those 5 star guys can play and that's too bad. I'd rather go to a place like Nebraska and be star than to take a chance sitting the bench.

 

[occupant]

The bigger they are the louder they scream.

 

[metal_frk_334]

You seem angry that despite saban having the best players every year he still manages to lose games to less talented teams. Calling people names must make you feel better.

Have you seen the top twenty teams in recruiting the past few years? What my excited, fellow Bama fan is trying to get through your head is that in the last 4 years the SEC has had no less than 8 teams in the top 20(Rivals). 2013 actually had 9 teams and last year boasted 10 teams. To put that in perspective, 71.4% of the teams in our conference made up half of the top 20 last year. No other conference had more than 3 teams ranked that high. Certainly you aren't gullible enough to think that the #1 team is really leaps and bounds better than the number 20 team. If you get in the top 20 every year you can beat anybody you play. Don't let the stars next to these kids names mean more than they really mean. The difference between a 5 star and a 4 star is very miniscule. A Rivals rated player at 5.8-6.0 is a four star player. A rivals rated player at 6.1 is a five star, and there is literally no higher rating with Rivals. These kids virtually have the same amount of talent coming out of High School. Nobody can guess exactly how good these kids are with as many variables as there are in High School football. If a kid is between 5.8 and 6.1 he is just as impressive as the next guy. To add to that, many 3 star players are poorly evaluated and turn out to be big time contributors. Case in point, a RB out of my old high school broke the state single season rushing record this year and led his team to the State Championship game. He is rated a 3 star atm. At some point he will be adjusted most likely, but for now he isn't getting enough exposure to move that rating even with his accolades laid out for everyone to see. Dozens of other players fly under the radar every year. Point being, don't take these rankings so seriously. They are a rough estimate of what these teams are pulling in.

 

[BigKen]

After reading all of these posts, I have to assume that none of the posters have children who are of college age or had children with enough athletic talent to be offered a sports scholarship. In 1999 my son was considered "big". He could run pretty fast was 6'6" 255 lbs. Played basketball, but more important was a TE in football. Basically he was Rob Gronkowski until he blew out both knees and broke both ankles. As luck would have it, I now have a 12 year old grandson who's played quarterback on Pop Warner and AYF football teams since he was 5. He's been scouted by high schools and prep schools since he was 10. He's also a nationally rated point guard and played in the AAU National Championships 2 years ago and was offered a "Foster Scholarship". That's where a kid lives in a foster home in another state so he can play for a championship team. Last but not least, he stopped playing baseball when he was 10. He never lost a game he pitched. He was clocked at 60 mph on 15 straight pitches. Since, he's grown almost a foot. Last September we went to an AA professional baseball game and he threw 3 pitches in a JUGGS booth. 73, 75, 78 mph without warming up. Last week we were watching a program "Hail Mary" on TV................Out of nowhere he says, I'd like to go to BC. I like that coach. Sorry Kev, that coach retired about 5 years after Flutie left BC................"OK, then I'll go to Alabama".


He's got six more years of secondary school and he already has a positive impression of a school he knows nothing about or a coach he really doesn't know. What he does know is that Alabama has a history of winning. Any kid who thinks he wants to play in the NFL has to be convinced that playing for Alabama will at least get you noticed...................end of story.

 

[metal_frk_334]

between '08 and now?

The last thing Alabama was put on probation for wasn't recruiting related. It was an Athletic Dept wide mistake in monitoring the distribution of textbooks. The players were able to let their friends get free books as well. Every sport was involved. The punishment happened in 2007, but the violation was happening for years before Saban actually took over as coach. Since 7 of the athletes were football players that played during the 2007 season, Saban had to forfeit 5 wins from his first season at Alabama. The athletic dept shored up the issues quickly and the NCAA was lenient to some extent.

In 2002 we were hit with the stiffest sanctions because of a player named Albert Means. His coach pimped him out to seven different schools for $200,000. He ended up committing to Alabama and we got hit very hard with sanctions after they tied an Alabama booster with paying the coach. To understand why we were hit so hard, you have to go way back to 1993.

These sanctions were magnified due to a few incidents in the 90s. One being Antonio Langham's decision to go pro after the 92 championship season, hiring an agent and then deciding to stay with Alabama for one more season. In its first-ever NCAA penalty for rules violations, in 1995 Alabama is placed on probation for three years, banned from a bowl appearance, ordered to give up 26 scholarships over three years and forced to forfeit eight victories from 1993. Three months later NCAA appeals committee sides with Alabama, lifting one year of probation and restoring nine scholarships.

In 1996 NCAA strips the football program of one scholarship for failing to disclose player loans that were guaranteed by a Birmingham tire and wheel dealer. This small infraction is important because it strings along Alabama as a repeat offender due to NCAA rules of violations committed withing 5 years of each other.

Strangely enough an incident in 1999 involving a basketball coach, who was accused of trying to set up a slush fund for his players, ends up being the precursor for the sledge hammer of sanctions we received in 2002. Even though Alabama avoided any sanctions from these accusations in 1999, the NCAA warned that any infractions made within the next 5 years would result in severe punishment. The NCAA's way of saying, "We can't prove this, but if you slip up again we will punish you four times as hard."

It just so happens that the worst of all violations came next and Alabama was lucky to escape without receiving the death penalty. Very lucky, since representatives of the NCAA committee voiced their serious consideration hitting us with it.

And this confusing, decade long string of fuck ups lead to something as small, and non advantage forming as athletes giving their friends free text books, turning into a real scare for our program. The NCAA was graceful and used appropriate restraint and did not beat us around with that sledge hammer again.

That brings us to today. Two years off probation and on the violation sobriety train. Only 3 more years and we won't have that "Repeat Offender Sword of Damocles" hanging over our head anymore. So far so good and I believe that Saban has had a lot to do with the improved compliance dept. So far anything as miniscule as a free lunch to a player has been reported and properly taken care of.

I know that I speak for every Alabama fan when I say, I want nothing more than to see Alabama go another century without ever having to see a NCAA Infraction Committee again. I really don't want to think about any more dark times like those lol.

 

[metal_frk_334]

After reading all of these posts, I have to assume that none of the posters have children who are of college age or had children with enough athletic talent to be offered a sports scholarship. In 1999 my son was considered "big". He could run pretty fast was 6'6" 255 lbs. Played basketball, but more important was a TE in football. Basically he was Rob Gronkowski until he blew out both knees and broke both ankles. As luck would have it, I now have a 12 year old grandson who's played quarterback on Pop Warner and AYF football teams since he was 5. He's been scouted by high schools and prep schools since he was 10. He's also a nationally rated point guard and played in the AAU National Championships 2 years ago and was offered a "Foster Scholarship". That's where a kid lives in a foster home in another state so he can play for a championship team. Last but not least, he stopped playing baseball when he was 10. He never lost a game he pitched. He was clocked at 60 mph on 15 straight pitches. Since, he's grown almost a foot. Last September we went to an AA professional baseball game and he threw 3 pitches in a JUGGS booth. 73, 75, 78 mph without warming up. Last week we were watching a program "Hail Mary" on TV................Out of nowhere he says, I'd like to go to BC. I like that coach. Sorry Kev, that coach retired about 5 years after Flutie left BC................"OK, then I'll go to Alabama".


He's got six more years of secondary school and he already has a positive impression of a school he knows nothing about or a coach he really doesn't know. What he does know is that Alabama has a history of winning. Any kid who thinks he wants to play in the NFL has to be convinced that playing for Alabama will at least get you noticed...................end of story.

I think something has to be said about the quality of person that our football program tries to go after. Their conduct has a large baring on whether they will even be considered. With that you will see young, extremely talented men with respectable character entering the program. What you get with that kind of recruiting approach is young men that understand if they go to this program they will be groomed and NFL ready by the time they leave. In turn young men with an impeccable work ethic that was instilled in them growing up. After that you just have to get them to buy into the process and what you get in returns is Sixty or more 4 and 5 star recruits that can function as a team instead of trying to be a head honcho that is chasing stats. Every year of success attracts the next wave of good young men and each class before them helps convince the new recruits that the process they live by is the key to their future.
All in all a recipe for a very successful, and somewhat self sustaining cycle of recruits. The only thing that can really tear down the momentum is the complacent nature we humans fall into after we achieve, what feels like at least, the highest honors and achievements that we can reach. A National Championship being the biggest contributor.

 

[metal_frk_334]

I meant to add, with that approach you achieve an accumulation of talent that is not threatened by character flaws such as; criminal activity, selfishness and wasted days in the dog house while they are in the program. For the new recruits the writing's on the wall and a part of their decision making process. They know that their are already nearly 4 recruiting classes of talent (that is still largely intact) that are far more progressed from being apart of the program for so long. So the players that do decide to enter are not the type expecting immediate playing time. Players that have a good head on their shoulders imo. Who know they are going to Alabama to train and become the best they can be in the long run. With little attention to instant gratification. To me, especially with society being plagued with that flawed expectation of instant gratification, that is the key to building a strong program. I see a lot of recruits, that decide not to go to a deep program because they want to play right away or want to lessen the chance of having to wait their turn, as the wrong type of character. Something that indicates a level of selfishness that isn't compatible with the process the majority of our guys came to be a part of. So that attraction to Alabama, imo, is more than trendy or the cool thing to do. The focus is to make sure that the right type of ppl are attracted.

 

[metal_frk_334]

After reading all of these posts, I have to assume that none of the posters have children who are of college age or had children with enough athletic talent to be offered a sports scholarship. In 1999 my son was considered "big". He could run pretty fast was 6'6" 255 lbs. Played basketball, but more important was a TE in football. Basically he was Rob Gronkowski until he blew out both knees and broke both ankles. As luck would have it, I now have a 12 year old grandson who's played quarterback on Pop Warner and AYF football teams since he was 5. He's been scouted by high schools and prep schools since he was 10. He's also a nationally rated point guard and played in the AAU National Championships 2 years ago and was offered a "Foster Scholarship". That's where a kid lives in a foster home in another state so he can play for a championship team. Last but not least, he stopped playing baseball when he was 10. He never lost a game he pitched. He was clocked at 60 mph on 15 straight pitches. Since, he's grown almost a foot. Last September we went to an AA professional baseball game and he threw 3 pitches in a JUGGS booth. 73, 75, 78 mph without warming up. Last week we were watching a program "Hail Mary" on TV................Out of nowhere he says, I'd like to go to BC. I like that coach. Sorry Kev, that coach retired about 5 years after Flutie left BC................"OK, then I'll go to Alabama".


He's got six more years of secondary school and he already has a positive impression of a school he knows nothing about or a coach he really doesn't know. What he does know is that Alabama has a history of winning. Any kid who thinks he wants to play in the NFL has to be convinced that playing for Alabama will at least get you noticed...................end of story.

=( it saddens me that Saban will almost surely be gone by the time he starts his official visits.

 

[MarkOU]

Discipline

His players are disciplined on the field. Talent will only take you so far. You have to be metally disciplined to not miss your assignment because you're trying to be the hero.