🏈 As successful as he has been, Nick Saban's assistant coaches have yet to find similar glory as head

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Nick Saban is, by most everyone's standards, the top coach in college football. So why haven't more of his assistant coaches become successful with their own programs?

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[TerryP]

Jimbo Fisher, Saban's offensive coordinator at LSU, is 19-8 in two years at Florida State.

Jimbo's winning percentage is a tad over .700. Saban is currently at .722.

While Florida State hasn't "won anything" under Fisher, you can't look at that winning percentage and question success. He is in the top 20 right now.

Will Muschamp, Saban's defensive coordinator at LSU, is just getting started at Florida, where his 7-6 record last season was the Gators' worst since 1987.

Has Muschamp been given a fair shake in this article? Again, I don't see it. We've seen article after article about the program he inherited when Meyer left. We know he's changing personnel (scheme wise) with his players.

If there is anything one can point to and say, "screw up," it was the hiring of Weis. That was doomed from the beginning.

And Derek Dooley, who was also on Saban's staff at LSU, is already on the hot seat at Tennessee, where he has yet to lead the Vols to a winning season in two years in Knoxville.

Is Dooley getting a fair shake? Sure, Kiffen left him with a program that was just rolling along, didn't he?!?! :sarca:

As I mentioned before, his first season in Knoxville he had a total of three starts, combined, along his offensive line. I'd say the cards he was dealt are worse than the other two. Far worse in fact.

There's isn't reason to say any of these guys are on par with Saban, coaching talent wise, but you can't reasonably make a criticism of the jobs they've done without taking into account the circumstances of each, right?

The spotlight is on Dooley, no doubt. Yet, it wouldn't be fair to make comparisons to Saban's third year and Dooley's. Fact is, we were ahead of schedule with the 2008 regular season and 2009 year.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Maybe they are not as adept as Saban at picking out and developing assistants.

 

[TerryP]

Seems obvious, but it's something I had never considered.

Muschamp hired Weis. I made the point from the start that didn't seem like a good idea. Dooley has seen how many, seven, assistants leave his staff since he's been there?

Jimbo certainly did well when he brought Dameyune Craig in for recruiting and Mark Stoops is a good defensive coordinator. I don't think you'd find many Bama fans upset if Saban happened to hire Rick Trickett to coach the offensive line. And, as I mentioned earlier, he's winning ball games in Tallahassee.

Kudo's XXL. Very good observation.

 

[LBS]

I can't help but think of this as a ill-time article. Its too soon to be fair to be honest. Furthermore, some of these new coaches are being measured early within the toughest College Football coaching environment in the history of the game (i.e. having Saban and three other NC winning coaches on your conference schedule...competing against you every day). I'm pointing toward East Lansing and eager to see what happens in Colorado Springs, far beyond this football Valley of the Shadow of Defeat.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

FWIW, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if UT won the east this year, IF they can keep the injury bug at bay. I think Dooley is sound & he is improving each year.

 

[Bo]

Seems obvious, but it's something I had never considered.

Muschamp hired Weis. I made the point from the start that didn't seem like a good idea. Dooley has seen how many, seven, assistants leave his staff since he's been there?

Jimbo certainly did well when he brought Dameyune Craig in for recruiting and Mark Stoops is a good defensive coordinator. I don't think you'd find many Bama fans upset if Saban happened to hire Rick Trickett to coach the offensive line. And, as I mentioned earlier, he's winning ball games in Tallahassee.

Kudo's XXL. Very good observation.

As for Muschamp hiring Weis, I was under the impression that Foley forced that hire on him.

 

[TerryP]

As for Muschamp hiring Weis, I was under the impression that Foley forced that hire on him.

"Word on the street" has indicated such, and if it is truly the case someone tell me what the hell is going on in Florida.

If an AD tells a HC to hire a person, logic says the AD doesn't believe that person is prepared to be a head coach in the first place. One qualified for the position of head coach certainly should be qualified to hire his own assistants, right?

I know Pat Dye suggested such on a radio interview and that in itself gives me reason to doubt it's veracity.

BUT, there are reasons I suspect this very well may be the case. Consider Machen came from Utah, and Urban was hired from Utah, it gives sufficient reason to suspect Machen was the reason behind the hire. If the President takes control of a hire in the Ath. Dept, it's not a stretch to assume the Ath. Dir. to do the same with an individual program.

Someone screwed up with the Weis hire. Foley seems to have done well with the UF program. Is perception not the reality?

It became, and to a point still is, such a convoluted mess down there I stopped trying to figure out what was going on and just decided to sit back and watch.

 

[TerryP]

FWIW, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if UT won the east this year, IF they can keep the injury bug at bay. I think Dooley is sound & he is improving each year.

It's not unreal to think there may be two or three teams with the same record and we end up going with head-to-head competitions—and beyond—to see who ends up in ATL. Considering Spurrier is talking about how he thinks games against Western teams shouldn't count in the overall picture of who ends up in ATL? Is he thinking the same thing for the 2012 season?

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

W/o looking at S Carolina's schedule I'm sure that is some of the motive. I've always thought the division record always supersedes the cross-division record but when the division record is the same, then the cross-division comes into play. The head-to-head can come in before or after the cross-division.

 

[psychojoe]

Without a doubt Dooley was dealt a bad hand at UT. Nonetheless, there is grumbling among the rank and file of the vol faithful, sufficient grumbling that he would have to be considered on teh hot seat. Whether that is fair or not is another issue. His team was the only one in the East who played us, LSU and Arkansas in the west. UGa. on the other hand played none of the West's big three last year and they don't this year.

How well did Bryant's former assistants do? If you measure by NCs only Stallings was a success.

 

[TerryP]

Without a doubt Dooley was dealt a bad hand at UT. Nonetheless, there is grumbling among the rank and file of the vol faithful, sufficient grumbling that he would have to be considered on teh hot seat. Whether that is fair or not is another issue. His team was the only one in the East who played us, LSU and Arkansas in the west. UGa. on the other hand played none of the West's big three last year and they don't this year.

How well did Bryant's former assistants do? If you measure by NCs only Stallings was a success.

Danny Ford at Clemson and Howard Schnellenberger at Miami are two others that come to mind.

 

[gumboman]

Aside from the knowledge on the defensive side of the ball (which wins championships) that Saban brings to our program, we have Scott Cochran. If you don't think he is that big of a difference maker, go back and watch the Florida game. The Gatiz looked like a scared high-school team. Also, don't underestimate the value of Demayune Craig. Especially in the Mobile/Baldwin county area. I think we ultimately have first choice, but the kids really do like Craig and Fl St ran with it. Mobile is once again FULL of D-1 talent, and Demayune is making friends with these kids and coaches. I guess that's why we are seeing some old/successful faces, back recruiting in Mobile again. Fact is, that our program sells itself. Get on board or lose your seat:icon_smile:

 

[planomateo]

we have Scott Cochran

there are several comments coming outta the NFL teams OTA's that speak to this point, strength/size/quickness.

 

[alabama mike]

Dooley came into a mess at ut that Tiffin left behind. I think that if he is given another year or two to build his recruiting base, he will do ok. He has to also get control of the state of Tennessee in recruiting. Just random thoughts from a cloudy mind.

 

[UAgrad93]

Dooley came into a mess at ut that Tiffin left behind. I think that if he is given another year or two to build his recruiting base, he will do ok. He has to also get control of the state of Tennessee in recruiting. Just random thoughts from a cloudy mind.

Problem with getting control of state of Tennessee recruiting is that the state generally doesn't have a ton of talent and any drive to Knoxville is a day trip across the state. Memphis is geographically closer to Tuscaloosa, Oxford, and even Little Rock than what it is to Knoxville.