C'mon man, the was 4-7 that year when the games mattered, and then when we were out of hit he compiled wins against bottom feeding teams (minus the Chargers), the Patriots backups (which we barely beat), and used the relief arm of Sage Rosenfels (which was deadly in relief that year) to steal two wins that his ineffective starting QB would not have had a chance to win...again against sad sack teams.
Tony Sparano and Adam Gase were both able to make the playoffs in their first season by riding similar weak schedules...they followed those up poorly as well.
What happened the next year, once expectation had built up? He crashed and burned. On a team that was believed to be a Super Bown contender. It wasn't just that he picked the wrong QB...he made bad decisions over and over. The only good one was bringing Ricky back in. Saban's first year is also why I caution fans about Flores. Lots of bad coaches who have a skill in their game can exceed expectations on a bad team. It's when you actually have the expectation of playing good football week in and week out that really defines you. Flores has a lot of questions, and last year's management of the running game, personnel decisions (trading away talent, playing players in the wrong position), and QB decisions don't have me convinced. We will see.
