True, he may have a bigger player pool but I'm not convinced at all that this is a better approach. Saban was looking for players with certain physical attributes as well as players with a certain character. He would ask his scouts and Mueller to find a player that fit a certain mould. To me that indicates that he has a plan and is committed to following through on it. The other approach is somewhat loosy goosy: select talented players and bring them into the fold . By casting a bigger net, don't forget that it means he might be catching a lot of crap. I also don't buy that Saban wasn't willing to be flexible. You don't need to look any further than ZT's play this year. He is not your prototypical Saban player from a physical standpoint and yet he thrived in Saban's defense. Saban had a plan on how to achieve his goals. Nothing wrong with that. There are lots of players in the NFL who are playing for teams and are being used poorly. I would rather have a plan in place of what it is you are looking for before wasting time on players that don't fit your system. Your argument that CC makes the best of what he's got can also apply to Saban. Incidentally, I don't think that CC's philosophy is how you have described things. I think he will definitely be searching for certain types of players. The problem with Mueller and Saban is that they (apparently) werren't on the same page. It's not a criticism of either men. The relationship just didn't work and in order to have success in the NFL today, you need both men pulling in the same direction.
I agree with much of this, but not all of it. While it is absolutely necessary to have a philosophy, there must be significant room for flexibility. In the modern NFL era, player selection/retention is as much about value as it is a "system". If you are signing and drafting players to fit a narrow system, you must be nearly mistake free in your selections, or you're going to wind up over paying for that privelege. Saban had a system in place that was very narrow, and the end result was a decent first draft, and a substandard 2nd. The players he really needed for his system simply weren't available to him at his selection, so he over-reached.
In addition to the value equation, is the actual system implementation. Saban's system might have led to greatness in Miami, but not until the entire team was stocked with players that matched his specific and narrow criteria. The problem is, the team was aging and we would have huge roster turnover, preventing him from ever creating the team his system needed. This narrow a system forced him to sometimes start players with less talent because they were more in line with his system than a better player who was forced to ride the bench...see the Bell situation. The same could be said with Culpepper starting...it fit his system and was worth the risk to him, but he waited too late to make the change to Harrington to salvage the season.
Saban wasn't completely inflexible, but his inability to make quick and significant adjustments to fit his talent coupled with his reaching in the draft and free agency were his undoing here. I believe Cameron will offer more flexibility in his approach to using players and modifying systems to strengths...helping us acheive maximum value in the draft and quicker changes on the field.
Saban, by his own fault, didn't have enough time in the NFL to reach that success as far as record is concerned. He did, however, lay a pretty good foundation for Cameron. Anyone who can't see what Saban accomplished in his two years here is either a blinded by anger or doesn't know football. Look at where the team was when he took over compared to now. It really isn't that difficult to see the differences.
You are correct that Saban is to blame for his lack of success based on his early departure, but the rest of your points are debatable. Let's analyze what Saban left us with, shall we?
On offense:
1. the QB position, we have a 2nd round pick that may never recover, a 5th or 6th round pick destined to stay a backup for the remainder of his career, and a project suitable for grooming to be a solid backup.
2. Saban has provided little to no upgrades on offensive line, a serious weakness to this team over the last several years.
3. At the receiver slot, Booker and Welker are our most dependable, with a very shakey number 1 guy in CC and a rookie draft pick that struggles to get separation without creating OPI penalties. Not horrible, but hardly "promising".
4. TE position is occupied by a freshly overpayed underacheiver with tons of ability...the question is whether or not it will be realized.
5. Lastly, at RB, we have Ronnie Brown, a player with good hands, decent blocking skills, and a tough and decent YPC average. Unfortunately, Brown is not as durable as you would hope out of a #1 back, and his vision and big play ability aren't as high as you would like. Still, a decent pick, but the value end of this equation isn't what it should be. There is also the possibility of the return of the drugged out Ricky Williams.
Overall grade: D
On Defense:
1. A new scheme, which is working amazingly well...but how much of it is Capers?
2. Saban left the secondary in decline from previous years, some of which is not his fault. Nevertheless, the big moves were Allen and Allan, one of which gets torched for the big play, the other was a huge reach in the draft and hasn't yet grasped the safety or corner position.
3. At LB, Crowder was a solid pick and Zach has excelled, but I don't know that the core is any stronger than it was before he arrived.
4. DL he did a decent job with some new talent, but it is still a concern due to overall age of the unit. The injury bug could strike all at once with a unit this age.
5. Age is a serious problem for this D, and will show itself in short order.
Overall Grade: B
The upshot is that Saban left this team in very average condition, and at least on the offensive side of the ball, in potentially worse condition than when he began. Saban did some good things, but rating him as more than average is completely unwarranted.
