Saban had the intelligence and the coaching ability to be a great pro head coach, he just had a few issues.
1.He didn't deal well with criticism. In college he is one of the greats, and will go down as a top 5 coach of all time IMO (maybe even top 3 when all is said and done) so he never really got questioned. THe media was always questioning Saban and he shut them out which got criticism.
2. He had a bit of trouble relating to vets.
3.He listened to the wrong people. Saban's first year looked like he wanted to rebuild the "right way" (sign mid level vets and build through the draft). After we caught fire and finished the season above .500, he was convinced we only needed a QB. He listened to the wrong people and went Culpepper over Brees.
4. His drafting was a bit suspect. This is kind of hindsight, but he went mostly with guys he either coached, coached against, or recruited and drafted the best athletes rather than the best players.
Cam and Tony are a bit different. There were warning signs early on that Cam was in over his head. As I've said millions of times before, Tony's greatest strength is motivation (which he does well), but when the team gives up on you there is no way to motivate them to a high level again.
Listening to Philbin and reading reports I like what I hear, but we gotta let things play out.
1.He didn't deal well with criticism. In college he is one of the greats, and will go down as a top 5 coach of all time IMO (maybe even top 3 when all is said and done) so he never really got questioned. THe media was always questioning Saban and he shut them out which got criticism.
2. He had a bit of trouble relating to vets.
3.He listened to the wrong people. Saban's first year looked like he wanted to rebuild the "right way" (sign mid level vets and build through the draft). After we caught fire and finished the season above .500, he was convinced we only needed a QB. He listened to the wrong people and went Culpepper over Brees.
4. His drafting was a bit suspect. This is kind of hindsight, but he went mostly with guys he either coached, coached against, or recruited and drafted the best athletes rather than the best players.
Cam and Tony are a bit different. There were warning signs early on that Cam was in over his head. As I've said millions of times before, Tony's greatest strength is motivation (which he does well), but when the team gives up on you there is no way to motivate them to a high level again.
Listening to Philbin and reading reports I like what I hear, but we gotta let things play out.