I DO LIKE how we got there.
Wanny is gone.
AND, IF Wanny was still here, your "not hard to play it" statement loses credibility.
Many people enjoy making "obvious" statements when they refer to a situation built by hard work and intelligent decisions of others. It IS "not hard to play it" when you are presented with all the choices Saban's work has delivered to us.
His intelligent manipulation of the media (no communication), pick strategy (we want who?) and patience have cultivated a flurry of activity by other clubs positioning themselve to move up to #2. He has developed a market for a pick that originally "not many wanted" to one "many teams want" now.
Don't stand on his shoulders and glow in all the possibilities, then say ANYONE could have done this. Your oversimplification denounces his hard work and strategy.
We NEEDED last year to happen to alter the course of this ship. Sometimes, you have to realize Ricky's actions were a blessing. He accelerated what needed to happen.