It’s interesting that our new DCoordinator came from Alabama and we seem to have no interest from any of the BAMA portal players. But then again, we had no interest from any of the Oklahoma players to follow Lebby.
BAMA Portal Players
- Thread starter Leeshouldveflanked
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Saban made no effort at all to keep him. None.
Just another day. The only coach I've ever seen come in here and actually take advantage of their name cache was Mike Leach. Croom didn't do it, Mullen didn't do it (Cam comes to mind). Moorhead sort of did it with Stevens and Shrader.
King Jackie might have, but I don't really remember crootin in 1990 time frame. Seems like he won with Rockey's players, but also signed a few big name MS guys like Moulds. Also opened up a lot of inroads in GA. But by and large he used the same blueprint Mullen did - stars from MS, overlooked guys from surrounding states, and JUCOs.
King Jackie might have, but I don't really remember crootin in 1990 time frame. Seems like he won with Rockey's players, but also signed a few big name MS guys like Moulds. Also opened up a lot of inroads in GA. But by and large he used the same blueprint Mullen did - stars from MS, overlooked guys from surrounding states, and JUCOs.
I would think Saban might have had retiring on his mind then. If so he really didn't care.
But is this a surprise? I would think head coaches in this situation recognize that a position coach who gets a coordinator gig elsewhere should take it. Also, Saban probably just looked at his roster of 437 analysts and picked one with experience coaching linebackers to replace Husler.
I'm sensing a theme here.
Saban requires a certain type to work with him. I don't think Lane falls into that category, nor does Golding, and Hutzler likely doesn't either. So that's the good news I guess, is that guys that Saban doesn't like can still be successful.
The bad news is, that laid back atmosphere generally does better in Oxford than it does in Starkville. Last time we tried it was Sloppy Joe. We also know that Lebby didn't play well with Venables (who is Saban-like).
Take what you will from this.
I still expected him to parlay some of the hoopla around his hiring into some recruiting wins. He had the first black coach part, the NFL pedigree (allegedly), the Bear Disciple stuff, but nope, he stayed in Green Bay during the most important part of his first class. Given, we did have pending sanctions. And then he also tried to be an offensive wizard rather than embracing his role as a recruiter/CEO.
He did show glimpses from time to time too, with guys like Pegues. Remember, Mullen won a lot of games with Croom's leftovers.
Lebby has rebuilt an offense from scratch with nothing to sell but himself.
I'm not seeing what some of you are seeing about this recruiting haul. The class was always going to get better just by adding actual players. The high school class looks about like it always does, trade for a few WRs instead of DL. The portal class is, well, what everybody else is doing - hard to tell how those dudes will turn out. Who knows about Shapen.
Seems like most of the transfers are just looking for PT and opportunities, rather than just playing for Lebby. I will say he definitely caught a little juice with the high school guys there at the end, but I'd hardly call it a miracle worker - it's more just doing what you're supposed to do.
The state of the class when Lebby was hired compared to what he ultimately signed is night & day. Had Arnett been retained, our class would've likely ended up in the 60's. Lebby came in and immediately got attention from players that didn't even have us on their radar.
Now, could any warm body come in and improved the trajectory form where Arnett had it? Probably. But the reality is that Lebby salvaged this class with less than a month on the job.
We had absolutely nothing to sell and he has rebuilt the offensive line with some pretty decent talent. Pounders, Miner and Martinez are really nice gets on the OL. The kid from UTEP was a great haul. He closed Stonka and got Craver who we likely weren’t getting without someone to sell himself. And he got a qb with P5 experience. Fantastic job on the offensive side in my opinion when he inherited a total rebuild and a 5-7 season
go look at the portal. Unless Prime is the coach high end kids aren’t going places that went 5-7 for the most part.
I agree with all of that, mostly.
I am questioning the "high end kids" part.
And "nothing to sell" is a little much. A new coach can always sell excitement, newness, all that stuff. They all do that, assuming they aren't totally lazy like Croom. Mullen even did that, came in and got Bumphis and some others, and then got some JUCOs we weren't on. Obviously can't judge the portal vs. Mullen.
I'm basically saying that this is normal, not some miracle.
I think we are both speculating to some extent but I’d say Mullen sold himself as did Lebby (which was the point of your first post). I don’t think any coach could have come in and done that on the offensive side of the ball. And it’s likely why we didn’t do great on defense. If Lebby were a defensive mastermind we may have had more success there and less on the offensive side.
It does suck for Bama that all their players can leave but they missed the window of the portal. I don't necessarily feel sorry for them but I get why their fans would be upset.
You guys are forgetting there's a salary cap. He may be saving some funds this time to play more next time around.
Since rumors are encouraged here have any of you heard of this one? My niece and her husband are bama alums and they said one that is going around in Tuscaloosa is that Mrs Saban has alzheimer's. Rece Davis in an interview asked Saban if there were any health issues with him or his wife and he said no. Could and probably is a bs rumor but that is one going around among some over there.
What Lebby walked into was not normal. There was an iceberg size hole in the side of the ship called Arnett and the 3 stooges. What Lebby did in 1 month may not be a miracle, but it was much more than just normal. The talent level haul may be close to what we are used to but it was quite the recovery.
Guess how many AL players Golding has gotten to OM the last year since he arrived.
So...people checking out, is not just a Bulldog disease.
28 in the portal, With uncertainty people re-explore their options.
28 in the portal, With uncertainty people re-explore their options.
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