BOL Round Table

7

It would take 9 Championships at a minimum.

Coach Bryant should have won one at Kentucky and two more at Alabama, 1966 and 1977.
Just my thoughts.

this. the oldies will with teh bahr. the youngies side with sabben

Coach Bryant didn't make Alabama football it was built long before Bryant was the coach. Now he did revive it from a down era but so has Saban. I think with the attempt at parity in modern college football Saban may have had the most to overcome. Its difficult to compare coaches (or players) from different eras. You will notice one common theme amongst all former Alabama coaches. They had their greatest success while coaching at Alabama.

My guess is its the hot and cold people that need that.

There are a lot of fans where its all or nothing. You are either best or you suck.

I agree to a large extent. Coach Bryant won three championships during the "no subsition" era and three championships afterward. Coach Bryant was able to evolve as College Football changed.

I get the feeling he could have handled this present day era as well.

I loved Coach Bryant because as I grew up he was always a constant. Alabama football was in a championship discussion every year.

That has returned under Coach Saban. I very much like and admire Coach Saban for making Alabama Football relavent again. As long as Coach Saban is at Alabama we will always be in the running for a Championship.

I think you have a good argument, but I'll go ahead and say he needs one more. I consider them about equal right now because, as you said, CNS has to deal with recruiting restrictions but he is still such a good recruiter/coach that every year we distance ourself a little bit more from the 2nd-best program in the country, even with all the built-in new rules to ensure parity. Bryant never had to deal with that and even if you firmly believe he would have been successful in any era (as I do), it's still speculation to think that Bryant would have done as well in the modern game as Saban has proven he can do. So I say if he gets one more he's better than CPB - really if he gets one more, especially this year, I will then begin to argue that he is the best coach in CFB history, because 4 out of 5 is the greatest accomplishment in CFB history, especially in the current NCAA.

I saw somebody above mention that Bryant changed CFB. No doubt about that. But also consider this: would the SEC be on the different level that it is without Alabama being as good as we've been under Saban? Every year, SEC coaches get fired because the ADs know that their teams have no chance of competing with Alabama. That has caused the SEC to become the most dominant conference in CFB history. Never would have happened if Saban stayed in Miami. Let me ask you this: what did you think of the spread offense CUM ran at Florida in 2006? What about in 2009 with Tebow? What did you think of CUM then? What did you think of Tebow then? What did you think of the spread offense then, which had become the most prevalent type of offense in CFB nationally? And what do you think of it now that Saban has dominated it over and over again? I remember reading an article several years ago that posited that Urban Meyer was the next Bear Bryant. Saban chased him out of the conference and now he's beating up on high school teams in the midwest. I remember hearing that Tim Tebow was the best player in CFB history. Saban dominated him so badly he cried on national TV. I remember hearing that LSU 2011 was one of the best teams of all time. That's actually true, yet Saban still thrashed them in Nola, essentially a home game for them. I remember people saying Mack Brown was a competent coach and Texas a premier program. Neither have been the same since 1/7/09. And I remember when people said Notre Dame is back and CFB is about to change. Well, I'm pretty sure Lacy just ran over Teo for another TD. Do you remember how Michael Jordan used to destroy anyone who dared think they were better than him? Thats exactly what CNS does. So, yeah, maybe Bryant is a shade better now, but 1 more NC undoes that IMO. Either way, the two greatest coaches in CFB history both coached at Alabama, so that's pretty cool.

Had a BCS system existed while Bryant was a coach he very easily couldve played for 4-6 more NC's - including 1 at KY and 1 at TAMU...

So this argument will always be limited by the eras of football in which each coach competed. Bryant was ahead of his time in a lot of ways, and wanted to integrate his teams at TAMU and Bama well before the South was ready. Its a shame he wasnt allowed to. Can you imagine his legacy if he had? And can you imagine how much better his teams wouldve been than everybody else??

They are both icons of the sport, and if Saban 3peats and/or wins a couple more NC's he will be right next to the Bear in most ppls eyes

Respect should always be a priority...
You call them " icons " yet scoff showing them respect.
They are teachers and modellers of young men's lives.
We refer to college professors by " professor" or Doctor if they have achieved such.
Is the appointed position of Coach not worthy of respect?
If you do not see it as such you have clearly never played for a real "coach"

Perhaps you should address some " life priorities" and after all if football or our coaches are of such low priority to you,, why are you starting threads about them on a message board that you PAY to be a member of?

Well, since you asked....I love the University of Alabama and Alabama football. I however do not idolize MEN. See Penn State for what can go wrong.

I say we wait and let Nick Sabans career finish. We know what Bear did with his career, so we should wait until Nick finishes his career. Nick Saban might only coach 2-3 more years or he might coach 7-10 more years. A LOT can changed in a decade. Just ask the 2002 Alabama football team versus the 2012 Alabama football team.

Don't know about everbody else but I did, Why don't we just say the 2 Greatest Coaches, COACH BRYANT AND COACH SABAN, to ever coach college football did It at the UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA period.. ROLL TIDE ROLL