re: CBK didnt have the culture now Saban is losing the culture

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Saban will never do well with players that are paid legally because he cannot control the conditions. Saban is a big external motivation guy. Saban's culture was built around complete control and players agreed to it in the day because, they made a little on the side and it was a path to the NFL. All external motivators for players to do what he wants. Now many of the external motivators Saban used traditionally are not there because of NIL. Players can go play, get paid, have a path to NFL and not have Saban up their backsides daily.

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I think you are substantively correct, however, this is not the reason Bama is slipping.

The slip started in 2018, long before NIL. It started when Clemson boat-raced them in the national championship. That game ended the era of Bama being the college football unchallenged alpha. Before that, Bama only lost when a QB had a Superman game, and even then it was close.

A year later, LSU ran them off their own field in a game that was dominated in a way the final score did not indicate. And last year, before NIL really hit, a crap LSU team almost beat them, then Georgia pushed their shite in.

From 2018 to 2022 we are seeing a Bama team that no one fears. They won that championship in the pandemic year, and good for them. Saban deserved it because he held his team together when everyone else folded. But that was Saban’s last, and he will never win another.

I think the slide started when Alabama had to move away from the smash-mouth style to the flag football they play now. It’s effective but not intimidating.