re: ESPN: How Alabama moved from Nick Saban to Kalen DeBoer in 49 hours

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Saban was protected by the his buddies at the NCAA for years and allowed to play by a different set of rules. A level playing field must have been tough to swallow.

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Perhaps. But I wouldn't say it is a completely level playing field because the big time programs are still the ones who are going to get the great players because they are willing to spend the most money. Even with the new "level playing field", Alabama had a top 2-3 recruiting class following a playoff birth in a "down" year for him.

He may not have liked it, but Saban had adapted to the new landscape. That, maybe more than anything, made him as great as he was. He was willing and able to adapt. It just got to the point where at his age there was really no reason to deal with the new, and ever changing headaches. He's made more money than he can ever really need and he's cemented himself as the greatest college football coach of the modern era. He had nothing more to prove or do.