re: A bit of trivia, LSU coaches number of games to win 25

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Nick Saban took 34 games to win 25. He was 25-9

Ed Orgeron took 34 games to win 25. He was 25-9

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So basically the same quality of coach.

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I simply posted stats, if you want to conclude that then you that is on you.

exactly... this roster is in excellent shape going forward and continues to get better

At his current pace, Hal Hunter only needs 24 more games to accomplish this feat

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cool thread mdom. not surprised to see les at the top

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Outside of MAYBE Cholly Mac, Les took over by far a better situation than any of the other coaches on the list so that IMHO must be considered when making a rational comparison.

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Did Curley ever get to 25 wins

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Curley was 16-28 at LSU

Miles machine was turnkey ready. BK's was not. Great stats op.

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Saban's was MUCH easier.

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DiNardo’s team had talent, but like with Kelly in his first pre-season, Saban had to work to fill out a full roster. And that was without the benefit of the portal and mass transfers. We didn’t have a full 85 in 99 because of all the players who either bailed or were kicked off the team, so we were low on numbers.

So I disagree with you. In terms of players, Saban and Kelly had a close to equal situation coming in on the heels of coaches who dropped the rope. Both had some impact players left over, but both also had a lot of work to do to fill out the roster and patch holes.

The major difference was ALL of the infrastructure that has been put in place over the last 23.5 years. That all started with Nick Saban forcing the issue to upgrade TS and upgrade the football and overall athletic facilities. Having that is a major difference. He took us from the back 1/3 of the SEC to near the top in facilities in just 5 years. And to Miles’ credit, he continued pushing that.

You can’t say having the facilities we have and the recruiting profile, which started with Saban, didn’t help Kelly out. But it’s not even about that, really. It’s that Saban had to rebuild the program from the ground up, raise the profile of recruiting, and rework all of the facilities at the same time. And push all of the fundraising necessary to do all of that. That’s just a lot more load to carry, and he still did it all at an elite level.

Kelly was able to focus more on rebuilding the team when he arrived because the facilities were in place and while recruiting needed to be patched up after O, it wasn’t like starting over from the ground floor.

I’m not trying to downplay what Kelly has done. I’m just saying that Saban, as he has proven throughout his career, is in a class by himself.

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A team can literally go worst to first now with NIL and the portal

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Agreed just ask Ole Miss!!











Wait…

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Saban and Kelly had a close to equal situation coming in on the heels of coaches who dropped the rope. Both had some impact players left over, but both also had a lot of work to do to fill out the roster and patch holes.

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Oh my fricking sweet lord. You can't believe this.

Kelly's starting situation was nowhere near Saban's starting situation.

And Saban had two eight-win seasons in his first three years. Kelly has avoided that crap.

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The major difference was ALL of the infrastructure that has been put in place over the last 23.5 years. That all started with Nick Saban forcing the issue to upgrade TS and upgrade the football and overall athletic facilities. Having that is a major difference. He took us from the back 1/3 of the SEC to near the top in facilities in just 5 years.

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No. That was NOT Nick Saban. That was Mark Emmert.

And "ALL of the infrastructure that has been put in place over the last 23.5 years" makes little difference in winning the first 25 games. Those games were won primarily with the players each coach had when he took over. Admittedly, Daniels came to LSU because he wanted to be coached by Kelly, but that just shows how depleted the roster was when Kelly got here.

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You can’t say having the facilities we have and the recruiting profile, which started with Saban, didn’t help Kelly out. But it’s not even about that, really. It’s that Saban had to rebuild the program from the ground up, raise the profile of recruiting, and rework all of the facilities at the same time. And push all of the fundraising necessary to do all of that. That’s just a lot more load to carry, and he still did it all at an elite level.

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Started with Emmert, not Saban. Emmert wanted to invest in LSU football as part of the flagship program. That's why LSU hired Saban in the first place.

But your point is demonstrably wrong in that Dinardo got LSU into the Top Five without the facilities that Emmert built. Dinardo showed that LSU could be successful in football. Dinardo just didn't have the support and acumen to remain consistently successful. Emmert saw what LSU could be, and he knew that LSU's football success would blossom even more if was properly supported.

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Kelly was able to focus more on rebuilding the team when he arrived because the facilities were in place and while recruiting needed to be patched up after O, it wasn’t like starting over from the ground floor.

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Yeah, Kelly could just focus on recruiting. He did not have to worry about things like player compensation, player management, and player retention. He did not have to worry about fundraising or NIL.

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I’m not trying to downplay what Kelly has done. I’m just saying that Saban, as he has proven throughout his career, is in a class by himself.

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Saban was a different coach at Alabama than he was at LSU. He certainly learned a lot on the job at LSU and at Miami. He benefitted greatly at Alabama by being a former LSU head coach.