re: When we got Saban from Michigan State what stood out about him?

Skip offered the max the BOS would approve

I've read a couple comments about Belichick being a reason they knew Saban would be good. These are some revisionist historical accounts. He had not won a damn thing in 1999.

Saban had the 1999 Michigan State at 10-2 with a victory over a good Florida team in the Citrus Bowl.

Michigan State was just placed on probation when Saban took over there and they hadn't had a winning season in 4 years. Even on probation, they never had a losing season under him and they won 10 games in his last year there (though he didn't coach the bowl). That was only their 2nd 10-win season in their history. So he kept building momentum there even under tough circumstances and was known as a great defensive mind (and LSU just had the Lou Tepper defensive debacle which ended Gerry DiNardo).

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how he took our losing players under DiNardo and turned them into winners in his first year.

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It is pretty crazy considering the loss to DiNardo in Dec. 95 which started the ‘sleeping giant’ business.

Got off a plane in NOLA from a honeymoon in St Lucia and drove to Shreveport just a few days later for that game.

Admittedly the hiring of Saban taught me a lesson. I know ZERO about evaluating a college football coach in regards to his potential.

I remember thinking, LSU just beat his team in a bowl game. And once at LSU, it seemed like a week didn’t pass where he didn’t kick a player off the team…..and some talented players as well.

I thought it was the worst hire we could have made. Hence, I’ll just sit back and wait for the announcement and then, give the new hire a fair shot.

I remember Nick (don’t call him Lou) wearing wire rim glasses (see earlier photos in thread) and having a lot of gray in his hair. But when he showed up at the LSU press conference he had contacts and dark brown hair. An obvious chance at a makeover that he embraces to this day.

I also remember being at that press conference and standing in front of him and thinking “ gee, this is the first LSU coach I can look eye-to-eye.”

And I remember speaking to Terri Saban and mentioned to her that she might want to meet Doug Moreau, the BR DA who everyone thought would be the next LSU AD, to which she replied: “The next AD will be whoever Mark (Emmett) and Nick say it will be.”

Ouch. She was right.

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He didn't have a great record or personality so what did he have ?

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I mean in a profession where total hick dumbfricks like Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, and Jim Harbaugh are highly regarded, he comes across as a normal, reasonably intelligent guy. He’s the one eyed man in the land of the blind

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I think the fact that he spent 3 years of working under Belichick at CLE was big too.

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Big simply bc he had NFL experience? Belichick at the time was still just a retread coach like we always see but not close to what he’s become. He had one good year with a Cleveland team that went on to become the Ravens and otherwise was pretty mediocre until a certain QB showed up in NE.

Saban did lead some decent defenses in CLE to be fair

I think Saban's Michigan State team of 1998 beat #1 ranked Ohio State at the Horseshoe and they also beat the shite out of Florida in the Citrus Bowl.