Dabo Swinney

[Booker512]

So. Back in September, they asked him if he would consider replacing Nick Saban after he steps down, and he answered “never say never”, ok, that’s vanilla, I get it. But he loses to Syracuse Friday night, catches a red eye flight down to Tuscaloosa to get his picture taken for the 1992 national championship team he played on. Not saying he shouldn’t have went...but given the circumstances of his situation, I’m sure they would have accepted a Skype call over the Jumbotron...

I live 15 minutes from Clemson and I know a lot of fans weren’t thrilled about him going down there. Others criticized him for at least not wearing a Clemson pin on his shirt or at least a wrist ban. Something to just show his allegiance, others are in flat out denial he will ever leave, etc.

To me, it just seems like Dabo is destined to end up in Tuscaloosa. He’s from Alabama, played at Alabama, won a national championship as a player at Alabama, then has beaten Alabama to win a national title at another school.

The prophecy has been completed...

I was hoping once Nick Saban left Alabama, they would end up going back down hill again some. Into a vacuum of sorts. Lol. But now it just seems like they will at least remain a playoff team for years to come after Saban leaves. Meh.

We better hire a good coach. Because if Dabo goes to Tuscaloosa...and you know they will call him at the absolute least....our position could take another serious dent.

 

[508mikey]

What if Kirby Smart goes back to Alabama ? Its not taking him as long to build Georgia into a CFP team as it took Dabo at Clemson

 

[wildnkrazykat]

Dumb

 

[cherokeechief]

What if Kirby Smart goes back to Alabama ? Its not taking him as long to build Georgia into a CFP team as it took Dabo at Clemson

Kirby played at Georgia. He's home. Dabo, on the other hand, like Bear, may hear mama calling.


No matter who follows Saban, Alabama will still be Alabama, a school that won national championships before Saban and will again after him.

Face it: 1998 was an anomaly not the norm.

 

[05_never_again]

Kirby played at Georgia. He's home. Dabo, on the other hand, like Bear, may hear mama calling.


No matter who follows Saban, Alabama will still be Alabama, a school that won national championships before Saban and will again after him.

Face it: 1998 was an anomaly not the norm.

Yes. Kirby coached at Alabama, but he's not a Bammer. I don't think he's going anywhere, and if he keeps winning games like he is this season they'll pay any amount of money to keep him.

Dabo, on the other hand...the only thing not "Bammer" about him is the fact that he isn't coaching Alabama at the moment. Born in Birmingham, walked on and won a national title at Alabama, has 2 degrees from there, and then was an assistant coach there from 1993-2000. He has one of the best track records of any active head coach and has won a national title. He even says the silly, obnoxious stuff that sounds like something Alabama's fans would say ("BYOG! Bring your own guts!").

The only reason I'm not 100% convinced that Dabo wouldn't go to Alabama once Saban hangs it up is that it is almost too obvious. Which isn't a really compelling reason. Sometimes things that are that obvious don't have a way of playing out like everybody thinks they will.

I think a blueprint for Alabama falling off their perch could go down like this:

1. Saban retires.
2. Alabama hires Dabo. Dabo keeps the recruiting machine going, but there are always 1-2 games a year where they slip up a little bit and lose to a team they shouldn't. These losses cost them going to the SECCG, or they happen in the SECCG itself and deny them a playoff spot. They finish in the top 10 every year and are a very good team, but don't win enough championships. Basically, they are a better version of pre-2015 Clemson or 2015-2016 Oklahoma.
3. After 3-4 years of this, their fanbase becomes enraged and runs him out of town on a rail.
4. They make the wrong hire to replace Dabo, who returns the program to mediocrity over the ensuing 3-4 years.

Tennessee fans know better than perhaps any other the dangers of firing your "very good coach" in an effort to land an elite one. If Alabama is going to drop from its perch, I suspect they would follow a similar pattern.

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

Much ado over nothing

 

[CookieVol]

Yes. Kirby coached at Alabama, but he's not a Bammer. I don't think he's going anywhere, and if he keeps winning games like he is this season they'll pay any amount of money to keep him.

Dabo, on the other hand...the only thing not "Bammer" about him is the fact that he isn't coaching Alabama at the moment. Born in Birmingham, walked on and won a national title at Alabama, has 2 degrees from there, and then was an assistant coach there from 1993-2000. He has one of the best track records of any active head coach and has won a national title. He even says the silly, obnoxious stuff that sounds like something Alabama's fans would say ("BYOG! Bring your own guts!").

The only reason I'm not 100% convinced that Dabo wouldn't go to Alabama once Saban hangs it up is that it is almost too obvious. Which isn't a really compelling reason. Sometimes things that are that obvious don't have a way of playing out like everybody thinks they will.

I think a blueprint for Alabama falling off their perch could go down like this:

1. Saban retires.
2. Alabama hires Dabo. Dabo keeps the recruiting machine going, but there are always 1-2 games a year where they slip up a little bit and lose to a team they shouldn't. These losses cost them going to the SECCG, or they happen in the SECCG itself and deny them a playoff spot. They finish in the top 10 every year and are a very good team, but don't win enough championships. Basically, they are a better version of pre-2015 Clemson or 2015-2016 Oklahoma.
3. After 3-4 years of this, their fanbase becomes enraged and runs him out of town on a rail.
4. They make the wrong hire to replace Dabo, who returns the program to mediocrity over the ensuing 3-4 years.

Tennessee fans know better than perhaps any other the dangers of firing your "very good coach" in an effort to land an elite one. If Alabama is going to drop from its perch, I suspect they would follow a similar pattern.

When there is no hope for winning, at least there is hope for Bama losing.....eventually. I can dig it.

 

[05_never_again]

When there is no hope for winning, at least there is hope for Bama losing.....eventually. I can dig it.

They will be mediocre again at some point. It is absolutely inevitable. However, it won't be until several years after Saban retires, IMO.

Saban will have them rolling as long as he stays there, and if he gets even a whiff that can no longer field a team on a year in, year out basis that can win titles, he'll hang it up at that point.

A mark of Saban is that his teams are always "ready to play." They don't win every single game, but when they do lose, it is never because they look unprepared to play.

Whoever replaces him is going to occasionally lose a game here and there not because they are outplayed by an opponent but because they didn't play their best or near their best. Dabo, as good of a coach as he is, has a reputation for this (although it has been diminished given he's gone to back to back title games). When that happens to him, or whoever the coach is, Alabama's fans aren't going to know how to handle it, and that guy's seat will get red hot super fast.

 

[T-TownVol]

Yawn....

 

[SmokyRiverDog]

Yes. Kirby coached at Alabama, but he's not a Bammer. I don't think he's going anywhere, and if he keeps winning games like he is this season they'll pay any amount of money to keep him.

Dabo, on the other hand...the only thing not "Bammer" about him is the fact that he isn't coaching Alabama at the moment. Born in Birmingham, walked on and won a national title at Alabama, has 2 degrees from there, and then was an assistant coach there from 1993-2000. He has one of the best track records of any active head coach and has won a national title. He even says the silly, obnoxious stuff that sounds like something Alabama's fans would say ("BYOG! Bring your own guts!").

The only reason I'm not 100% convinced that Dabo wouldn't go to Alabama once Saban hangs it up is that it is almost too obvious. Which isn't a really compelling reason. Sometimes things that are that obvious don't have a way of playing out like everybody thinks they will.

I think a blueprint for Alabama falling off their perch could go down like this:

1. Saban retires.
2. Alabama hires Dabo. Dabo keeps the recruiting machine going, but there are always 1-2 games a year where they slip up a little bit and lose to a team they shouldn't. These losses cost them going to the SECCG, or they happen in the SECCG itself and deny them a playoff spot. They finish in the top 10 every year and are a very good team, but don't win enough championships. Basically, they are a better version of pre-2015 Clemson or 2015-2016 Oklahoma.
3. After 3-4 years of this, their fanbase becomes enraged and runs him out of town on a rail.
4. They make the wrong hire to replace Dabo, who returns the program to mediocrity over the ensuing 3-4 years.

Tennessee fans know better than perhaps any other the dangers of firing your "very good coach" in an effort to land an elite one. If Alabama is going to drop from its perch, I suspect they would follow a similar pattern.

What "very good coach" did Tennessee fire? Very mediocre and declining Phil Fulmer had already replaced very good Phil Fulmer.

 

[05_never_again]

What "very good coach" did Tennessee fire? Very mediocre and declining Phil Fulmer had already replaced very good Phil Fulmer.

Fulmer. He was in decline but he was fired a year after a 10-4 season and an SEC East title. That sounds absolutely amazing in hindsight.

It's all relative. This fanbase was aching for an SEC East title last year like a homeless man begging for a morsel of food, yet just 10 short years ago we fired a guy who provided said title the year before. It's just amazing how in coaching it is not the raw number of wins and losses that matters as far as a coach's job security - it's how they perform relative to expectations (which sometimes are reasonable, other times are not) and the trajectory of the program.

Finebaum is a polarizing guy, but he does makes good points, one of which is that he thinks Butch has done a tremendous job of lowering the expectations of the fanbase. I think he genuinely believes he had a really good season last year, and he seems to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince the fans and media that this is the case. Where he comes from (Central Michigan and Cincinnati) 8-9 wins and a trip to a decent bowl game is a good season. But this is Tennessee.

BTW, I'm not saying any of this to suggest that Fulmer should not have been fired. I think he should have been. You just have to be careful what you wish for.

 

[LouderVol]

Fulmer. He was in decline but he was fired a year after a 10-4 season and an SEC East title. That sounds absolutely amazing in hindsight.

It's all relative. This fanbase was aching for an SEC East title last year like a homeless man begging for a morsel of food, yet just 10 short years ago we fired a guy who provided said title the year before. It's just amazing how in coaching it is not the raw number of wins and losses that matters as far as a coach's job security - it's how they perform relative to expectations (which sometimes are reasonable, other times are not) and the trajectory of the program.

Finebaum is a polarizing guy, but he does makes good points, one of which is that he thinks Butch has done a tremendous job of lowering the expectations of the fanbase. I think he genuinely believes he had a really good season last year, and he seems to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince the fans and media that this is the case. Where he comes from (Central Michigan and Cincinnati) 8-9 wins and a trip to a decent bowl game is a good season. But this is Tennessee.

BTW, I'm not saying any of this to suggest that Fulmer should not have been fired. I think he should have been. You just have to be careful what you wish for.

Butch didn't lower expectations, 1 year of Kiffin, 3 years of Dooley, 2 years with no NFL drafts and 3? years of no bowls did that. If we had lowered expectations we wouldn't be firing him. I can say personally he raised my expectations, going into last year I never expected to beat Florida, or to beat Georgia. and thats why this year sucked, he gave us clear regression, hard to do if he is lowering expectations.

10 years isn't a short time ago. 10 years ago we didn't have smart phones, 10 years ago was before Obama got elected, 10 years ago we were still in the economic boom before the recession. 10 years ago we had the best women's basketball coach, and a darn good men's basketball coach. 10 years is a lot of time.

 

[05_never_again]

Butch didn't lower expectations, 1 year of Kiffin, 3 years of Dooley, 2 years with no NFL drafts and 3? years of no bowls did that. If we had lowered expectations we wouldn't be firing him. I can say personally he raised my expectations, going into last year I never expected to beat Florida, or to beat Georgia. and thats why this year sucked, he gave us clear regression, hard to do if he is lowering expectations.

10 years isn't a short time ago. 10 years ago we didn't have smart phones, 10 years ago was before Obama got elected, 10 years ago we were still in the economic boom before the recession. 10 years ago we had the best women's basketball coach, and a darn good men's basketball coach. 10 years is a lot of time.

Butch lowered expectations once he dug the program out of the hole it was in post-Kiffin/Dooley. Like I mentioned before, I think Butch genuinely thinks he had a really good season last year. I think he thinks winning 8-9 games per year and going to Outback or Music City Bowls is OK to have as the ceiling of the program. He said at this year's media days that 2016 "wasn't a disappointment." Some reporter asked him after the South Carolina game if the adjustments made during the bye didn't work, and he snapped back "did we not just play a good football team?" South Carolina is not a good team this year, and they even had several key guys hurt. That's his Central Michigan and Cincinnati mentality showing.

I'm not sure why you didn't expect to beat Florida or Georgia last year, especially Florida. We were pretty clearly better on paper than both of them and were favored in both games. The only reason I was skeptical we'd win either game is because Butch is a mediocre at best gameday coach. Of course leave it to Butch to do the hard part (beat Florida/Georgia) but piss it away by losing to South Carolina and Vandy.