Saban didnt build Michigan State up. His predecessor's winning pct was slighly over .500. Sabans was .585. He won no conference championships nor anything of note.
At LSU he had more talent than most teams he played. When he has more talent..he wins more than he loses.
In the NFL where talent gaps arent nearly as large as in the collegiate game...well ...he didnt build anything up, thats for certain.
When he arrived at Bama his record indicated the talent level. Once the Bama boosters began helping...he began winning.
Im not saying he is a bad coach...but to pretend that out talenting everyone hasnt played a large role in his record at Bama...cmon. Im sure he is better than average but IMO there are other coaches that could do the same as CNS if they had the opportunity.
With NIL and some of the collectives out there doing what they do and pulling talent away from Saban we may have the opportunity to see just how well he does when his team cant run faster, hit harder and jump higher than his opponents.
Well, we're officially way off topic lol. Of course talent plays a huge part. I said he's good at acquiring talent, using talent, and coaching. 2/3 of those revolve around talent, so I'm not pretending that talent isn't a huge part. But he is better at acquiring talent than other coaches, which factors in to him being a great HC.
When talking about building a program, the overall winning percentage doesn't show the full picture. To me, the best indicator is how good were they before he got there, and how good were they after he built them.
Mich St
Year before he got there: 0-11.
He got them to 10-2 in 5 years.
LSU
Year before he got there: 3-8 (doubt there was more talent there than most of the SEC)
He won them a national championship 3 years later, and he arguably turned them into the powerhouse they became for decades afterward.
Bama
Year before he got there: 6-7
He got them a natty 3 years later, and the rest is history with them.
That's two national championships won with senior classes that he didn't even recruit. But regardless of talent, not just anybody can win as consistently as he does, or else they would be doing it. There's a world of difference between plucking a national championship every once in a while to winning it almost every other year. He doesn't have THAT much more talent than Clemson, Georgia, Ohio St, Oklahoma, LSU, etc.
But anyway, Butch had a nice recruiting run for two years before it all came crashing down, despite his talent acquisition.