quietfan 233 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Uhhh... before this turns into another gay thread, let me clarify... Ray Mellick's opinion on Saban's coaching staff: http://www.al.com/sports/birminghamnews/rm....xml&coll=2 Saban staff not what Tide fans had hoped forThursday, February 22, 2007 As the highest paid college football coach in America, Nick Saban can afford to be generous. In looking over the long-awaited coaching staff assignments Saban announced this week, that generosity became apparent. There is one associate head coach (Burton Burns), two assistant head coaches (Joe Pendry and Kirby Smart), and four coordinators (Major Applewhite on offense, Kevin Steele on defense, Curt Cignetti in recruiting and Ron Middleton on special teams, if you consider the special teams coach special enough to be the coordinator). Makes you wonder what was wrong with Bo Davis and Lance Thompson that they couldn't get some kind of title - Duke? Earl? Duke of Earl? - thrown their way. Titles are simply for show, of course. Saban has already said he doesn't want any of his assistants communicating to the public. He has this "one voice" hang-up, where he believes every staff should speak with one voice, and in Alabama's case that one voice belongs to Saban. He did suggest that eventually, if he is convinced he can trust them, Saban might let the coordinators do an interview now and then - but only when he is convinced they'll say exactly what he wants them to say. So why all the titles? Usually it's a means of hiring a guy away from another staff, of allowing that guy to say he's leaving to put a better job on his resume. But really, look at this staff. Thompson, Davis, Smart, Pendry and Cignetti were out of work. Applewhite and his former boss Todd Graham had what sounded like a bit of a falling out over the credit Applewhite was getting for Rice's offense. Those around Graham wonder if Applewhite would have been included on Graham's staff at Tulsa. The argument could be made that Steele went to Florida State believing he would be Bobby Bowden's replacement one day, but something happened to make him feel he might not be the chosen one. So maybe the titles are a way to justify the money Saban was rumored to be offering these guys to come on board. Burns, for example, was well-liked and respected at Clemson and, it is believed, received a $100,000 raise plus the chance to go back to recruiting his native Louisiana as enticement for coming to Alabama. Saban found hiring a staff not particularly easy. He approached several assistants with Alabama connections, and was frustrated at being turned down by all of them. That's not to say this is a bad staff. But it's hardly the kind of all-star staff many Tide fans were hoping for. What is apparent from this staff, however, is that Saban understands good players make good coaches. Almost all of these guys have reputations as outstanding recruiters. Really, how important is it to have brilliant football minds coaching every position? Saban's specialty is defense, and he has a solid, veteran offensive line coach in Pendry and a bright, promising offensive coordinator in Applewhite. The rest just need to do as they are told. Saban understands that you can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you don't have players, titles won't mean a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,451 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Wow, Mellick writes something and you cant actually see the Kool-Aid stains. I was going to do an article on this and may with greater detail. But credit Mellick, he gets the essential points across. 1) Several of these guys were not employed last season. 2) Applewhite MAY end up being a great OC, but I would hold my breath until he adjusts to the speed of the SEC Defenses. 3) The number of Alabama tied folks that turned him down is kind of telling. The total number of turn downs can be very telling. 4) The only assts I actually know I would have hired are Steele and Middleton. 5) Mellick and PF are both very put off with all the "titles" being tossed around. PF was brutal yesterday during the few minutes I caught on the radio going to get Ethan. Think about this in the business world. Why do you hand out titles like this? It is to sauve wounds or stroke egos. It is never a good thing at any time. This many, and they have yet to win a ball game, is kind of extreme. At , , , not an asst hc nor an associate hc anywhere. Normal HC-Coordinators-position coaches. has the full associate hc (DC Chavis), asst HCs (Cutcliffe OC, Trooper Taylor WR-Player Development) has an Asst HC (DC Strong) did have an asst HC in Kines, but it was because Shula was in over his head in some things as he became the HC. The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legionfield 0 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Wow, Mellick writes something and you cant actually see the Kool-Aid stains. I was going to do an article on this and may with greater detail. But credit Mellick, he gets the essential points across. 1) Several of these guys were not employed last season. 2) Applewhite MAY end up being a great OC, but I would hold my breath until he adjusts to the speed of the SEC Defenses. 3) The number of Alabama tied folks that turned him down is kind of telling. The total number of turn downs can be very telling. 4) The only assts I actually know I would have hired are Steele and Middleton. 5) Mellick and PF are both very put off with all the "titles" being tossed around. PF was brutal yesterday during the few minutes I caught on the radio going to get Ethan. Think about this in the business world. Why do you hand out titles like this? It is to sauve wounds or stroke egos. It is never a good thing at any time. This many, and they have yet to win a ball game, is kind of extreme. At , , , not an asst hc nor an associate hc anywhere. Normal HC-Coordinators-position coaches. has the full associate hc (DC Chavis), asst HCs (Cutcliffe OC, Trooper Taylor WR-Player Development) has an Asst HC (DC Strong) did have an asst HC in Kines, but it was because Shula was in over his head in some things as he became the HC. The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? Who were all of these coaches with so-called "Alabama connections" that turned him down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM4AU 336 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 I didn't keep up with it but I heard Dabo Sweeney on the radio today talk about turning Saban down to stay at Clemson. In the same interview he mentioned how he didn't walk on at UAT but "crawled on." Just sayin'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,451 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Dabo, Freddie Kitchens and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tigrinum Major Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? What is the pecking order? Head Coach, Grand Poobah, Assistant Head Coach, Assistant to the Assistant Manager, Associate Head Coach, Disassociated Booster, Coordinator, Wedding Planner, Position Coach? Is that it or am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAR-MATT 2 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? What is the pecking order? Head Coach, Grand Poobah, Assistant Head Coach, Assistant to the Assistant Manager, Associate Head Coach, Disassociated Booster, Coordinator, Wedding Planner, Position Coach? Is that it or am I missing something? I'm not so sure it's going to be that big of a deal, he's done this everywhere he has coached. But I will go ahead and predict Steele will be one and done at Bama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietfan 233 Posted February 23, 2007 Author Share Posted February 23, 2007 The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? What is the pecking order? Head Coach, Grand Poobah, Assistant Head Coach, Assistant to the Assistant Manager, Associate Head Coach, Disassociated Booster, Coordinator, Wedding Planner, Position Coach? Is that it or am I missing something? You left out Head Ice Cream Steward, Bear Statue Polisher, and Executive Money Launderer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Dabo, Freddie Kitchens and others. If you can't take the heat. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUslug 1 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Dabo, Freddie Kitchens and others. If you can't take the heat. . . Last picture of Kitchens I saw it looked like the kitchen is his favorite room in the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 I concur. He needs to lay off the fried Twinkies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexbo 104 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 The thing that makes all this sssooo unusual for UAT is that the Coordinators ARE NOT the asst nor associate HC! That is catching several eyes here and in the media. What is the chain of command? When there is a problem, who do you go to? More to the point, when things go wrong, can Saban pass the buck off to someone else? CNS is supposed to be highly organized. Anyone want to speculate why he is organized in such a way? I have seen this many times before, dictatorial leaders much prefer a horizontal team structure, so they can micromanage everyone; they do not have the trust to delegate. The thought of trusting someone else managing a subset team of people under them just drives them crazy, they have to be in complete control. Some of these dictatorial managers push the secondary layers down to the bottom so everyone below them is at the same level, or pull everyone up to assistants and associates. Saban chose the latter... These dictatorial leaders are usually successful in the short term because they are results driven and push everyone so hard; but never in the long term because the good people working for them just won't put up with it for very long. 'Bama may peak in about 3 years, but assuming Saban stays around longer than that; watch the turmoil and conflict on the staff, it will be quite a ride... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickerman97 3 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I have seen this many times before, dictatorial leaders much prefer a horizontal team structure, so they can micromanage everyone; they do not have the trust to delegate. The thought of trusting someone else managing a subset team of people under them just drives them crazy, they have to be in complete control. Some of these dictatorial managers push the secondary layers down to the bottom so everyone below them is at the same level, or pull everyone up to assistants and associates. Saban chose the latter... These dictatorial leaders are usually successful in the short term because they are results driven and push everyone so hard; but never in the long term because the good people working for them just won't put up with it for very long. 'Bama may peak in about 3 years, but assuming Saban stays around longer than that; watch the turmoil and conflict on the staff, it will be quite a ride... Well said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I'm really not understanding the whole "the assistants can't take it!" arguments. They're not babies. If they were, then they wouldn't be in this profession. If they are, they need to go somewhere else. "He just pushes them too hard!" - Nancy the soccer mom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAR-MATT 2 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I'm really not understanding the whole "the assistants can't take it!" arguments. They're not babies. If they were, then they wouldn't be in this profession. If they are, they need to go somewhere else. "He just pushes them too hard!" - Nancy the soccer mom Perkins had the reputation for treating coaches like this as well and we saw how that ended up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexbo 104 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Check out Dilbert this morning, he has captured Saban's management style perfectly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickerman97 3 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Check out Dilbert this morning, he has captured Saban's management style perfectly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,451 Posted February 26, 2007 Share Posted February 26, 2007 I am sure Dilbert is a good example of the Saban mgt style. This could go on all season too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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