I rarely post other school's boards....people who do IMHO tend to be either suckups or disruptors, and I'm neither. That said, here's my 2 cents, take it FWIW.
I'm not a Bama hater--at least I don't hate them any more than I do the rest of the SEC....Tide fans are generally too full of themselves and think too highly of their program, but you can make that generalization about any fanbase in the SEC, save the bottom dwellers.
What's driving the LSU hostility toward Saban is not fear--I think the last seven years have shown that LSU need not fear anybody. Nor is it jealousy--We have Miles, whom the rest of the country takes lightly, but he just keeps getting results, on the field and on signing day, and frankly he's a much better fit personality-wise than Saban ever was. You can say that he's doing it with Saban's players, but starting this past season, half the roster, including many starters and key backups, were Miles recruits, and even Saban's guys have been in the Miles system for two years now, and arguably he's been a bigger influence on them--Remember that these guys were freshmen and sophomores under Saban, and very few were getting meaningful playing time. In short, I like where our program is heading.
Very few LSU fans expected Saban to end his career here, and I don't think many begrudged him taking a shot at the pros. Many of us do resent the way he bolted, leaving us to scramble and find a coach at the last minute, and putting his successor behind the eight ball in recruiting. We also didn't like the way he mailed in his coaching performance in the Cap One Bowl.
What we didn't expect was for him to jump from what was ostensibly his dream job to one of our SECW rivals (now he's saying Bama is his dream job--how many dream jobs does he have???) That can't help but be a shock, and his actions since then haven't smoothed the waters. Let's recap:
1. Saban's official announcement is pushed back one day, and just HAPPENS to fall on January 3d, the day of the Sugar Bowl, when LSU is supposed to have center stage.
2. Then in his press conference a day or two later, Nick attempts to take credit for LSU's Sugar Bowl win, by saying it was done with his players. Totally classless thing to say, and again from our perspective it's another attempt to elbow his way into LSU's spotlight.
3. Add to that the fact that he's coming after our players and our recruits. While that's the way the game is played, we can't help but resent it in a big way. (Interesting sidenote--Nick may find the sledding a little tougher this time around--there's a story going around the LSU boards about him calling an assistant coach at one of the powerhouse Louisiana high school football programs asking about one of his up and coming prospects, and instead getting an earful from the high school coach re: character and truthfulness.)
4. Finally, Saban gets introduced to the Bama faithful at the LSU basketball game. I mean, come on. You don't expect us to take offense at that?
I'm sure you can offer explanations for all that, and maybe you'd be right. But put it all together, and a pattern starts to emerge. He really does seem obsessed with LSU--he's not focusing nearly as much energy on his in-state rival, Auburn. To me, it looks like Saban is not only trying to build Bama up, he's trying to knock LSU down, and I for one resent the hell out of it. If I may play amateur psychologist here, Nick's psyche can't afford to see LSU successful, because in his mind, it would diminish his own accomplishments in Baton Rouge. Nick is in some ways a very screwed up guy mentally. I don't mean that as a slam on the man; we all have our own issues to deal with, and driven high achieving individuals often moreso than others. I'm just saying that's part of the package you get with Saban.
In summation, I for one don't have anything against Alabama. I want to beat you every year, but other than that, I don't think about Bama that much. Saban, however, is another matter. I never disliked him before, and I don't even dislike him now. But he has chosen to personalize all this with his recent actions, and we can't help but react accordingly.