Link: Saban says Alabama on its way, not there yet

[Whiz]

Linkage

“I only think there are three or four of what I’d call dominant programs in the country, and I don’t think we’re there yet,” Saban said during a wide-ranging sitdown with ESPN.com. “Florida is probably there. Texas is probably there. Oklahoma is probably close to being there. I know they’ve had issues this year, but who could afford to lose two top 5 picks, one of them being your quarterback, and not have it affect you in some kind of way? USC is certainly there.

“You get there when your players just go play because they want to be as good as they can be, and they’re going to do it every time they play. There doesn’t need to be some external factor that’s going to motivate them.”

How close are the Crimson Tide to being there?

“I’ll tell you at the end of this year,” Saban said.

 

[Bamafan78]

I like what he said here. If you are going to be the best you got to beat the best!

 

[TidePrideGA]

The man is simply never satisfied. He will never allow himself or the team to lose focus of what is at hand. That's how all the great ones are.

 

[NYBamaFan]

On his radio show, CNS said that Bama has a few very good leaders on the team, but that he wishes that we didn't need them. Essentially, he still sees key players on the team that have to be "motivated" by the team leaders (though he didn't come out and say it in so many words). Until he pointed out the deficiency in that, I had always assumed that every team needed that.

I think that CNS does a great job explaining why it hurts a team to have to rely on external factors to prepare for a game. The learning point for me is that he also considers fellow players to be external factors, preaching individual responsibility and personal desire to reach our full potential.

We are very lucky to have Saban...

 

[TidePrideGA]

On his radio show, CNS said that Bama has a few very good leaders on the team, but that he wishes that we didn't need them. Essentially, he still sees key players on the team that have to be "motivated" by the team leaders (though he didn't come out and say it in so many words). Until he pointed out the deficiency in that, I had always assumed that every team needed that.

I think that CNS does a great job explaining why it hurts a team to have to rely on external factors to prepare for a game. The learning point for me is that he also considers fellow players to be external factors, preaching individual responsibility and personal desire to reach our full potential.

We are very lucky to have Saban...

Thanks for sharing that, it is sort of amazing that some people do have to get motivated by external things.

 

[RTR_UA#1]

The man is simply never satisfied.

As soon as Coach Saban can get the whole team to not be satisfied then the TIDE will be unstoppable!

:BigA:

 

[Crimson Cat]

Alabama is not there yet for sure...I think too many BAMA fans (myself included) and national sports media have mistaken the quick turn-around job that CNS has done (see last season) as proof the job is complete. People forget he only has only really two top classes after a ton of attrition on top of trying to change a mental state of the football team who had become quite lackadaisical in their approach to playing and winning. All the while dealing with a rabid fanbase who's expectations of their football team extend beyond the reasonable. BAMA is just now getting to a point of being able to overcome severe depth issues as well. Yes, we are on the way, but aren't there yet.

 

[bamagradinATL]

Wow. If I were an albarn fan and read this I would cringe.

 

[Bama323]

Wow. If I were an albarn fan and read this I would cringe.

I wonder how many barners just searched "Nick Saban" on wikipedia to find out his age. LOL

 

[CATider]

On his radio show, CNS said that Bama has a few very good leaders on the team, but that he wishes that we didn't need them. Essentially, he still sees key players on the team that have to be "motivated" by the team leaders (though he didn't come out and say it in so many words). Until he pointed out the deficiency in that, I had always assumed that every team needed that.

I think that CNS does a great job explaining why it hurts a team to have to rely on external factors to prepare for a game. The learning point for me is that he also considers fellow players to be external factors, preaching individual responsibility and personal desire to reach our full potential.

We are very lucky to have Saban...

The process continues... CNS has a plan and nothing is going to derail it, much to our SEC opponents chagrin.

 

[bayoutider]

Nick always falls just short of saying we are good or he is satisfied. He keeps trying to get that last 1% out of everyone.

 

[bmb327]

I agree with CNS.. We aren't there yet. We are definately on our way, but until we have at least 5 years in a row of 10 plus wins, a couple of SEC Championships, and hopefully a National Championship we still haven't fully arrived. Keep up the great work coach and we will be there before you know it!

 

[TideEngineer08]

On his radio show, CNS said that Bama has a few very good leaders on the team, but that he wishes that we didn't need them. Essentially, he still sees key players on the team that have to be "motivated" by the team leaders (though he didn't come out and say it in so many words). Until he pointed out the deficiency in that, I had always assumed that every team needed that.

I think that CNS does a great job explaining why it hurts a team to have to rely on external factors to prepare for a game. The learning point for me is that he also considers fellow players to be external factors, preaching individual responsibility and personal desire to reach our full potential.

We are very lucky to have Saban...

We are lucky to have him. I also believe him when he says this is where he wants to be. I realize the circumstances that brought him here, and as you said, we're lucky.

His philosophy is one that I'm trying to ingrain into my own life. It works everywhere, not just on the football field.

 

[bamachile]

*sigh...*

I guess I need to take down my "Mission Accomplished" banner...

 

[ROLLTRIBE]

Wow. If I were an albarn fan and read this I would cringe.

I would just give up and become a Bama fan. Why continue to punish ones self?

 

[NYBamaFan]

I would just give up and become a Bama fan. Why continue to punish ones self?

Think about that for a second. You live in the state of Alabama, which has one of the most tradition rich football teams in the country, and you choose to support their little sister. :conf3:

I'm thinking that Auburn fans are lacking in some critical area that might help them here... :wink:

 

[Saban14]

The bottom line is that we >definitely< are not there yet. I realize we are number 1/2 in the nation depending on the poll, but this is one good year. Last year, we lost the most important games of our season by a combined 25 points. This year, we still have a first year starter QB, varying O-line play, inexperience at LB, and some varying CB play. Of course, we are an extremely good team. However, it's gonna take 4-5 more years of top notch recruiting, constant winning, excellent coaching, and rabid fan support before we are 'there'. There may still be some losses on the way, no doubt; but, look at how far we have come in the past 3 years. We have the man in charge to get the job done, now it's just about making incremental improvements (ie: "process") to get to be the top program again in major college football. Let's not abandon ship and lose hope if we drop a few until then.

ALL of this starts by beating UT...

 

[Alasippi]

I listened to the show about leadership. What he explained was that he wished he had a team where everyone was motivated within themselves and therefore didn't need other leadership to follow.

He used an example of one of his LSU teams saying that it had one incredible leader in Rohan Davey that everyone looked up to. When Davey performed well the whole team responded. But Davey had occassional migraine problems. Three times that season Davey developed a migraine before a game and therefore wasn't 100%. They lost all three games.
Because Davey was the team "leader" and wasn't performing,neither did the rest of the team.

So that's basically what the coach was saying. I think it was more of a theoretical viewpoint than an actual one. He wasn't saying he didn't want leadership from several players, he was saying he wished everybody was their own leader. Hope this makes sense...lol

sip

 

[NYBamaFan]

... He wasn't saying he didn't want leadership from several players, he was saying he wished everybody was their own leader. Hope this makes sense...lol

sip

Of course you want leadership, but you work to ensure that you do not rely on that leadership...

 

[paul02085]

On his radio show, CNS said that Bama has a few very good leaders on the team, but that he wishes that we didn't need them. Essentially, he still sees key players on the team that have to be "motivated" by the team leaders (though he didn't come out and say it in so many words). Until he pointed out the deficiency in that, I had always assumed that every team needed that.

I think that CNS does a great job explaining why it hurts a team to have to rely on external factors to prepare for a game. The learning point for me is that he also considers fellow players to be external factors, preaching individual responsibility and personal desire to reach our full potential.

We are very lucky to have Saban...

Amen to that.