The Bodda Getta

This question is best answered by Jadennis with stats to back it up but IMO saban is an excellent recruiter but a only good coach. His defensive back schemes are very complex and he demands excellent study out of his d-backs which I can appreciate, but without the superior talent saban has been a par caoch. Everywhere he has been. Anotherwords, he could only win when his team had the talent to back him up. I think thats what drove saban to understand the neccessity of recruiting.

Granted he is a tireless worker on the recruiting trail, but in my opinion he fell ass backwards into a hot-bed of talent at LSU. His greatest achievement was when he convinced the kids in louisianna to stay home and go to LSU. Because of this he was able to build something special there with the talent to win games for him. Not having another university to contend with and a state full of great talent, saban was able to win and put his name at the top of the totem pole in college football driven media. Even after a sub-par NFL career he pulled off his other greatest feet to date. He was able to hold alabama(struggling at the time. both the team and the athletic director) for ransom. With bama having coaches turn down the job that their fans felt like is the top job in the country only fueled the fire to hire a big name or lose his(the AD's) job. That gave saban a lot of leverage. He then used that leverage to basically MAKE alabama give him complete control and the most money. Something that has rarely if ever happened in college football. The media then ate it up. They started proclaiming him the "Most powerful man in sports". Kids ate it up and made his life in recruiting top talent that much easier. You couple that with alabama's history(even if mostly made up and brainwashed into the public) you get what we've got today. I doubt highly that you would see saban coaching Duke to win the ACC.....

Thats pretty much a summary of what I think created saban. But point blank, without the superior talent, saban could not and would not win on the same level he is now. He is IMO a better recruiter than he is a coach. Great recruiter, Good coach.