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Alabama Soccer Fans Worry About Incorrect Recruitment When CNS Withdraws
One thing is clear to Alabama football fans: No successor to Nick Saban will suffice. However, defined “enough”, the man who follows Nick will never be equal to Saban.
Even though Saban’s eventual retirement is likely to be five to eight (or more) years into the future, Alabama football fans are concerned now. Take a look at any Alabama soccer message board. The topic is often hot enough to span multiple pages.
Each individual claim of “Xxxx Xxxxx would be a good replacement for Saban” elicits negative responses. Dissent should not be surprising. Anyone looking to have fun like Greg Byrne will quickly realize the magnitude of the task ahead. To prepare, ADs are always expected to have a ready list. Assuming Byrne does, what are his standards for potential candidates?
Many Alabama football fans believe that the next Crimson Tide coach must have won a National Championship. Starting with the currently active coaches, the list would be of just five names. The five are Dabo Swinney, Jimbo Fisher, Mack Brown, Les Miles, and Ed Orgeron. Only one of the five, Dabo Swinney, attracts the constant interest of Alabama football fans.
Not all Crimson Tide fans are sold on Dabo. Those who are not now probably never will be. Even pro-Dabo fans admit that letting Clemson replace Nick Saban could turn out to be a massive miscalculation for the former Crimson Tide player.
Mentioning any of the other four brings a chorus of boos and whistles. If Greg Byrne starts with Dabo, a name is not a list. Urban Meyer’s name could be added to Byrne’s list. There are two problems with Urban. He may never train again and many Crimson Tide fans despise him.
The next expected step for Byrne would be to consider Saban’s disciples. There are many to choose from. Based on current college football coaches, the names Mario Cristobal, Jeremy Pruitt, Mel Tucker and Kirby Smart could be added. Every Crimson Tide fan who reads the sentence above shudders to think of one or more of those coaches. Christopher is probably the tastiest of the quartet. The other three need time and success to be considered.
Could Byrne’s roster include NFL head coaches? Certainly some trend names could be added. Some of them would even have Saban’s training tree credentials.
What about college or NFL guys who are not head coaches? That seems unlikely, although if Steve Sarkisian waits for the opportunity, an interview with Byrne would make sense.
Could Byrne repeat his bold hiring of Nate Oats by choosing a dark candidate horse? It almost certainly will not. No offense to Oats, who was an excellent employee, but Alabama basketball and Alabama soccer are worlds apart.
FanSided’s Patrick Schmidt explains why Nick Saban’s retirement should be several years away. We agree: Nick Saban is in no rush to retire.
Returning to Greg Byrne. It is one of the nation’s top commercials. When the time comes, a REALLY smart guy like Byrne will make a good decision – does he want it? And all Alabama football fans will unite behind whoever. As long as it’s not Kirby or Jeremy or Jimbo or Urban or …
