There are no more Sabans

Life is good right now if you are a fan of football at the University of Alabama. Recruiting is the best it's ever been, the team is dominating conference opponents, favorable media coverage is at an all-time high, and Coach Saban is a Hollywood-style superstar. The immediate future looks bright. Immediate success is seemingly inevitable. Enjoy it while it lasts, because glory is fleeting and there will never be another Nick Saban at Alabama. When he does leave, Alabama will likely slip back into mediocrity.

Football has changed. The landscape now is that of sleek, financially and personally driven, CEOs that run businesses instead of coaching young athletes. The successful coaches recruit around the clock. They have mission statements, processes, and goals. They deal with the macro-level generalities and micro-level minutia as if it were a large corporation. The problem is that there are very few of these individuals, and their numbers are finite and not re-produceable. Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, and Nick Saban are it. One has already left for greener pastures, one is facing early retirement, and the other is enjoying the pinnacle (and twilight) of his career. There are no "the next Sabans or Urban Meyers" in the pipeline. When they are gone, the success enjoyed by their teams is over. Look at USC, who went from Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin. Yes, new coaches will be hired. There will be recruiting success. New offenses will bring excitement. But no matter which Brian Kelley, Turner Gil, or Paul Johnson is hired, it will not be the same as Nick Saban.

Saban is the best coach since Bear Bryant's glory days. His recruiting is brilliant. His processes and practice style exponentially increases his player's abilities. He's a genius with red/grayshirts. He hires, and keeps, quality assistants. He graduates players. He is accountable and inspires coaches, players, and fans to be their best. But when he leaves, it all comes to an end. A new coach will bring inferior processes and styles, because compared to Saban they all are. He will not recruit as well. There will not be as much national excitement in the program as there is now. NOTHING will be the same.

Enjoy it now, because it won't last. There will be a day when a Sabanless Alabama falls back into mediocre competition with the other mediocre regional programs in the league. It will be a time when other teams take the limelight and relegate Alabama to .500 seasons and mid to low-tier bowls. It won't happen for lack of financial or fan support. It won't happen for a lack of passion or love for the school. It won't happen for the lack of game attendance. It'll happen because there are no more Sabans.