Hypothetical poll: how long would it take Saban to win a championship here?

[slugboy]

I saw this and thought it was a good question



Jump in y’all

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

I saw this and thought it was a good question



Jump in y’all

Interesting question. Under the current restraints academic, financial, support from the administration, etc. I don't think Saban could win a national championship. Win the ACC? He would get it done in less than 5 years with no problem. Win the Coastal? One year. Beat UGA? Maybe 3 years depending upon circumstances. He is the best coach in college football...not a miracle worker.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

He would build a culture of winning over time. But it would take 6-10 years for a championship. Twice as long as it took Bobby Ross but the college landscape is harder today.

 

[TromboneJacket]

Interesting question. Under the current restraints academic, financial, support from the administration, etc. I don't think Saban could win a national championship. Win the ACC? He would get it done in less than 5 years with no problem. Win the Coastal? One year. Beat UGA? Maybe 3 years depending upon circumstances. He is the best coach in college football...not a miracle worker.

It depends on what the scenario is. If Saban were to just decide to come to Tech at this point in time and bring his staff with him, I think he absolutely could win a national championship at Tech. His reputation would allow him to succeed beyond the financial constraints at Tech. On the other hand, if in this hypothetical scenario, we get a Nick Saban who has all of the same skills and talents of the one at Alabama but none of the reputation, I don’t think he could win a national championship at Tech.

 

[Heisman's Ghost]

It depends on what the scenario is. If Saban were to just decide to come to Tech at this point in time and bring his staff with him, I think he absolutely could win a national championship at Tech. His reputation would allow him to succeed beyond the financial constraints at Tech. On the other hand, if in this hypothetical scenario, we get a Nick Saban who has all of the same skills and talents of the one at Alabama but none of the reputation, I don’t think he could win a national championship at Tech.

Maybe so, but the college landscape has changed so markedly in favor of the factories with open paying of players...if he could not do that at Tech, I don't think he could win a national championship. Win the Coastal? Absolutely. Hell, it would not surprise me in the least if Geoff won the Coastal. Win the ACC? Yep, Saban even with the constraints could beat this collection of underachieving mediocrities.

 

[JacketOff]

It depends on what you consider a championship.

A Coastal title? He could’ve probably done it this year, and if not in year 1 then definitely in year 2.

Beating UGA? Eeeesh. Given the current climate I’m not sure how feasible it would be to beat UGA more than occasionally. I think in year 3 he might could take down the beasts for the first time, but winning 1 out 3 for the foreseeable future would be extremely commendable.

An ACC Championship? Given the down year of Clemson along side FSU and Louisville struggling, he might could’ve won the ACC this year. But I think Clemson will return to being a 10+ win team so I’m sure there would be some battles there over the course of 5 years. I think in the first 5 years of Saban Tech would win the Coastal at least 3 of those years, so there would be plenty of opportunity in Charlotte

A NY6 game? Well once again, I think there would be plenty of opportunity. It would depend on matchups and who gets left out of the CFP. I think by year 3 we’d be a semi-regular NY6 team. Going 10-2 in the regular seasons and getting a shot in the ACCCG would get it us in. By year 3 we could be on the level of Wisconsin or Washington who average a NY6 game every other year or so.

A national title? I’m not sure this would ever be entirely feasible. If so it wouldn’t even be considered until about year 8. Remember it took Saban until year 4 at LSU to win a share of the title, and year 3 at Alabama. If we assume the Saban we got time traveled from 2007 without any of the prestige he got at Alabama it would still take him quite a while to build up the reputation and resources he’s had elsewhere.

If Saban were at Tech I think the program would rise very similarly to how Clemson rose with Dabo. The only difference would be that the ACC is much weaker now than it was when Dabo took over, so I think his path to the top of the ACC would happen a little faster. It took Dabo 7.5 years to compete for a natty at Clemson, and 8.5 to win one. It would really depend on how much he could change the narrative about GT, nationally and especially in state. His winning would certainly build a stronger fan base, and a stronger fan base leads to additional resources.

 

[slugboy]

For the purposes of this poll and thread

Championship = a top-level NCAA football title = “THE NATIONAL CHAMPION”

 

[WreckinGT]

Unless college football changes significantly it's not possible for any coach to win a championship here.

 

[4shotB]

I would say 6-10. The kind of players who pick between OSU and Bama now would follow him here. His reputation reduces the money needed for recruiting while paradoxically attracting more $$$ from donors and rear ends in the stands. I have no doubt that he could win a NC here and he doesn't doubt that either I would imagine. He has a proven process.

 

[Oldgoldandwhite]

He would win. It’s like making a hot dog. You will not like the process, but the end result will be dang good.

 

[tmhunter52]

Would he get to bring his own juice?

 

[4shotB]

Would he get to bring his own juice?

Yes. Saban gets to bring his own everything. That's how it works. There are people who don't have to settle for anybody's juice but there own. But there aren't many...Saban is one. Clint Eastwood is one. So is Chuck Norris and Tom Brady and Walter White and Tony Soprano. Batman too. The vast majority of the rest of us have to drink whatever juice that is left over . Or drink water and pretend like it is juice and we like it.

 

[Bonaire41]

Who cares never going to happen

 

[Vespidae]

Who cares never going to happen

It's an interesting thought experiment though.

When I was an executive and had a team that was struggling, I would ask them about their decision making. They would hem and haw and squeak out some kind of response. Then, I would ask, "What would a Top Ten organization do?" "Oh", they would light up, "They would x, y, and z." They would articulate it well and say with determination.

"Well", I would respond .... "Why don't you guys just do that?"

They would look at me with a quizzical face as if to say, "why didn't we think of that?"

Sometimes, to be a winner, you have to think like a winner.

 

[4shotB]

It's an interesting thought experiment though.

When I was an executive and had a team that was struggling, I would ask them about their decision making. They would hem and haw and squeak out some kind of response. Then, I would ask, "What would a Top Ten organization do?" "Oh", they would light up, "They would x, y, and z." They would articulate it well and say with determination.

"Well", I would respond .... "Why don't you guys just do that?"

They would look at me with a quizzical face as if to say, "why didn't we think of that?"

Sometimes, to be a winner, you have to think like a winner.

Do you think Coach Collins could borrow this strategy? What if he asked his players and coaches to coach and play like a top 10 team? Would this work at this level?

 

[Jophish17]

Does this hypothetical come with the resources and staff that Saban has at Bama, or do we get everything we have today with a different HC?

 

[stech81]

Does this hypothetical come with the resources and staff that Saban has at Bama, or do we get everything we have today with a different HC?

He would not have our defensive coaches

 

[slugboy]

Does this hypothetical come with the resources and staff that Saban has at Bama, or do we get everything we have today with a different HC?

Let’s say (based partially on the initial tweet)

• Same **starting** budget as here
• While he doesn’t have a huge bank of cash, he’s got his contact list and his reputation and can hire coaches on the budget we have
• He can win and cultivate donors and build his budget up by winning and running a great program—i.e. we can get out of this debt and money pit with good leadership
• Saban in his “prime” (younger with more energy)
• “Immortal”/eternal youth Saban (so he gets as many years as needed without wearing out)
• Contract has a huge buyout if he leaves before 20 years, but the AD can fire him at will with minimal financial penalty, so he won’t lollygag around or leave for Alabama (i.e. he’s not going anywhere or getting lazy, he’s committed to winning here)
• He’s free to keep doing ads with AFLAC or Mountain Dew or whatever

So, he has to turn Tech into a winning place—we don’t get to wish away our budget or get Ohio State facilities or have lots of <insert team name here> shady boosters giving homes to parents

 

[Pointer]

I saw this and thought it was a good question



Jump in y’all

2-5 because it would take him a while to get more money people to become donors and work them into funding tech like a factory. Lean more on the 2 year side.

 

[ibeattetris]

I don't know how long it took him to do it at Alabama, but I would say:
<Time it took at Alabama> + 5 years

Minimum