Saban vs. Harbaugh

#1
T

tvols75

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#1
If given the chance to have one of these guys coach your CFB team, who would you pick? Just a random thought as I was watching the niners play.
 
#2
#2
tvols75 said:
If given the chance to have one of these guys coach your CFB team, who would you pick? Just a random thought as I was watching the niners play.
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Can't go wrong but at this point probaby Harbaugh. Longer career ahead of him, but Saban is almost impossible to pick over.
 
#4
#4
Tough call but I'd probably say Harbaugh just because of his age.

Would being able to successfully coach in the NFL create an edge for Harbaugh or do you guys just think Saban had the raw end of the deal with a crappy Dolphins roster? Harbaugh took over a team with a great defense and an above average running back/tight end.
 
#6
#6
3L with debt said:
Easy choice... Saban. He's proved himself at the college level.
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Harbaugh has already exceeded saban's success at the nfl level.

It's apples and oranges though. If harbaugh somehow winds back up in college ball, he would easily have the best nfl resume of anyone in the country. He would do as least as well as saban, if not better.
 
#11
#11
tvols75 said:
Harbaugh hasn't? One could argue the turnaround he did at Stanford is a much better job than what Saban has done at MSU, LSU, or Bama.
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It could also be argued that any coach worth 1/3 of his paycheck should be able to turnaround a PAC-12 team just considering the competition level in the league. Granted admissions standards is a major roadblock there I'm sure. But for Saban to revive TWO sec schools and turn them into annual powerhouses was no simple feat
 
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#13
#13
wildnkrazykat said:
It could also be argued that any coach worth 1/3 of his paycheck should be able to turnaround a PAC-12 team just considering the competition level in the league. Granted admissions standards is a major roadblock there I'm sure. But for Saban to revive TWO sec schools and turn them into annual powerhouses was no simple feat
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Yeah the PAC 12 sucks!
 
#15
#15
harbaugh and its not close he's proven he's amazing in the NFL and college

saban was a JOKE in miami and harbaugh went into a very similar situation a former great team with about a decade of irrelevance

also what he did for alex smith is really impressive too saban kinda tried the samething with dante culpepper and failed miserably
 
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#16
#16
It's been strongly rumored that Harbaugh has a life size poster of coach Saban in his office. Said he wanted to reintroduce power football and awesome defense into the NFL just like Alabama. A few more beat downs of the Green Bays and Detroits should have everyone wanting to be more like the truck that keeps running over them. Just human nature.
 
#17
#17
If I were gonna coach in the NFL, the first thing I would do is get a life size poster of a coach with no NFL success.
 
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#21
#21
BIG BOI 23 said:
harbaugh and its not close he's proven he's amazing in the NFL

saban was a JOKE in miami and harbaugh went into a very similar situation a former great team with about a decade of irrelevance
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And that's why you'd choose him to be your head college coach? Interesting.

I'll take the guy that's won a National Championship at the college level 3 of his last 7 seasons. Not to mention, he did it at two different schools and the coach that replaced him also won a championship with his players.

I'll give everyone that turning around Stanford would be harder to turn around and odds are, Harbaugh would have won a championship if he were at a better program. But that's just it though, you can't say with certainty that he'd win a championship because he hasn't done it. Not like beating Nick Saban, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, Bob Stoops, Les Miles etc. is a gimme. And while it's easier to turn Alabama around than Stanford, Alabama was coming off probation and seasons of 4-9, 6-6, 10-2 and 6-6 under Mike Shula. LSU was down too coming off seasons of 4-7 and 2-8 under Gerry DiNardo. Saban turned both teams back into powerhouses. For LSU, it was only their second championship when Saban won there so really, I'd credit him for turning LSU into the powerhouse it is today.

As others have mentioned, I'd take Harbaugh over Saban because of age but other than that, I'll take the coach with 3 championships at the college level. Couldn't care less about NFL success when talking about winning at the college level and vice versa. And looking at Alabama's remaining schedule, LSU is about Saban's only obstacle to play in a 4th championship this season. Judging by the way the rest of the country has played up until this point, it might be his only obstacle because LSU appears way better than any team he'd face in the championship.
 
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#22
#22
Granted, but now, if SF has the season everybody is expecting of them, then he would have a selling point of better NFL success than every other coach in the country, Saban included. That just can't be ignored.

I don't put much stock in this argument anyhow since nobody has any clue if Saban will ever go back to the NFL or not, and Harbaugh is probably there to stay.
 
#23
#23
Sith Vol said:
Tough call but I'd probably say Harbaugh just because of his age.

Would being able to successfully coach in the NFL create an edge for Harbaugh or do you guys just think Saban had the raw end of the deal with a crappy Dolphins roster? Harbaugh took over a team with a great defense and an above average running back/tight end.
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The 49ers were thoroughly average at defense. Almost exactly dead middle in points allowed and yardage. Far from being anywhere near where they are now.

Good? Maybe.
Great? No.
 
#25
#25
005 said:
Run the ball and have a really good defense... Not reinventing the wheel here.
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Yet amazingly few coaches out there these days employ that philosophy. But to answer the question, I'd probably go with Harbaugh as well, if for no other reason than I wouldn't want any coach who used to be HC at Alabama. It's like dating your brother's ex.
 
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