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| Wednesday, January 3, 2007 |
Our long national (championship) nightmare is over. The University of Alabama has hired Nick Saban as its new head coach, ending weeks of speculation.
My folks to Alabama in 1980, halfway through my freshman year in high school. I’ve been following the Crimson Tide almost as long and actively rooting for them since the late 1980s. I was in my first year of grad school at the Capstone in 1992, the year they won their last national championship.
Saban is the first big name coach hired by Bama since Gene Stallings was pushed out the door and, by all accounts, he’s as good a college football coach as any. Jim Mashek of McClatchy Newspapers dubs him “a diligent, dedicated football coach, with negligible people skills.” But his personality might be necessary for the gig: “Saban has the ego to handle the shadow of Bear Bryant in Tuscaloosa. He has a proven track record in the SEC, and with Mayflower, too. He would bring instant credibility to Alabama recruiting.” That’s good, because the stakes are high: “He’ll be expected to win national championships at Alabama (shoot, The Bear won a bunch of them), but first things first. He’ll be expected to beat Tuberville’s Auburn squad. Immediately if not sooner.”
The idea that any college team will compete for a national championship every year and never, ever have a losing season is a remnant of a long-ago era. With scholarships limited, academic standards raised, and the lure of the NFL ever-stronger, it’s just unreasonable to expect not to have any bumps in the road. What Peter Carrol has done at USC in recent years is remarkable indeed. Then again, it looked like Bob Stoops had discovered the secret to success, too, not so many years back.
Steven Taylor and I independently noted the irony of Alabama luring away a coach who had so publicly committed to a long term future with another team not too far removed from having the same thing happen to them with Dennis Franchione left for Texas A&M. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the coaching business. Lying is quickly forgotten, especially if followed quickly by winning.
If Saban truly wants the small time life and has learned that the college campus, not the NFL, is where he wants to be, there’s no better place to live that life than Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The level of scrutiny and expectation is absurd, to be sure. But, if he beats Auburn more often than not and competes for a national championship with some regularity, he will be a legend in a way that was never possible in Baton Rouge or Miami. There is just nowhere else football is as important.
Via SI.com: McCoy ties freshman record; Texas takes Alamo
Colt McCoy was supposed be a placeholder for Texas at quarterback this season. Now, he’s a record holder.
The redshirt freshman who replaced Vince Young turned in another gritty performance with two touchdown passes to rally the No. 18 Longhorns to a 26-24 victory Saturday over Iowa in the Alamo Bowl.
[...]
McCoy finished 26-for-40 for 308 yards. His 29 touchdown passes this season tied the NCAA freshman record set by Nevada’s David Neill in 1998.
Indeed, McCoy has been a very pleasant surprise this year. His impact is underscored by the fact that Texas’ two loses this season came in games where McCoy was hurt and was unable to play the entire games in question.
[Cross-posted PoliBlog: Deportes]
Via SI.com: Behind Barber’s career day, Giants top Skins
In his last regular-season game, Barber carried 23 times for 234 yards — a career high and franchise record — and three touchdowns Saturday night in a 34-28 victory over the Washington Redskins. The victory ended New York’s seven-week free fall just in time for the Giants to make the postseason as a .500 team.
Impressive. And quite the way to end his regular-season career.
Of course, since NFLN and Charter can’t get their act together, I didn’t get to see it.
[Cross-posted at PoliBlog: Deportes]
Look no further.
The fact that Tennessee goes into the final week with a shot at the playoffs should mean two things:
1) Vince Young has to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
and
2) The Titans would be nuts not to give Jeff Fischer a massive contract extension.
[Cross-posted at OTB Sports]
May the man be right (via ESPN) Parcells: All’s well with Cowboys:
Parcells was pushing the theory that all is fine because the Cowboys already are in the playoffs, which means they have a chance to win the Super Bowl.
Plus, he optimistically noted, the NFC is as wide open as it’s ever been.
“No one knows what’s going to happen here,” Parcells said, offering to take a blind poll and predicting that all five teams that are in would get votes — and that as soon as the sixth team is decided, “somebody would vote for them.”
“The team that plays the best from here on out has the best chance. That’s the way I look at it,” Parcells added.
And he was only getting warmed up.
“What is the objective of the season? Tell me what the objective is,” Parcells said later.
Upon hearing the answer he wanted (win the Super Bowl, of course), he continued: “Now, are we going to have the opportunity to do that? How about 20 of the other teams that are sitting home. Are they going to have that opportunity? How about the other 20?”
Parcells essentially admitted he was adopting a new approach with this statement: “If I don’t have hope, then who has it?”
It is actually a reasonable attitude. However, something has to be done about the defense if his optimism is to have any significance. There is no doubt that the inability of the D to force more punts was the key problem in the last three games.
Cross-posted at PoliBlog: Deportes
Via ESPN: Taylor: Merriman in Pro Bowl sends wrong message
Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor says the candidacy of his likely chief rival for NFL defensive player of the year, Shawne Merriman, was tainted by a four-game steroid suspension in November.
“You really shouldn’t be able to fail a test like that and play in this league, to begin with,” Taylor said Wednesday. “To make the Pro Bowl and all the other awards, I think you’re walking a fine line of sending the wrong message.”
I can’t say as I disagree. However, since Taylor is Merriman’s primary competition for Defensive Player of the Year, this strikes me an an inappropriate thing for Taylor himself to be saying at this point.
Cross-posted at PoliBlog Deportes.
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PoliBlog’s Deportes: A PoliBlog Sideblog linked with Taylor Comments on Merriman’s Steroid Use
I am too lazy to cross-post this evening, but since none of the OTB Sports writes have noted this yet, I will point out that Pro Bowl rosters have been released and I have them posted (with some brief commentary on the Cowboys who were selected) over at PoliBlog: Deportes.
Well, half the country missed NFL history tonight, all because the NFL and several large cable companies can’t figure out how to make nice.
Michael Vick became the single-season record-holder for most yards rushing by a QB and Morten Anderson become the all-time scorer in league history.
And, most importantly, the Cowboys won.
[cross-posted at PoliBlog: Deportes]
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