Guys like Saban, and Spurrier, otoh, are full-on Animals – Beasts – that have to be held back and calmed into civility, or they might just run out onto the field to dispute every single spot of the ball, like Billy Martin arguing balls and strikes.

As far as prognostications go – Mercury must be in retrograde – it was a weekend of unpredictable results! For instance, the Gators got out-smashmouthed by Ole Miss – dammit! With Fulmer’s job possibly on the line, Tennessee called the Darwin Audible and fumbled the hand-off to Lose – D’oh!

And, congrats, to the Thundering Brontos for running over the laying down Badgers.

“Who could have known…”

But, some guy named Captain Obvious once said “A win is a win is a win” and I’m not one to disagree.

The Chargers had no business winning that game, but somehow they managed to win AND cover the spread too. Miracles still happen. An amazing win.

Told ya the Broncos had a suspect defense…

Why is Nick Saban so much better as a college coach than a pro coach?

For the same basic reasons that Pete Carroll and Steve Spurrier and Bobby Petrino and Rich Brooks and Rick Pitino (in basketball) are all better coaches in college than they were in the pros:
A) The pros tune out the rah-rah stuff
B) The college coach has more control over the life of the college player than the pro coach has.
C) The pro game has far more talent on both sides of the ball so tha tthe tricks that work against college teams don’t work against pro teams

And a few other reasons I’m sure.

4 and 0. SUCKERS.

I think it may have gone beyond like and dislike to a matter of respect: They didn’t feel as though they had his respect and so when he left with time left on his Dolphins contract, they let him have it in the press. Although the owner didn’t judge him, players and fans found his persistent reassurances about staying in Miami, and then the departure for Alabama, to be a sign of his faulted character.

Beyond the influence a head coach has on a team’s winning ways – through player personnel, skills practice, and X’s and O’s – Saban seems to relate to college kids better than some professional players, maybe in recruiting but definitely on the field and in locker room instruction.

Belicick created a culture of driving for perfection, being supremely prepared, and making plays. The organization has internalized that approach. Veterans and first string players help coach new comers about expectations. Saban may not have taken that kind of organizational approach in Miami and so stood out as a singularly demanding and unworthy leader. A leader must recognize his or her own faults if he or she hopes to be followed in spite of them.

The Dolphins were 9-7 Saban’s first year and finished second to the 12-4-0 Patriots. The next year they lost three more finishing 6-10. He was Defensive Coordinator with Head coach Bill Belicick, and together they couldn’t win.

PIE FIGHT