[cardcrimson]

I think the difference lies in the interpretation of Saban's accomplishments.  My first inclination was to agree with Lex, that to compare Shaw's results to Saban's is an unfair comparison.  But I think you were talking about the process.  Saban most certainly has exploited the advantages that Alabama confers and maximized the results.  It is fair to wonder whether Shaw has, especially when it comes to recruiting.

I'm still inclined to agree with Lex that we might draw the wrong lessons from Saban's tenure in Alabama (not that there aren't lessons to be learned but you do have to extrapolate carefully from one environment to another; Saban, though great at LSU and now Alabama, didn't exactly set the NFL on fire), but I do agree that Shaw should look a bit at what others are doing to maximize the recruiting advantages they do have.  In that sense, i might look a little closer to home, and see how, for example, Tara Vanderveer constructed the top ranked basketball team in the country and has really kicked it up a notch recruiting-wise in the last three or four years, or even the men's basketball program, which, regardless of what you think of the on-the-field results, has figured out how to market itself to elite players.

BC

That's it indeed. What Tara has done the last few years is perfect. She's found a way to get the best players, who can cut it academically, to want to play for Stanford and nowhere else, not UConn, not Notre Dame, not Oregon. 12 years ago, the best AND the brightest wanted to play football here, so much they coined Intellectual Brutality and were proud to don the nerd glasses; now not so much. . . .

[cardcrimson]

I think the difference lies in the interpretation of Saban's accomplishments.  My first inclination was to agree with Lex, that to compare Shaw's results to Saban's is an unfair comparison.  But I think you were talking about the process.  Saban most certainly has exploited the advantages that Alabama confers and maximized the results.  It is fair to wonder whether Shaw has, especially when it comes to recruiting.

I'm still inclined to agree with Lex that we might draw the wrong lessons from Saban's tenure in Alabama (not that there aren't lessons to be learned but you do have to extrapolate carefully from one environment to another; Saban, though great at LSU and now Alabama, didn't exactly set the NFL on fire), but I do agree that Shaw should look a bit at what others are doing to maximize the recruiting advantages they do have.  In that sense, i might look a little closer to home, and see how, for example, Tara Vanderveer constructed the top ranked basketball team in the country and has really kicked it up a notch recruiting-wise in the last three or four years, or even the men's basketball program, which, regardless of what you think of the on-the-field results, has figured out how to market itself to elite players.

BC

That's it indeed. What Tara has done the last few years is perfect. She's found a way to get the best players, who can cut it academically, to want to play for Stanford and nowhere else, not UConn, not Notre Dame, not Oregon. 12 years ago, the best AND the brightest wanted to play football here, so much they coined Intellectual Brutality and were proud to don the nerd glasses; now not so much. . . .