The difference between Nick Saban and Houston Nutt, you know, aside from the National and Conference championships, is this:
You can stop after the first minute. Here's the relevant quote: "We did a lot of things today that's not winning football, and we're all responsible for it. First of all, it starts with me."
Houston Nutt, on the other hand, prefers to blame the players.
The loss to Louisiana-Whoever was, indeed, and embarrassment. What separates a winning coach from a losing coach, however, is the ability to recognize the loss for what it is and be willing to take responsibility.
Alabama, today, lost to a team that shouldn't even be a Division I-A school... but instead of making excuses, Coach Saban took responsibility. There are a lot of coaches who could take some cues from him.
FanHouse
Blog Roll
- Armchair GM
- Awful Announcing
- Ballhype
- Barstool Sports
- Baseball Musings
- Brahsome
- Can't Stop the Bleeding
- D.C. Sports Bog
- Dan Shanoff
- Dave's Football Blog
- Deadspin
- Epic Carnival
- Every Day Should Be Saturday
- Foul Balls
- Free Darko
- Hardball Times
- Kissing Suzy Kolber
- Ladies ...
- Larry Brown Sports
- Lion in Oil
- Mondesi's House
- Most Valuable Network
- Mr. Irrelevant
- Off Wing Opinion
- Playing the Field
- Quick Hits
- Randball
- Rumors and Rants
- SB Nation
- Sports By Brooks
- Sportz Assassin
- The 700 Level
- The Big Lead
- The Big Picture
- The Extrapolater
- The Ghost of Wayne Fontes
- The Offside
- The Sports Hernia
- The Starting Five
- TrueHoop
- We Are the Postmen
- With Leather
- Yardbarker
- Y! Sports Blogs
The Difference Between Saban and Nutt
Posted Nov 17th 2007 8:24PM by Pete Holiday
ADVERTISEMENT
Breaking News
ADVERTISEMENT
Recent Comments
- Tony Webner on Interviewing Austin Murphy: Saturday Rules
- MetDaraatage11 on ESPN.com Writer Accuses Dara Torres of Using Performance-Enhancing Drugs
- Skippy on American Becky Hammon Called 'Traitor' for Representing Russia at the Olympics
- Luna on Attractive Olympian: Teenage Gymnast, Video Game Cover Model Nastia Liukin
- laura on Phelps Starts Trials With A New World Record
- timeless on American Becky Hammon Called 'Traitor' for Representing Russia at the Olympics
- susan on Shaquille O'Neal: Saving America One Foreclosure Buyout at a Time
- mark ft worth on American Becky Hammon Called 'Traitor' for Representing Russia at the Olympics
- Ivan Panin on Shaq Uses Freestyle Rap to Rip Kobe for Losing in the Finals
- Georgia on International Olympic Committee Could Ban Saudi Arabia Unless Women Can Compete
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-17-2007 @ 8:45PM
Gamecock Man said...
"What separates a winning coach from a losing coach, however, is the ability to recognize the loss for what it is and be willing to take responsibility."
No, what separates a winning coach from a losing coach is that the winning coach wins. Saban is a losing coach today. Plus, I don't think you're doing Saban any favors by comparing him favorably to Houston Nutt. I mean, who isn't a better coach and who doesn't have more integrity than Nutt?
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 9:30PM
rowefork said...
Losing to UL Monroe....priceless.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:01PM
aaorn W said...
Saban got outcoached by some guy noone has ever heard of. LMAO Roll Tide !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:07PM
Ryan Ferguson said...
Say what you will, but Pete is spot on with this one. What more do you want? It's embarassing, it shouldn't have happened, and I for one would be white-hot pissed if I rooted for Alabama. All the head coach can say at this point is, "It's my fault." He did.
Doesn't make it OK, doesn't mean he's definitely going to get it fixed, and it definitely doesn't make any Bama fans feel any better about it. But at least he's accountable.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:37PM
David Vogt said...
WE ARE ULM WARHAWKS!!!! Way to go guys. We have 11 guys on our team just like bama. They lost, we won. That's all that needs to be said.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:37PM
rowefork said...
Always on Ryan....maybe Bama does have the right coach. I'm not one to listen to a post-game and feel for a coach and certainly not Saban but that was, as impressive, a post-game I have ever seen. You know I am a Gator alum and therefore anytime Bama loses I have to chuckle. But, hey Bama fans, it stings and you'll have to listen to your Auburn brethren for a week, but you may have found your guy. Do you know what kind of guy has that kind of loss and admits his mistakes? The kind that knows he will build a monster in a couple of years. SEC Beware!
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:40PM
Tex said...
Great spin. When comparison to Bear no longer hold up, compare him to the soon-to-be-fired Nutt.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 10:48PM
David Vogt said...
Obviously we have more than 11 guys on our team. In my haste to respond to the "Louisiana-Whoever" comment I made a small mistake. Our 11 guys on defense dominated the 11 bama guys. Our 11 guys on offense dominated bama's 11, same thing for special teams!!GO ULM WARHAWKS!!!
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 11:01PM
George B Vieto said...
Nick Saban will learn from this defeat and get the Crimson Tide ready for their next game. Football coaching is in family tree since Lou Saban is a relative of his.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 11:17PM
Gamecock Man said...
My thoughts exactly, Tex. What good does it do Saban to compare him to Nutt? Nutt has never been considered an elite coach, and certainly I assume that Bama fans expect more than the periodic success that Nutt has had at Arkansas.
Reply
11-17-2007 @ 11:50PM
Tigers#1 said...
Gamecock fan, just a question since you are blasting Nutt that he is not an elite coach and that being compared to Nutt would be an insult for Saban. Well, I was thinking, I assume you are a South Carolina fan. Hmmm, you have an elite coach now and before that another elite coach, but South Carolina has always at best been average, never elite. In fact, I think Nutt has beat up on your Gamecocks a few times and atleast they have made it to the SEC championship game a few times. Does that reflect bad on your elite coaches or does that really look bad on your football team?
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 9:19AM
Gamecock Man said...
Oh, great. The "your team sucks, so you can't have an opinion on anything" comment. Since you ask, we're mediocre because we have trouble getting talent to come to Columbia. If Spurrier had the players that Houston Nutt has, don't you think he'd be able to do a little more with them?
Nice job handling BC tonight, by the way. Who knows which Clemson team will show up next weekend.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 9:30AM
Pete Holiday said...
Did anyone stop, for just a minute, and think that maybe, just maybe, this post is more about Nutt than Saban?
If it had been about Saban or Alabama it wouldn't have been focused on one line. After years of watching Houston Nutt play the blame game with his players, I thought it was instructive to see how a real coach handles an embarrassing loss.
By the way, this comment, is just silly: "What separates a winning coach from a losing coach is that the winning coach wins. Saban is a losing coach today."
There hasn't been a single coach that has coached for any length of time who has won all of his football games, nor (to my knowledge), one who has lost all of them. What that means is that losing coaches win, and winning coaches lose. Those things happen. It's FOOTBALL.
But in the long run, one of things that MAKES a coach a winning coach is his ability to be able to take responsibility for the teams miscues. It means that he expects more, and believes that there's something HE could've done better to impact the outcome of the game.
In short, it means that he thinks he can still improve as a coach, and will look for ways to do it.
Coaches who place the blame, consistently, on their players are ones who aren't looking for ways to improve their coaching, and those coaches must either be: a) already god-like in their coaching prowess, or b) doomed to end up a losing coach.
Alabama lost yesterday. That doesn't make Saban a "losing coach" any more than Notre Dame beating Duke yesterday makes Charlie Weis a "winning [college football] coach".
But, hey, keep calling him a loser... one day you might be able to convince yourself that it's true.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 9:52AM
TAG said...
Welcome to the world of Nick Saban bammer fans. There will be more of these losses and there will be a few last minute, last second losses as well. Saban had his moments with LSU that would get Miles fired. UAB??? Also lost in the last 30 seconds to Arkansas and on the last play to Iowa. Had to win on a last second miracle in Kentucky and embarassed himself in two fo his bowl games. Never thought he was the "genius" everybody thinks...he can recruit..no question. But he will have his "Miles" moments. LSU's BSC champoinship had to have several things fall into place...which happened and we will take it. Saban does have a great spin machine and he has great timing. He will never stay at one place too long. Sorry...buyer beware.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 11:30AM
big al said...
Lets look at the main problem; Major applewhite is to young; He calls most of plays and what has happen to the triple option? where has it gone to? Big al
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 11:42AM
boydcoopaa said...
THE U-OF -A BOUGHT SABAN BUT SABAN CANT BUY A WIN.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 12:00PM
ibleedcrimson said...
frankly, im getting extremely sick of JPW and his inconsistent playing. i understand that saban wants to build his confidence by keeping him in the game but wouldnt putting in McElroy and making JP fight for his position a more affective way of getting him to play better...just ask brandon cox...
ROLL TIDE!
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 12:30PM
Pete Holiday said...
Actually, Saban has been pretty clear about the fact that he's going to play the best players. Which means that, right now, Wilson is the best quarterback.
In other words, things are pretty grim at that position at the moment.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 12:54PM
Charlie said...
Shula's last year at Bama: Lost to Arky, Florida, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn Saban's losses thus far- Loss to Georgia, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State and Louisiana Monroe
OH, yeah- Shula stomped Louisiana Monroe 41-7
Let's not deny that there were PLENTY of Bama fans who claimed Bama would contend for the National Title this year. HAHA. Just a few weeks ago, most fans were claiming "Bama is back". It's good to see they are back in the place they belong in the SEC.
Reply
11-18-2007 @ 1:17PM
Roy.G said...
WOW, I CAN SAY THAT WHEN LSU WON- WHEN WE DEFETED BAMA I WAS HAPPY! I AM LSU ALL THE WAY! BUT TO SAY SABEN IS NOT A TOP GUY FOR ANY TEAM WOULD SHOW WHAT A DUMB ASS I AM. NO BAMA WILL BE A FORCE TO DEAL WITH IN THE NEXT 2 TO 3 YEARS. I LIVE FOR LSU BALL BUT DO NOT OVER LOOK WHAT SABEN CAN DO WITH A SEC TEAM!!!! 2003 LSU
Reply