FanPost

Alabama, Nick Saban, and UCLA

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Bumped from a fan post. - BN Ed.

Just a random post about greatness and our sports programs.

So many people have a hard time understanding the true impact of a coach like John Wooden, even some UCLA fans. That might be, partly, because it was relatively a long time ago, before mass media and the internet. Coach's impact cannot be measured, and the only way we can realize to a degree his impact is if we see a coach approaching his intellect and talent come along and remind us all and to introduce the uninitiated.

The closest coach now that I can think of that can in some sense emulate the sheer dominance and excellence of Coach is Nick Saban. I think his rise at Alabama in instructive, but before I explain why, I want to relate a story about Alabama and Saban that describes what I mean when I talk about the impact and power of excellence.

The day Nick Saban was hired by Alabama, the exact day, was a day that, frankly, I will never forget. I know that sounds a bit much and strange coming from an Angeleno Bruin who has absolutely no connection to the South, let alone Alabama, but here is the reason. I can't remember why, but I was home during the day he was hired and flew to Tuscaloosa from I believe it was Miami to hold a press conference as the new coach. I might have been sick or something. Whatever the case, I was on the internet that day checking out sports stories. We were in the throes of the Dorrell era and I was likely looking for material for DumpDorrell.com. So I checked out the local sports blogs about the Saban hiring, for kicks. I was blown away.

I still have very vivid memories of watching online several websites, including those of large news organizations of the area, cover Nick Saban's visit as if he were a visiting Monarch or important Head of State, or arguably even more intensely. They tracked online his plane as it took off from whichever airport all the way to Tuscaloosa airport. They had cameras follow a long procession of police cars and other vehicles from the arriving private jet all the way through the narrow streets of Tuscaloosa to the location where they were to have the press introduction. Along the route, I kid you not, it was like a parade .. people outside waving and hootin and hollerin, resplendent Alabama flags and gear. The ink on the contract hadn't dried and they treated him like he had just won 5 national championships on the drive from the airport. They could barely call this guy coach and this is his reception?!

I still marvel at the memory of that day. I thought then that there could be only 2 possible explanations for such hysteria and irrational exuberance: Truly bat-shit crazy insanity, or, unique wisdom that few of us could understand. I did not know the answer to the question, but I had an idea, or maybe a hope. The people of Alabama football KNOW what not just excellence is but what Distinguished Excellence is (they have Bear Bryant and now 14 national championships). They had seen it before. They had experienced it before. They knew exactly what it looked like. They would know it if they saw it again. And in Nick Saban, they KNEW they saw it again. That was the reason, it is obvious now, for the impromptu ticker-tape parade of champions for a contract signing ceremony. This was my hope then too, selfishly, not because I wanted Alabama football to be great, far from it, but because I wanted to believe that what I saw was the wise knowingly welcoming their bright future with great enthusiasm. I wanted to see and know that those who knew greatness, Distinguishing Excellence, also would know when it presented itself again. I remember hearing on the live commentary how the locals had never seen such a reception for a contract signing for a new head football coach, never anything close. Because the people knew. Nick Saban had won a national championship at LSU and they knew he could do it again and again for Alabama. Because they had the system, the tradition, the wisdom built-in to their community to help sustain greatness.

Fast forward 10 years, and Saban has won 4 national championships and played for another 2 or 3 more, in 10 seasons at Alabama. The people of Alabama were not bat-shit crazy insane in 2007 to give such over the top, even inappropriate, treatment to a new coach. They KNEW. They knew what they were getting and they knew, with their machinery of excellence, their community of excellence, that together Alabama and Saban could build sustained dominance. They celebrated accordingly. To anyone else from the outside looking in they were crazy. And what did they get for it since then? They have had 10 years of excitement, 10 years of great championship level football, 10 years of great fan experience, 10 years of setting the bar high, 10 years of demanding the best, 10 years of Distinguishing Excellence, 10 years of dominance, and there is no sign of letup. What have we had in those 10 years? 3 different coaches and ... (crickets).

Which brings me to UCLA. We too KNOW what Distinguishing Excellence is. We had Coach. We should have the wisdom collectively to know if we see it again. We should have the machinery of excellence and the community of excellence to partner with such a coach to build sustained dominance. Have we at UCLA seen Distinguishing Excellence in a coach in the Guerrero era? Well, we know the answer to that. With Howland, I will say, there was very serious and deserved excitement. He achieved at Pitt. Pitt!! And, he revered Coach and the 4 letters. He knew he was on hallowed ground at Pauley. He was and still remains the only coach, of the main sports, Guerrero hired that gave almost all Bruins some excitement. Howland lost his way but that doesn't change the facts. We KNOW excellence, like Alabama KNOWS excellence. It's hard to find a coach with Distinguishing Excellence, obviously. But lets not at all be happy with or "normalize" (trendy word) mediocre coaches just to rally up the fan base and play to some loyalty tune. We know greatness when we see it.

Both Mora and Alford never belonged at UCLA to begin with. They never had the potential to win a national championship, or for that matter be a dominant force even in our own conference. The results bear this out. The results bear out this community's initial assessments of both coaches before the ink dried on their contracts, before their signing ceremonies, which as we all know, did not include any parade or live coverage of their drive from the airport. Because we KNEW.

We have the machinery of excellence, the community of excellence (even if those holding the levers are incompetent) and someday when we get the right leaders in place, we can realize the same renaissance of excellence that Alabama has realized in Saban.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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