Personal Issues? Moral High Ground? Saban Only Wants to Win

[Fresh Fish]

So, I've been watching this back and forth between fans that say Barnhart should've hired Petrino and those that say not. It's always a battle between "let's just win" versus "Petrino is a terrible person and I'd rather lose". You know who's in the "let's just win" camp? Nick Saban.

A couple of years ago, Lane Kiffin was the most hated man in college football. It was said he'd never get a job again. Clearly, Nick Saban couldn't have cared less about those that said that. All he saw was a guy he thought could coach, so he went out and hired him. How has that worked out? Well, Kiffin is on fire and will get another shot at a head coaching job sooner rather than later.

Just yesterday, Saban showed that, yet again, he just wants to win. Steve Sarkisian was fired from USC last year after several embarrassing alcohol induced incidents. It was reported that the last straw was when he showed up for practice drunk. What did Saban do? Well, clearly he thinks Sark can coach, so he just hired him. To Saban, past personal issues are just that.

The point is that Nick Saban, coaching legend and a guy on top of the profession, clearly doesn't give a rip about personal issues and perception. All he wants to do is win. I'm sure he's told both of these guys that they will be history at the first sign of trouble. Until then, he will benefit from their input and expertise. Meanwhile, Mitch and a segment of fans continue to attempt to win the SEC Congeniality award year after year. As a result, UK has a dumpster fire and looks to be within a year or two of starting over yet again.

 

[Xception]

The Petrino or lose mentality is confusing , as if he is the only coach in the universe . Even more odd is the group that's still hung up on it . I bet that most of the Petrino crowd never attended UK and don't care anything about the school except for watching the football team . I'd rather lose than potentially win with Petrino and there's no guarantee that he could win here .

 

[lex cath]

Most of these guys that post here that have been around a long time have been become accustomed to losing but find ways to excuse it but take pot shots at winning programs when incidents happen on or off those campus and blame the coach for the morals the coach has. Bonehead move not to hire Pertrino when we had the chance and if they don't go after Briles it's another vision of we accept losing as usual but bygod we are moral. The right staff could walk in here and win like Jones at UT did and what we should be doing instead of hanging the hat in Ohio

 

[Fresh Fish]

The Petrino or lose mentality is confusing , as if he is the only coach in the universe . Even more odd is the group that's still hung up on it . I bet that most of the Petrino crowd never attended UK and don't care anything about the school except for watching the football team . I'd rather lose than potentially win with Petrino and there's no guarantee that he could win here .

And there it is...I'd rather lose...

Petrino isn't he only coach that can win, but UK can only get two types of coaches...unproven or a proven rehab project. Unproven isn't working.

 

[lex cath]

And there it is...I'd rather lose...

Petrino isn't he only coach that can win, but UK can only get two types of coaches...unproven or a proven rehab project. Unproven isn't working.

See ! There it is "I would rather lose"'mentality. I rest my case :scream::chairshot:

 

[Xception]

And there it is...I'd rather lose...

Petrino isn't he only coach that can win, but UK can only get two types of coaches...unproven or a proven rehab project. Unproven isn't working.

I freely admitted it , no rediscovering the atom .

 

[DerVille]

Louisville hired a high character, moral man. His name was Steve Kragthorpe. He was a high character man right up until he was fired.

 

[Xception]

Let me clarify , I would take a coach that has had NCAA trouble so long as it wasn't a massive scandal that he was the direct problem . It's Petrino almost exclusively that I would never accept , walking out on your team among all of the low life moves he's made . So the id rather lose applies to him alone .

 

[skcatfan]

And there it is...I'd rather lose...

Petrino isn't he only coach that can win, but UK can only get two types of coaches...unproven or a proven rehab project. Unproven isn't working.

There aren't but a small handful of schools that can get a proven winning coach at the highest level. OSU got Urban Meyer, Bama got Nick Saban and Michigan got Jim Harbaugh. Hell when Oklahoma hired Bob Stoops he was unproven because he had been a coordinator at Florida I believe. Hiring a head coach is always a crap shot for a school like UK but that applies to almost everyone else too.

 

[skcatfan]

Louisville hired a high character, moral man. His name was Steve Kragthorpe. He was a high character man right up until he was fired.

He had to clean up Petrino's mess from his first stint there. Or at least that's what Tom Jurich said.

 

[numberonedad]

I have a lot in common with Saban, I also only want to win. I dont give a damn if the coach get's BJ's from another consenting adult and crashes his motorcycle. That's between his family and him. I don't give a damn if a head coach gets drunk and makes an *** of himself , thats his problem. Like Al Davis said "just win baby!"

 

[jauk11]

See ! There it is "I would rather lose"'mentality. I rest my case :scream::chairshot:

More brilliant analysis, the post is agreeing with you and you miss it entirely.

Nothing stopping you guys from following your idol, they call it addition by subtraction..

 

[jimjeffries]

The Petrino or lose mentality is confusing , as if he is the only coach in the universe . Even more odd is the group that's still hung up on it . I bet that most of the Petrino crowd never attended UK and don't care anything about the school except for watching the football team . I'd rather lose than potentially win with Petrino and there's no guarantee that he could win here .

I don't think anyone is insinuating that he was the only option to win, just the route with the highest chance of success. That statement isn't exactly a stretch. You'd rather take the safer route and hopefully win with a clean nose, I'd prefer the riskier route with the higher chance of success, but with a bigger potential downside. To each their own

 

[lex cath]

Jauk did you go to Sunday school with MB yesterday ? Guess what jaukbait all we gotta do is win in Florida against those pesky gators and you're a genius again :cool2:

 

[ukalum1988]

Lane Kiffin is a weasel, and I was surprised that Saban hired him. I expected him to fail, but he has done much better than I ever expected.

 

[lex cath]

Lane Kiffin is a weasel, and I was surprised that Saban hired him. I expected him to fail, but he has done much better than I ever expected.

Same as hire Briles 88 and we are in our way ! Me and CC are ready

 

[Blueworld_3.0]

I don't know if Petrino would have been the better hire. Heck, I don't know if he would have even been seriously interested. There are conflicting stories as to his opinion of UK.
Anyway, I know that coordinators and coaches in waiting aren't the solution. UK needs someone who has head coaching experience and has had at least moderate success.

I've been saying the answer has been staring us in the face for quite some time now. Look at the winning programs in the SEC. You want to win? Use those programs as a template.
We as a fanbase have to be willing to accept the negatives that would come with a coach, staff and recruits that could potentially win in the SEC. That means rules would be broken, borderline players will get scholarships and football would come before academics inside the football program. We have to be willing to give up some moral high ground. Obviously, with Barnhart as AD none of those things will ever happen at UK.
You may not like it, it might not be politically correct to say those things out loud but, that's what it's going to take.

 

[JBHolmesfan]

Perhaps the biggest argument against Petrino is he's burnt the bridge wherever he's gone with the exception of UL and we know they stop at nothing. Walked out on the Falcons without telling his staff and players. Left Arkansas in a bit of a scandal. Seems everywhere he goes is worse off afterwards because of his time there. He'll jump ship the very first second it's beneficial to him.

Lane Kiffin and Sarkisian are good points. However, do you think someone like Kiffin or Petrino are going to listen to what Barnhart tells them to do? They won't respect him and will run amok across Lexington. Although Saban's players get in trouble, you better believe those coaches respect Saban and wouldn't act recklessly. I'm not sure Barnhart would be able to control those guys the way Alabama has.

I'd be more than happy to get a guy like Jim Tressel. Had some issues at OSU, but he won football games. No clue if he'd ever be interested in UK though.

 

[kyrivals]

UK hired Cal so not sure what your argument is

 

[JBHolmesfan]

UK hired Cal so not sure what your argument is

The difference between Cal and Petrino is that Cal's stuff is with the NCAA, not Cal being a POS. It's totally different. Myself and almost everyone else I've seen said they wouldn't mind having a guy with NCAA issues in the past. Like I said with Tressel. He'd be more similar to Cal's situation than Petrino is. I don't think Cal embarrassed either Memphis or UMASS. Petrino certainly embarrassed Arkansas and screwed over the Falcons. The picture of him with his face beat up and in a neck brace is not something I ever want to see from a UK coach.

 

[Beatle Bum]

So, I've been watching this back and forth between fans that say Barnhart should've hired Petrino and those that say not. It's always a battle between "let's just win" versus "Petrino is a terrible person and I'd rather lose". You know who's in the "let's just win" camp? Nick Saban.

A couple of years ago, Lane Kiffin was the most hated man in college football. It was said he'd never get a job again. Clearly, Nick Saban couldn't have cared less about those that said that. All he saw was a guy he thought could coach, so he went out and hired him. How has that worked out? Well, Kiffin is on fire and will get another shot at a head coaching job sooner rather than later.

Just yesterday, Saban showed that, yet again, he just wants to win. Steve Sarkisian was fired from USC last year after several embarrassing alcohol induced incidents. It was reported that the last straw was when he showed up for practice drunk. What did Saban do? Well, clearly he thinks Sark can coach, so he just hired him. To Saban, past personal issues are just that.

The point is that Nick Saban, coaching legend and a guy on top of the profession, clearly doesn't give a rip about personal issues and perception. All he wants to do is win. I'm sure he's told both of these guys that they will be history at the first sign of trouble. Until then, he will benefit from their input and expertise. Meanwhile, Mitch and a segment of fans continue to attempt to win the SEC Congeniality award year after year. As a result, UK has a dumpster fire and looks to be within a year or two of starting over yet again.

It was said he would not be an HC because he demonstrated at USC that he could screwup a tradional powerhouse with a strong recruiting base after putting UT in a hole. He was the "most hated" because he was an *** with his mouth at UT and somewhat at USC. If you talk brashly, you better win, or the fans of your opponents and your team will hate you.

 

[Beatle Bum]

Most of these guys that post here that have been around a long time have been become accustomed to losing but find ways to excuse it but take pot shots at winning programs when incidents happen on or off those campus and blame the coach for the morals the coach has. Bonehead move not to hire Pertrino when we had the chance and if they don't go after Briles it's another vision of we accept losing as usual but bygod we are moral. The right staff could walk in here and win like Jones at UT did and what we should be doing instead of hanging the hat in Ohio

Freetax has something to say when you attack a certain coach. I think we are seeing his true feathers.

 

[lex cath]

Freetax has something to say when you attack a certain coach. I think we are seeing his true feathers.

No need to double quote unless you dislike me that much CC [banana] I'm calling jauk and complain about this attack :chairshot: why you wanna hurt me man :boxing:

 

[Beatle Bum]

No need to double quote unless you dislike me that much CC [banana] I'm calling jauk and complain about this attack :chairshot: why you wanna hurt me man :boxing:

Sorry if I pulled back the curtain.

 

[lex cath]

Sorry if I pulled back the curtain.

You liked what you saw, admit it CC :eyes:

 

[Beatle Bum]

You liked what you saw, admit it CC :eyes:

In every way, no. Sorry if that is not what you longed to hear.

 

[orlandocatfan_rivals383321]

There's a big difference between Kiffin, Sarkisian and Petrino.

Kiffin and Sarkisian are assistant coaches. Kiffin was young and arrogant and he had to eat humble pie. Saban has taken the kid under his wing and has done a heck of a job mentoring Kiffin. The jury is out for the drunk. We'll see.

Bobby Petrino essentially had no consequences for his actions except for the Arkansas firing. Would I hire him as an OC? Yes, but HC? Never in a million years.

 

[skcatfan]

Another question for all the Petrino worshippers on here. Do you guys think the AD at Arkansas is an idiot for firing him? I mean just because Bobby was screwing around on his wife, hired his gf and then lied about it all who cares? He was winning games so why does any of that other stuff matter? All anyone should care about is winning right?

 

[jimjeffries]

Another question for all the Petrino worshippers on here. Do you guys think the AD at Arkansas is an idiot for firing him? I mean just because Bobby was screwing around on his wife, hired his gf and then lied about it all who cares? He was winning games so why does any of that other stuff matter? All anyone should care about is winning right?

The firing from Arkansas was justified for all of the things that you mentioned. The only reason UK had an opportunity to get a top 10 caliber coach was because there were his personal shortcomings, otherwise, we hire coordinators and "up and comers" as said coach goes to a traditional power.

Now that his personal indiscretions were in the open, he was very vulnerable and open to a contract full of termination clauses and high buyouts if he does well. UK could have covered their tail if he failed or screwed up. Since we decided against the whole "win at all costs" and decided to keep our nose clean, we hired the safe guy. I thought it was going to work out with stoops, but just as so many times before, the safe route didn't work. Hopefully Barnhart is at the end if his rope and is willing to get down in the mud to make sure the next guy is a winner on the field.