WS Chronicle

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Alabama Crimson Tide has won the College Football Playoff National Championship. The top ranked Crimson Tide defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in a blowout by the score of 52-24.  

That win gave Nick Saban his seventh national title and his sixth with Alabama. He surpassed former legendary Alabama head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant for most national titles with his latest title.

Saban took over the Alabama program in 2007 and he has been winning ever since. He has turned Tuscaloosa into Titletown and does not look to be slowing down any time soon. There have been teams that have won and have been competitive against Alabama during the Saban era, but Alabama continues to churn out championship after championship.

Undoubtedly, Saban is a great head coach, but in my opinion, he is an even greater recruiter and developer of talent.  Yes, he brings in some of the best players from around the country, but his ability to make all the players buy in to the team concept and sacrifice for the greater good is what makes him so good as a coach.

Saban has the uncanny ability to bring in a top 100 player that could probably start anywhere else in the country and convince him to sit for a year or two and then give it their all once they have the opportunity to start. Most kids of that caliber are looking to play as a freshman, but for some reason they consistently wait their turn to play for Saban.

I doubt this is the last national title Saban will put on his mantle. 

High school kids see what he has done at Alabama and they want to be a part of that. Having the opportunity to win a national championship and play on the next level is the dream of every high school football player and Alabama provides both of those opportunities every year.

I saw a stat on ESPN recently that stated that every player that came into the program since Saban took over and has stayed three years has won at least one national championship during that span. That is an amazing statistic for any program.

Other teams such as Florida, LSU, Auburn, Florida State, Ohio State and Clemson have all enjoyed success while Saban has been in Tuscaloosa, but Alabama is the only one that has routinely been in championship contention every single year.  

All the above-mentioned programs bring in top 300 talent every year just like the Crimson Tide. Saban is just able to maximize his talent better than anyone else, which is a credit to his coaching ability.  

The Clemson Tigers seem to be the only team that has earned the right to be on Alabama’s level. The Tigers have won two national championships since 2016 and are consistently one of the best teams in the nation. It remains to be seen if head coach Dabo Sweeney can take Clemson to a level that eclipses where Saban has taken Alabama.  

Ohio State and Notre Dame are a distant third and fourth on the pecking order in college football. They are there because they also have great talent, but also because of the conferences they are in. Ohio State has dominated a sub par Big Ten Conference in recent years and Notre Dame is an independent in football.

There is no more suspense left in college football anymore. Coming into the season, it is pretty much a foregone conclusion that only two or three teams have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. Since we have gone to the playoff system, it has been very predictable. Alabama or Clemson have won five out of the seven playoff championships.

I enjoyed watching LSU dismantle Clemson in the 2019 playoff championship game. I don’t mind seeing dynasty teams dominate a sport, it’s just nice to see a break from it every now and again. I don’t see Saban or Sweeney going anywhere anytime soon, so what team can join them at the top?

Another question is whether this is good for college football. Dynasties have been great for all sports during different eras. They bring more people to the screens and stadiums for various reasons. Some people want to see them win and others want to see them lose.  

All dynasties come to an end at some point. In my lifetime I have seen several dynasties in college football. The Miami Hurricanes, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Florida State Seminoles and USC Trojans come to mind. They all came to an end for different reasons. I don’t see that happening at Alabama unless Saban decides to call it quits.

There are programs that have historically had great talent at certain positions. Analysts commonly use the terms “Running Back U” and “Quarterback U,” for example. In the case of Alabama, they are “NFL U.” They put players from all positions in the NFL and once there, they produce.  

Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Jerry Jeudy were all first-round draft picks in the NFL and are No. 1 wide receivers on their respective teams. The next crop that includes Devonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III and Jaylen Waddle has the talent to do the same things in the league as those who came before them.

Saban has also produced great running backs as well. Mark Ingram, Derrick Henry, Eddie Lacy, Kenyan Drake, Trent Richardson, T.J. Yeldon and Josh Jacobs were all tremendous backs in college. Ingram and Henry brought home Heisman Trophies for their efforts. Most on that list have had productive NFL careers as well. Why wouldn’t a highly-touted running back not want to play under Saban with that kind of track record?

The defense has had their share of studs as well. Rolando McLain, C.J. Mosely, Dont’a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, Reggie Ragland, Dee Milliner, Kareem Jackson, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Landon Collins, Marcell Dareus, Da’Ron Payne, Dre Kirkpatrick and Mark Barron are a few of the names that have starred on defense for Saban. The list is actually much longer, but for the sake of time I just named the players that came to mind. Most of these players have also made an impact on the next level.

I have always been a fan of parity. The sport is better when there is some intrigue throughout the season. We will see if Clemson can be that team, or if someone else can step up to the plate and dethrone the Crimson Tide. If not, Saban could end up with double digit championships before he decides to hang it up.