one day, i was on the phone with mark kisen, paul bryant's grandson, and i was dancing around the subject. finally, he just cut to the chase and said, listen, you don't need to sweet talk me. he said, my papa, my grandfather, i know how great he was, but, please, start saying nick saban is the greatest of all time. because he is. end of discussion. >> wow. >> bear bryant was the greatest of all time, but he'd be the first to say that nick saban is now. in 2023, just talking about how tough this job is, day in and day out, year in and year out, i was talking, john lemire, i was at the orange bowl. we were playing notre dame. i was talking before the game actually on the field with joe manchin, who, you know, is like a brother to nick saban. they both grew up in west virginia, right by each other.
years, you're bound to have some down time, bad years, recruiting class, injuries. he always found a way to be in the conversation for the national championship. extraordinary over that length of time. >> willie, two quick things, one about bryant. first about the transfer portal. before last season, the 21 season that alabama did not make the playoffs, he had an opportunity to grab the top wide receiver in the entire country. he was faced with having to pay the guy about $3 million. how legal that is, it doesn't matter, but that's what the price was. he said, no way. i cannot deal with that on my team. that guy went elsewhere. had that player been on alabama's team last year, they would have been in the playoffs with a great shot at winning it all. back to bryant for a second, living in alabama all those years, and joe can relate to this, having been to school around the time of bryant leaving, as saban started winning championships, it was difficult. nobody wanted to say he was better than bryant.
family, keeping a team together. the end of every season, you have to recruit your own players not to leave for a better opportunity because lsu, a&m is offering your best wide receiver money and, you know, an endorsement deal with a local car dealership to leave. that's a totally different job. paul, i want to put a little meat on the bones for the case for nick saban as the greatest of all time. i guess paul "bear" bryant is in the conversation, as well, another alabama great. saban, seven national titles, six as alabama, 11 s.e.c. championships, four heisman winn far and away the mostumber one first round nfl pi so he talked about that, you know, giving his kids a chance to succeed and chase their nfl dreams, he always did that. another number i couldn't believe, i had to check it twice, paul, was in his 17 seasons, nick saban had a number one ranked team at some point in the season 15 times. that shouldn't happen. over the course of that many
joe. i don't want to be that guy. there is no way, with all of these pressures, that job, i don't know, over/under on three years that guys lasts, realist realistically at this point? >> i learned a lot, watching people try to replace bear bryant. i was in school when he left, and it was savage. whether it was ray perkins or the spade of people that followed afterwards. that's one of the reasons why i was calling for somebody tough and strong like nick saban. he had to stare down not just the boosters, he had to stare down a legend. you need somebody big enough. saban, it's like, yeah, basically, he was like, bear bryant, he was great. that was then. this is now. let's build anew. there aren't many people that are going to do that. as hard as it is for me to believe, nick saban's shadow going to be even bigger.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — As part of our Veteran’s Voices series, CBS 42 is honoring the men and women who serve our country. Some Alabama fans might not know that legendary coach Paul Bear Bryant served in the military. Bama fan Tyler Tidwell was surprised to know Bryant served in the Armed Forces, “It is pretty […]
We have a hands-down inductee for the Talk-the-Talk-Not-the-Walk Club. It goes to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, odds-on-favourite to succeed the emperor as leader of the federal Liberals after the next general election (if the polls are right).
Tale of the tape with No. 1 Purdue; Give credit to the man who aimed to make Alabama a basketball school; and the final word on Bill O'Brien heading back to New England.