JoeF Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 Found this little tidbit linked on Billszone. Don Bank's column from the NFL owners meeting in Hawaii... Linky Feeley, Fiedler, what's the difference? New Dolphins head coach Nick Saban is a no-nonsense, all-business kind of guy, but he did provide our favorite moment of the week at the NFL's annual meeting with a rather telling slip of the tongue. Asked if he was committed to A.J. Feeley as his starting quarterback in light of signing veteran backup Gus Frerotte, Saban launched into a less than impassioned defense of Feeley. "Well, we don't really have a depth chart right now," Saban said. "We've never coached these guys. We've never been on the field. Everybody wants to know who the starting this is and the starting that is. I mean, basically we're going to give Jay Fielder every opportunity to be our quarterback. That's all I ever said about that. And we want to work very hard to develop him." Which is going to be difficult, given that Fiedler, the Dolphins starter for most of the past five seasons, signed as a backup with the Jets earlier this month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 I'm not impressed with Saban......I could be wrong, but ever since I first saw his news conference after accepting the Dolphins job, I just thought the guy was kinda weird. I think I even started a thread about it at the time asking for help with understanding what the hell the guy was talking about......I dunno. He just doesn't strike me as anything special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted March 26, 2005 Author Share Posted March 26, 2005 I'm not impressed with Saban......I could be wrong, but ever since I first saw his news conference after accepting the Dolphins job, I just thought the guy was kinda weird. I think I even started a thread about it at the time asking for help with understanding what the hell the guy was talking about......I dunno. He just doesn't strike me as anything special. 288365[/snapback] I may eat crow sometime in the future...but I am not upset at all that this guy has "full control" in Miami. I think he is a Rick Pitino or John Calapari--great assistant in the pros, great head coach in college, mediocre head coach in the pros. Nothing but an intuition and our friends in Baton Rouge on the board may disagree, but I am not impressed..... On the other side...I am really pleased to have Mike Mularkey and our staff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 I may eat crow sometime in the future...but I am not upset at all that this guy has "full control" in Miami. 288368[/snapback] lol, I'll be happy to have a plate with you.......I don't think we're going to be tasting it any time soon, though. He's in over his head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted March 26, 2005 Share Posted March 26, 2005 I'm a bit curious about Saban, too. Given their OL and RB problems, I would have expected that when FA's at those positions were making the "rounds", so to speak, there would be steady mention that OL Mr. Xyz is visiting this team, that team, Miami, and so forth. Maybe the lousy home attendance last year hurt the club more than we know. Dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Too bad the NFL isn't like major league baseball where they have to have an official lineup card presented. If Saban listed his QB as Fiedler, and Feeley threw a TD, we could get it called back. NFL coaches don't need to know the player's names like MLB managers do. Some of them call the players by their # and never learn the guys names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CajunBillsBacker Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 I think he is a Rick Pitino or John Calapari--great assistant in the pros, great head coach in college, mediocre head coach in the pros. Nothing but an intuition and our friends in Baton Rouge on the board may disagree, but I am not impressed..... 288368[/snapback] I assume you mean me, but I tell ya, I agree 100% with you. I think he's more suited for the NFL than Spurrier was, but he'll see quickly that dealing with the ego's of the NFL is different than dealing with college kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeF Posted March 27, 2005 Author Share Posted March 27, 2005 I assume you mean me, but I tell ya, I agree 100% with you. I think he's more suited for the NFL than Spurrier was, but he'll see quickly that dealing with the ego's of the NFL is different than dealing with college kids. 288487[/snapback] I did CBB...Thanks for your thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Our head coach Mark Mulcahey would never make a mistake like that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 Too bad the NFL isn't like major league baseball where they have to have an official lineup card presented. If Saban listed his QB as Fiedler, and Feeley threw a TD, we could get it called back. NFL coaches don't need to know the player's names like MLB managers do. Some of them call the players by their # and never learn the guys names. 288481[/snapback] Is that like the gilbriding job with "Travis Hunter"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Easy Posted March 27, 2005 Share Posted March 27, 2005 My impressions of him as a college coach were: 1. He was very organized, very driven, very determined in everything that he did. 2. He ran grueling practices, was a cusser and a yeller with his team, many of whom feared but respected him. 3. He was colorless and drab with the media. He has a little bit of a paranoid mindset and clearly views the media as a source of potential problems. He talks to them only when he has to, and never gives them anything but coach-speak--unless he gets PO'd about something, in which case he treats them like dogs in the Knight style. He got away with it because he won big, but God help him if he ever goes through a bad stretch, because he won't handle it well with the media or the fans. 4. He really understands defense, he works hard at it, and he teaches it well and schemes it better. Think mini-Belichik, or John Fox without the personality. 5. He is demanding and inflexible, definitely cut out of the Belichick/Schottenheimer school of tactics. 6. He knows how to win. His whole life is football which consumes him 24/7, which he admitted is why he was attracted to the NFL, because it's "all ball" up there. I think he's got a chance to be successful, but he sure did pick a tough division to throw himself into, at least for the next couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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