I don't think his article was homerish at all. Carriker usually doesn't mince words. I'll take TO any day of the week. Saban wasn't in anyone's discussion until he got to Alabama and had the best of the best recruits on his roster every single year.
Saban was obviously in people's discussions at LSU, and even at MSU. He doesn't get hired at LSU without being an impressive up and comer, and he doesn't get hired for an NFL head coaching job, or
win a national championship, without being in plenty of discussions at LSU.
Regardless of that, recruiting is part of the overall package of being a head coach. He came into Bama when they had averaged 6.5 wins over the previous four years, and he turned that program around. Tom Osborne took over a juggernaut that was one year removed from a national championship. It's not Saban's fault he had to work his way up while Osborne was gifted the keys to the biggest kingdom from day one.
@B.B. Hemingway nailed it. Imagine Saban as Nebraska's coach and Osborne as Alabama's coach, and see if you would still think Osborne was better. The answer is you wouldn't, even for a second.
I guess the same guy that brought those amazing recruiting classes to Michigan State and LSU? He had no where near the recruiting classes he did at those two schools as he did at Alabama and well it showed.
I really don't see how that's relevant at all, but in the sake of context and data, Saban's recruiting classes at LSU were ranked #2, #21, #3, and #4.
Settle it on the field. Saban and TO met twice, and TO curb stomped Saban both times. Saban called his players quitters in a rant after the game.
When Bob Devaney was at Wyoming he went 0-2 against Ben Martin at Air Force. So I guess Ben Martin, who went 96-103 in 20 seasons at Air Force, is better than two time national champion Bob Devaney?
Bottom line is Saban (at Bama, a blue blood, and the closest comparison as far as opportunity) has a better win percentage, more national championships in a shorter time frame, averages 1 conference championship per every 2.2 years (Osborne 1 per every 2.1, but with a huge disclaimer that includes co/shared championships), has been
the dominant coach that everyone fears and that has completely changed the landscape of the entire sport. Osborne went 1-9 against Oklahoma in his first 9 seasons.
For the record, I would take Osborne over Saban every time, because of the intangibles, the integrity, the attitude and the ethic he brought to his craft. But if you're going by metrics, there's not an argument to be found other than Osborne did it longer.