i really wish
@CoachQ would participate here...
he and i had an extended discussion at a Christmas party last year that was otherwise incredibly boring. he made a few comments about Meyer having a 'service life' less than Saban. It came off as he had an ax to grind with Meyer so i asked what he meant.
in short he said (paraphrased) "Meyer is a coach that focuses attention on the visible aspect- the players, game and game preparation, and let's others focus on administrating a program. Saban is a coach who uses every resource available to set his carefully selected staff to handle the same things Meyer handles himself".
this was interesting so i pressed into it. He gave an example- he said Saban, as an example, uses Alumni far flung from the program to monitor progress of potential players/recruits. these Alum will contact graduate assistants or program volunteers and relay happenings- such as a mention in the high school news of an academic or civic accomplishment, or something that happened in a game NOT highlight related such as a player stopping to talk to a cheerleader for a second- if Saban has even remote interest in the player he will take the information and hand write a message to the kid- one or two sentences, such as "congrats on the 4H award!" or "Hey man, leave those cheerleaders alone unless you're dating her!!! game face!!!" ... the impact is massive, and it ensures he gets a measure of loyalty from potential players. Meyer, in contrast and his style, looks to coaches/staff to handle these things and keeps the wheels of player development micromanaged as/after they are delivered- he only flirts with players he's interested in and more often second hand.
in one case- the saban type, a 'program manager' builds an empire and sits back at some point to watch it work. the other case, the Meyer type, it never lets up... it grinds all year and refreshes anew each of them. for that reason, he explained, the type meyer is fashioned, has a 'service life'. the type saban is can coast, only applying intensity when/where it's required.
i thought his thoughts were enlightening. he went down a string of coaches explaining hybrids of the well documented approaches. One thing he said about Fulmer, when he was a HC, was 'nobody anywhere was better than he was at navigating the existing system and getting more out of it' in terms of NCAA rules. I hope that remains true.
anyway... thought this was interesting to learn from a veteran and peer of the occupation. Some coaches, and I think Meyer is grouped within, look more haggard as a season progresses and the grind gets tighter... Riley @ OU is likely similar... Herman @ Texas possibly... then, some coaches such as Bobby Bowden was, Saban is, Spurrier certainly was, maybe Oregon, all as examples, become more approachable as season's progress as they're having fun just doing it- they're not invested as integral parts as much as they're overseeing... i really think it makes a difference.
