What an epic 24 hours that saw three legendary coaches step away from the game of football. This will be a lesson in history for the both of you. Needless to say, you are about to learn about two G.O.A.T.s (Greatest Of All Time) and a generational changing coach who is not far behind.
Nick Saban is the best college coach hands down, period. No argument exists to refute that. None, it is a fact proven by his standard, wins, and championships. 7 to be exact! Any historian who says otherwise is a person who spends their time surrounded by dust-covered books who doesn't believe you should throw the ball more than 5 yards down field, watching black-and-white clips on an old projector screen, and believe Bear bryant in an age where you shared championships is still somehow better. Any current observer of college football who pushes back on the fact is a bitter fan of a team Saban's squads regularly clobbered, or one affiliated by being denied a ring by the GOAT. Nevermind he was born on Halloween and had some kind of voodoo on those sidelines. Saban coach 28 seasons as a college coach at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama. He also spent two years with the NFL Dolphins and was a defensive coordinator for Bill Belichick with the Browns in Cleveland. The 72-year-old won seven national titles, including six during an impossibly successful, 17-year run with the Crimson Tide (2007-2024). He previously won it all in 2003 with LSU. Throughout his career as a head coach, his teams have won 11 conference championships and 312 games and he had a team ranked No. 1 at least once during all but two of those seasons. He developed an NCAA-record 49 NFL first-round draft picks and, most importantly, hundreds of college graduates. He is the consummate coach, mentor and leader, and his impact is felt far beyond the football field. To this I tip my cap to Coach Saban who tormented our beloved Dawgs in the SEC Championship year in and year out. Coach Saban said,"The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me," Saban said. "We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it's about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way. The goal was always to help players create more value for their future, be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program. Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home."
If Nick Saban is the GOAT of college football (which I enjoy more) unequivocally Bill Belichick is the GOAT of NFL football. After 24 seasons and 6 Super Bowl Titles with the New England Patriots, Coach Belichick is parting ways with the organization. Surely, he will coach as he chases Don SHula's all-time wins record for a NFL Head Coach. However, that milestone will ironically be in another team's cut-off hoodie color. In addition, his last home game at Gillette Stadium gave us snow falling from the sky with grey clouds just like the thought of him coaching elsewhere. Maybe he was or is still gruff, cantankerous, moody, sarcastic, and stubborn. But that makes him the best on and off the field. Belichick went 266-121 in the regular season and had 19 consecutive winning seasons (2001-2019). He won 17 division titles during that span, which is another record of his. New England and Coach Belichick added 31 more – another record – in the postseason. Counting his tenure with the Cleveland Browns (1991-95), Belichick has 333 career victories. Don Shula holds the all-time record for wins by a coach with 347. "The Patriot Way" become synonymous with Belichick, who became− synonymous with winning. That led to records – some broken, some he's still chasing – and plenty of statistics worth mentioning. Consequently he became part coach, part icon, part cartoonish villain for those who did not like him and that is most NFL fans because he beat everyone and beat them when it mattered most, the playoffs!
How do you follow two G.O.A.T's? WIth a legendary coach who succeed at both the college and NFL level. Something neither of the GOATs can claim. Pete Carroll was larger than life. He was NIL before NIL. He was Coach Prime before Coach Prime. From LA to Seattle Coach Carroll was a trailblazer before trailblazers. Pete Carroll first came on the scene with his all-conquering Trojans of the early 2000's. They became admired across the nation, and even closer to home -- with celebrities often strutting the sidelines at the LA Memorial Coliseum. You could see Snoop Dogg running routes in practice or Will Ferrell cracking jokes while in full pads. What is wild is the fact that Coach Carroll was third or fourth on the list of coaches USC desired. Yet, over nine seasons with the USC Trojans he produced -- 2 national titles, 7 straight Pac-10 titles and BCS bowl games, 3, yes 3 (including Reggie Bush who is owed his trophy back by now with all of this NIL chaos) Heisman Trophy winners and a 97-19 record. Carroll didn't just breathe new life into a down-and-out team; he gave a once-storied program on life support an electrical jolt. When Carroll took the job at USC, Heritage Hall was more like a history museum than an up-to-date trophy room. The last national championship had been won in 1978. The last Heisman Trophy had been won in 1981. And the 1996 Rose Bowl seemed like an eternity ago after USC finished in last place in the conference for the first time ever. Meanwhile, he was California cool and to this day seems to never age. He coach in a time when the SEC wasn’t the dominant power it is now. You have to be grateful to remember the kind of NFL talent on those USC teams. Players like Reggie Bush, Matt leinart, LenDale White,Troy Polamalu, Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews, Rey Maualuga, Steve Smith, and Dwayne Jarrett to name a few. The result wasn't just a college football coach. In a city driven by celebrities he was one of its biggest. His pictures are still plastered all over the USC bookstore, where televisions show his team speeches.
WIth the NCAA cracking down on USC, Coach Carroll made the jump to the NFL 14 years ago. After 10 playoff appearances and the franchise's lone Super Bowl championship, he will not be the coach calling the shots for the Seattle Seahawks. Over his last 14 seasons, the Seahawks' .606 winning percentage in regular-season games ranks sixth-best in the NFL and he came away with five NFC West titles. Carroll exits as the winningest coach in Seahawks history, with a record of 137-89-1. Including his head-coaching stints with the New York Jets and the Patriots, his career record of 181-131-1 puts him in a tie with Tomlin for 13th in NFL history in regular-season and playoff wins. Along with Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer, Carroll is one of only three coaches to win both a college national championship and a Super Bowl.
The icing on the cake, is that all 3 are tied together. Saban succeeded Carroll as Ohio State's secondary coach in 1980, when Belichick was coaching the Cleveland Browns who worked with Saban from 1991-1994 and ultimately Belichick replaced Carroll as the Patriot's Head Coach in 2000, decades before all 3 decided to end an era. These Friday posts will come to an end at some point as well. However, that time has not come yet. Until then I will keep writing you both each Friday and sharing with others the 5 joys you teach me as a twindad each week.....
1. Cooking for twins is like owning a restaurant except the patrons never leave the kitchen, constantly complain the food takes too long and then ask you to watch them do jump-kicks every 3 seconds!!
2. “I don’t want the orange juice with the fruit meat”. - twins referring to pulp as fruit meat!!
3. Twins: there were 5 cupcakes when I left and now there are 3. Did you eat 2?! Charlotte and I: suddenly now you can do math??
4. A twin captured Monday energy perfectly after coming off the holiday break this week. He woke up and said “Dad do you ever wake up and want to say bad words”All the time baby bro. All. The. Time!"
5. Came to the conclusion Parenthood is so crazy. We're really out here getting bullied by the people we made!!
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