Nick Saban said Saturday during ESPN’s “College GameDay” the issues at Florida aren’t necessarily about the coaches and Billy Napier, then added Florida State’s “microwave fix” has turned into a problem.
The former Alabama coach spoke passionately about both teams Saturday.
“Well, I think maybe the problem isn’t the coaches,” Saban said. “They’ve been through four coaches since (Steve) Spurrier and Urban Meyer, who both created a tremendous culture of winning there.
“And sometimes the fan base can just think, ‘Oh, we can show up and expect to win. And not make the commitment to the program that you need to make to be able to continue to make the changes and investments that you need to make to keep up with changing times.’ And things change. They should have taken advantage of building better facilities when Urban Meyer was there.”
In addition, Saban wondered how much Florida has adapted to the new college football landscape.
“Now, what’s their collective been like?,” Saban asked. “How have they adapted to this, you know, new model of college football?
“So, it’s not just the coaches. When you’ve been through four coaches and haven’t had the success, there’s something else that people should be looking at.”
Saban wasn’t done, though. He then questioned the success Florida State and coach Mike Norvell have had in the transfer portal.
“Now, when it comes to Florida State, they’ve always taken the microwave fix, I call it,” Saban said. “To take a lot of guys from the portal. Sometimes that works. Sometimes that doesn’t. Especially when things go bad, you know, those guys were all in the portal for a reason.
“So now you take these guys out of the portal, things don’t go the way they thought they were going to go, and maybe you don’t have the kind of culture and leadership on your team and the people buying into the leadership that you need to be able to be successful. So, this is a real challenge for Mike.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
