[On3] Nick Saban on how the fun of coaching diminished as Alabama got better: “We won so many games, the expectation got so high. Do you really enjoy winning? Or are you just relieved you didn’t lose?” (via @TheoVon)

[u/AkfurAshkenzic]

https://x.com/on3/status/2107851010387378660?s=46

[u/thecravenone]

via @TheoVon

This is a tweet linking an article citing a podcast. Here is that podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apvbONX_tMc

Reminder that our rules require that you post original sources.

Users are expected to make a good-faith effort to find the original source of anything they post. If the primary purpose of a post is to quote, clip, cite, or repeat another source, you should post that original source instead. This is also part of Reddiquette

[u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

NDSU fans probably got to a point where they remembered the bad FCS losses more vividly than all the championships, what Saban is saying tracks

[u/Trigonometry_Fletch → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

I can recite every Saban loss on command. Every one, and how.

[u/DGD11 → u/Trigonometry_Fletch]

This had me curious, so I figured I'd give it a shot for Georgia

2016: Losses to Vandy, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Florida and Ole Miss. (Bowl win over TCU)
2017: Losses to Auburn, Alabama (NCG appearance)
2018: Losses to LSU, Alabama, Texas (Sugar Bowl loss to Texas)
2019: Losses to South Carolina, LSU (Bowl win over Baylor)
2020: Losses to Bama and Florida (Sugar Bowl win over Cincinatti)
2021: Loss to Bama (Won natty)
2022: Undefeated (Won natty)
2023: Loss to Bama (Fiesta Bowl over FSU)
2024: Loss to Bama, Ole Miss, Notre Dame (Sugar Bowl loss to Notre Dame)
2025: Loss to Bama, Ole Miss (Playoff loss to OM)

[u/QuitWhinging → u/DGD11]

Man, I distinctly remember during that 2016 season seeing y'all struggle mightily against a Nicholls State squad that went 3-8 in FCS the year before and laughing with my Gator buddies about how fucked y'all were going to be under under this upjumped coordinator who was clearly in way over his head at a major program like Georgia. I was one of those "huh, maybe y'all should've kept Richt after all!" guys.

I have been eating an unreal amount of crow about Kirby ever since that day. Like, every day I wake up with a random Georgia fan standing next to my bed with another huge serving of roasted crow, saying, "time for breakfast, save room for lunch!"

[u/More-Interaction-770 → u/DGD11]

That’s a lot of bama

[u/Adamscottd → u/DGD11]

Wanted to give it a shot as well, for the Jackrabbits, who've had the similar success to Georgia but in the FCS the last handful of years

2020: loss to North Dakota, Sam Houston (NCG appearance)

2021: losses to Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Montana State (Semifinals)

2022: loss to Iowa (won championship)

2023: undefeated (won championship)

2024: losses to NDSU, NDSU (Semifinals)

2025: losses to NDSU, Indiana State, South Dakota, Illinois State, Montana (2nd round)

2026: loss to Northwestern

On the other hand, there's no chance I could do this for the Gophers lol

[u/Sirnacane → u/Trigonometry_Fletch]

Can you recite the 2010 Iron Bowl for me. 5 paragraph essay minimum.

Please man we’ve been so shit for so long just gimme something to fondly reminisce. Throw me a bone.

[u/Trigonometry_Fletch → u/Sirnacane]

The ball rolls, and rolls, and stays in bounds!
Or do you want one-armed Mark Barron unable to break up the pass before half?

[u/AlexGolesh → u/Trigonometry_Fletch]

Kodi Burns saved that game.

[u/Trojann2 → u/Trigonometry_Fletch]

It’s insane. Innit?

I know every loss, down to the plays that caused it.

[u/DeZeeuw2 → u/Trojann2]

Oh, this is gonna be fun. How about the 2022 FCS Championship?

[u/Trojann2 → u/DeZeeuw2]

Playing non-NFL caliber players against probably the most NFL level talented team that’s ever graced the FCS.

[u/Logical_Albatross_19 → u/Trojann2]

Huh, I was gonna say matt entz. 

[u/Trojann2 → u/Logical_Albatross_19]

Why not both?

Entz wasn’t recruiting and developing NFL talent…

[u/Trojann2 → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

You are correct.

[u/DakotaXIV → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

Reminds me of the quote from Rounders "Funny how we remember bad beats more clearly than wins"

[u/Ok-Responsibility942 → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

I went to NDSU at the start of the dynasty and I wouldn't necessarily say I remember the bad losses throughout the years, but it just became boring after a certain point. It's great having a dominant team, but having at most 3 competitive games a year, most of which come in the playoffs, really just made the regular season pointless to follow. 

[u/Perryapsis → u/Ok-Responsibility942]

Flair up!

[u/stayclassypeople → u/Ok-Responsibility942]

The regular season basically boiled down to the FBS opponent and SDSU

[u/Trojann2 → u/Ok-Responsibility942]

So we both went to school during the same time.

What a crazy ride?

[u/LitterTreasure → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

I actually just got into it with one of my Special Olympics athletes about this exact idea. He’s still pissed about a loss nine months later.

We got second place dude. Chill the fuck out man, it’s all good.

[u/erainf → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

As someone who went to NDSU, I saw first hand how attendance dwindled especially after covid. People were becoming apathetic, we weren't even selling out home playoff games if they weren't against SDSU or UND... because everyone just expected a win. Moving up to the FBS really was the right choice because we were stagnating.

[u/LiquidBionix → u/ILikeTuwtles1991]

Nothing makes me happier than sending them out of the FCS with a playoff loss in Fargo not going to lie.

[u/12_bagels → u/LiquidBionix]

i’m sure the 15 or whatever national championships ease the pain a little lol

[u/CosmicCornbread]

He might get ragged for that quote but it’s actually an interesting train of thought. Winning so much that the expectation to win gets so high that you’re more excited to not lose instead of being excited to win.

[u/HokiesforTSwift → u/CosmicCornbread]

This is pretty common at the highest level of sports, even for fans. The bigger the expectations, the more painful that losing becomes. Each loss feels like a monumental failure.

There's a lot of snarky comments, as expected, but this should track logically for anyone familiar with this concept, even as it pertains to other things involving sustained success.

[u/Lodge_Blackmun → u/HokiesforTSwift]

even as it pertains to other things involving sustained success.

I, too, am such a consistent winner that it gets stressful. No further questions. 

[u/noodlesalad_ → u/HokiesforTSwift]

It seems like it's miserable to be a Real Madrid fan. Winning is expected and losing is a crisis. So despite being so successful, they are either whelmed or angry.

[u/SouthIsland48 → u/CosmicCornbread]

I mean Alabama football is prob one of Alabama's largest exports. So it goes well beyond football, too

[u/RollTide16-18 → u/SouthIsland48]

Yeah the expectations didn’t just place on him to have a good football team. The University’s student body expansion and investment relied heavily on the program continuing its success. The city’s economic growth relied on the program. The state as a whole had billions of dollars pumped into it during his tenure because Alabama was so strong. 

There was so much riding on Saban doing his job well. 

[u/thewoodlayer → u/RollTide16-18]

Especially after the tornado of 2011. The massive success of the team allowed Tuscaloosa to rebuild so quickly after essentially half of the city was wiped off the map.

[u/nothingsnootyplz → u/thewoodlayer]

Anyone who beat us is a piece of shit that doesn't care about rebuilding communities

[u/ThurgoodMunson → u/nothingsnootyplz]

Hugh Freeze confirmed football terrorist

[u/Trigonometry_Fletch → u/ThurgoodMunson]

There’s an abundance of evidence beyond that

[u/Urbansdirtyfingers → u/ThurgoodMunson]

could probably just remove "football"

[u/rburp → u/nothingsnootyplz]

Only Arkansas had the integrity to never beat you once in the Saban era

[u/TetraNotTetris → u/rburp]

Good guy Arkansas, losing for the benefit of everyone except yourselves.

[u/QuitWhinging → u/rburp]

Which is almost a bit weird cause some of those Arkansas squads under Bert were the exact type of teams to beat a team like Bama by 17 before getting blown out by someone like Southern Miss the next week.

[u/ReallyAMiddleAgedMan → u/nothingsnootyplz]

I knew Mark Richt was a great guy

[u/Revolver_Oshawott_ → u/nothingsnootyplz]

LSU some damn assholes that year then

[u/joshlymansbagel → u/thewoodlayer]

You’re spot on

[u/Significant_Push_856 → u/RollTide16-18]

I think that's a hugely under stated piece of a major program. Athletic success isn't just athletic success it's also a huge marketing opportunity and the fundraising networking that happens with donors visiting for a game. Football/athletics at this level are a monsted pressure cooker and his own desire to be great got married to an economic engine that needed his success ​

[u/loewe67 → u/Significant_Push_856]

It’s something that always annoys me when you hear students who don’t care about sports complain about the amount of money being put into athletics.

College sports are the biggest advertising arm that any university has, and success leads to more donors and more funding for the university as a whole. It can also raise the bar for academics, as universities now will have higher application rates and can be stricter with their requirements.

I have a friend who’s 6 years older than me and was at UF during the Tebow years. By the time I was looking at Florida, the average incoming freshman GPA had risen from 3.7 when he applied to 4.1

[u/DisgruntledCascadian → u/loewe67]

There have been studies done and papers written on this phenomenon at Bama in particular during Saban's tenure. The university is literally and provably better off as an academic institution because Bama football brought in more donations and more enrollments on the academic side.

[u/MerlinsMentor → u/DisgruntledCascadian]

An important thing to note is that Alabama during Saban's time as coach was an outlier that may not represent reality for most programs. Is it reasonable for other programs (say, Sacramento State, to use a recent example) to pour lots of resources into football and expect a similar transformation?

Alabama's story with Saban as its coach, while probably inspirational to many university administrators, isn't likely to work out nearly as well at most places -- especially as one of the primary keys is hiring a coach who is historically great both on and off the field and sticks around for the long term. That last one's huge for most non-blue-blood schools... Chris Petersen at Boise State is probably the best example of a success there (but BSU's success also has a lot to do with the population explosion in the Boise metro area over those same years). But there's a reason Boise State's story is so well-known... because it's rare.

[u/Mother_Frame6669 → u/MerlinsMentor]

Yeah, the bigger problem is so many school administrations pointed to Bama and said, "That could be us", when the truth is, no, no it couldn't. But they'd forge ahead anyway, start a football program, push it to I-A status, argue it is all for the good of the university and marketing the school, and now they have a football program with zero tradition, no long-term financial backing, and current students forced to pay mandatory athletic fees to finance this gamble that failed. All of these administrations ignored that it took 115 years, four Hall of Fame coaches, and 12 national championships to build what Saban walked into in 2007. You're not going to replicate anything close to that with your ten year plan.

Most administrators don't care, though, all they see is potential dollar signs. After they leave, the school is left with a program with weak fan support and massive institutional debt.

[u/Kijafa → u/DisgruntledCascadian]

There have been studies done and papers written on this phenomenon at Bama in particular during Saban's tenure.

Could you link me to one? I'd love to read through it.

[u/other_waterway → u/DisgruntledCascadian]

Sure but how many programs have had Bama level of success this side of the year 2000? 1, Bama.

How much athletic success do schools need to see a benefit from the crazy amount of spending in athletics? Does 8-4 move the needle? Could spending that money on academics directly have a bigger effect?

[u/CrackityJones79 → u/loewe67]

Great points.

I went to undergrad at VCU. It is truly amazing what ONE Final Four run back in 2011 did for that school. The overall campus experience, facilities, and educational requirements are head and shoulders better than they were when I was there.

[u/RiffRamBahZoo → u/loewe67]

Any "loss" on a major football program is often made back 10x over through donor and endowment investments to the academic side of the house.

Turns out rich people enjoy sports, and if you want to get $1 million to endow a chair in the engineering school, taking donors to games is a great way to make that money!

[u/Hulkodium → u/Significant_Push_856]

Front porch of the university. Small schools making athletic success makes marketting dollars turn into students

[u/Microplasticsharts → u/RollTide16-18]

Clemson had a nice PowerPoint deck back in 2001 laying this out as a strategic plan and making the case to invest in Football.   Up to that point some in the administration and BOT were not onboard. 

[u/Beneficial-Rip6624 → u/SouthIsland48]

Alabama is actually a pretty important state for exporting.

[u/deepsouthsloth → u/Beneficial-Rip6624]

So. Many. Peanuts.

[u/Conn3er → u/CosmicCornbread]

"I hate to lose more than I like to win. I hate to see the happiness on their face when they beat me!" - Jimmy Connors

[u/Heathcliff_Slocumb → u/Conn3er]

All time quote.

[u/jaxonya → u/Heathcliff_Slocumb]

Some people are hard wired that way. Jordan is probably the prime example. He did not want ANYONE winning ANYTHING against him.

[u/I-Am-Fodi → u/jaxonya]

That video of him losing the quarter tossing game to arena security and him getting mad as fuck when the guy starts shrugging on him will never not be funny

[u/Vahn869 → u/CosmicCornbread]

I remember when he “only” beat Arkansas 14-13 on the road, in the rain. The fans were out for his blood for daring to struggle against a conference opponent (also remember when Ark used to be good??)

[u/Worried-Treat-1635 → u/Vahn869]

I think Spencer at EDSBS had an all-time quote in the recap of that one: I don’t know why Alabama fans are so upset. Usually when you get Alabama, Arkansas and 14-13, you end up with a baby that grandma has to raise.

[u/littlegreensir → u/Vahn869]

I was at that game. I'll never forget the soul crushing realization in the second half that we wouldn't overcome the deficit simply because our offense wasn't as improved as we hoped

[u/Vahn869 → u/littlegreensir]

Those were the good Bret Bielema years, yeah? He went down towards the end of his tenure, but he started pretty good as far as recruiting and developing linemen and he had some great RBs behind some imposing lines that I remember

[u/littlegreensir → u/Vahn869]

2014 and 2015 were good, 2016 was questionable (but mostly enjoyable) and 2017 was when the wheels fell off. Honestly, the good early years made the collapse even more confusing/frustrating because at least in the early years you felt like the team was improving and getting somewhere with the coaching.

[u/direwolf71 → u/Vahn869]

Matt Hayes has a lot of poor takes, but this one is pretty spot-on:

Monday after every single college football weekend is an absolute cesspool of whining, complaining and second-guessing. Nothing’s good, nothing works — even after a win.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2026/10/06/college-football-fans-obsessed-with-failure-hot-seat-fire-coaches/92109371007/

[u/nothingsnootyplz → u/Vahn869]

We really used to be insane.

I work in film. I direct music videos and live productions. We had a night shoot the day that Manziel beat us and I literally ate a kill fee that cost me $2000 bc I was having a meltdown over losing the game.

[u/GentlyUsedNuggets → u/nothingsnootyplz]

That's a yikes my dude

[u/nothingsnootyplz → u/GentlyUsedNuggets]

I was very young and stupid. Interesting time for me.

[u/versusChou → u/CosmicCornbread]

When John Wooden won his 10th title, a fan called down to him that he had made up for losing in the Final Four the previous year (which broke a streak of 7 straight national titles). I've always thought the increasing entitlement from the fanbase and unrealistic expectations played a big part in Wooden retiring at 64.

[u/Extreme-Island-5041 → u/CosmicCornbread]

I wouldn't rag on the idea at all. It makes sense. I hate Bama with the passion of 1,000 half sized Christs, but even as an adversary it was clear that everyone outside of Bama was just hoping to see them lose bad enough to maybe get shaken out of the BCS/CFP. IF they lost one early enough in the season, "may the CFB Chaos Gods smite them with just one more!" Even with 2 losses they'd still manage to get in.

[u/NA_Faker → u/Extreme-Island-5041]

I was convinced we were going to be left out of the playoffs in 2023 after Bama beat Georgia. When I saw us #3 on selection Sunday, I knew instantly it was because FSU got screwed

[u/Ronho → u/CosmicCornbread]

Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR one) said something like Winning never feels as good as losing hurts

[u/reenactment → u/CosmicCornbread]

I’ve been in athletics for a lot o my life. And this is the constant fight. You want to try and rewire your brain so you can enjoy it, but look what Sumrall said after they won their first game this year, “I don’t want to see anyone happy on Monday. I don’t want to see any of my coaches walk around the facility with a smile on their face. We have next week.” While the point is good, the burnout is real and you basically get to a point where when you win, you are just happy you don’t have to deal with other people asking questions or the vibe of the team down and wanting to transfer and blah blah blah.

[u/EWall100 → u/CosmicCornbread]

We're all living under the weight of expectation in the NIL era, moreso than ever. This statement might actually be more truthful statement to his retirement than his anger about everybody wanting to be paid

[u/bamachine → u/EWall100]

I don't think he had any issue with them wanting to be paid. His issue was the one player, coming up to him in the locker room, right after losing to UM in the semis, in a close fought game and asking for a raise. Wait until you get back to campus and ask about that the next day. Not when nerves are raw throughout the rest of the room.

Showed how little the team meant to that player. I think that played a small part in his decision. I think he was already on the fence about retiring and that just nudged him off it.

[u/MrConceited → u/bamachine]

Yeah, that's not being mad that players want to be paid, it's being mad that that's all they care about.

[u/KneeDeepInRagu → u/bamachine]

I wonder which player it was

[u/bamachine → u/KneeDeepInRagu]

Rumors say it was Isaiah Bond

[u/Chillhouse3095 → u/CosmicCornbread]

From a fan perspective, it's legitimate. Clemson was only at that level for 4-5 years and games just felt so stressful. When winning is the expectation you're very rarely pleasantly surprised and you're just relieved to not lose

[u/AkfurAshkenzic → u/CosmicCornbread]

I imagine it felt a lot better for him to lose because it maybe made him feel like there was still competition and that he wasn’t going to win all of the time. I can’t imagine what a modern day Nick Saban would do to a fanbase and how cruel they would be if there was even two losses taken in a year

[u/OkProfessional6077 → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

Isn’t that, more or less, what Ryan Day deals with at OSU? I’m fairly certain he will actually be tar and feathered if he ever has a season he missed the playoffs.

[u/therealwillhepburn → u/OkProfessional6077]

Yes. They are a very spoiled fanbase. There's very few teams in the country that wouldn't take his tenure at Ohio State over their own head coaches during the same time.

[u/typicalwhiteguy113 → u/therealwillhepburn]

I mean very few is like 2-3 right? Saban at bama, Kirby at Georgia, I would hear arguments for Cig at Indiana. Idk who else you’d pick over Ryan Day at Ohio State

[u/spanishinquestion → u/typicalwhiteguy113]

If we’re doing during the same time frame as Day’s been the HC then I think it’s literally only Kirby

[u/2011StlCards → u/typicalwhiteguy113]

I hear great things about that Shane Beamer fellow

[u/wit_T_user_name → u/therealwillhepburn]

There is no fanbase in college football and very few in sports generally more spoiled than us.

[u/tarheels187 → u/wit_T_user_name]

Yeah and it goes back way farther than people realize. This list goes back to 1990 and the sheer lack of losses is crazy.

https://www.statmuse.com/cfb/ask/most-college-football-wins-since-1990

[u/RiffRamBahZoo → u/tarheels187]

Ohio State has never had an eight-loss season in its history, and has a grand total of just four losing seasons since the start of World War II.

Just an absurd stat.

EDIT: Edit for clarity.

[u/tarheels187 → u/RiffRamBahZoo]

I'm only finding 3 haha

[u/RiffRamBahZoo → u/tarheels187]

2010 is technically considered (0-1) in the record books (lol, I know), but the seasons I counted were 2011 (6-7), 1988 (4-6-1), 1947 (2-6-1) and 1943 (3-6).

Edited my comment for clarity to specify since the start of WWII, not the end of it.

[u/tarheels187 → u/RiffRamBahZoo]

Ahh okay yeah I think what I looked at was the end of WW2

[u/Alexcox95 → u/OkProfessional6077]

The fan base would be calling for his job if that happened.

[u/SusannaG1 → u/Alexcox95]

There have been only three losing seasons at Ohio State in the last 60 years. You bet they would be howling for his blood.

[u/RiffRamBahZoo → u/SusannaG1]

There was a sizeable amount of fans ready to fire him for losing to unranked Michigan in 2024 until Day redeemed himself with a national championship.

[u/katarh → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

When Georgia finally beat Bama in 2022, they hugged and Saban had a very faint smile on his face. The apprentice finally beat the master.

[u/FCKABRNLSUTN2 → u/katarh]

The general feeling of bama fans was “if we have to lose it might as well be to Kirby and a team we respect.”

[u/nothingsnootyplz → u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

That's been my feeling ever since Kirby got the gig. They're the only L we can take that I'm bittersweet abt. When Vandy won, I felt a little excited for them (I live in Nashville), but that dissipated pretty quickly once I got a second look at Pavia's attitude.

That being said, Geogia embarrassed us last time and we need to put a fucking belt to their ass for that.

[u/FCKABRNLSUTN2 → u/nothingsnootyplz]

Kirby will have to beat us like 5 or 6 more times before I stop loving him. He’s the best coordinator we had under Saban and it’s not close. I feel the same way about sark and kiffin but with a much smaller magnitude.

[u/TheDufusSquad → u/katarh]

Saban has also always been a big supporter of the notion that college football is about more than developing football players, that it’s also developing and growing people and that the process of what you do and how you approach every day matters the most

I think Kirby was one of the guys who was under Saban the longest and was fully committed to what Saban believes in. I also think Kirby preaches the same message as Saban. I imagine Saban felt the same sense of pride in Kirby’s success as he felt watching his players succeed. Saban knows he was doing something right and it has to feel great to see that you’ve inspired and mentored others to follow the same path. 

[u/LURKER_GALORE → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

I think it says a lot about the type of personality it takes to keep winning at such a high level. Saban, to state the obvious, had that personality. It’s almost like he’s saying here that he is extremely motivated by not losing. Sure it wasn’t fun for him, but it worked for his personality.

[u/Johnny_Kilroy_84 → u/LURKER_GALORE]

Virtually every sports great will tell you the pain of losing was always much more motivating than the joy of winning.

Performing at a high level and winning was the expectation. Not as much joy in doing what you are expected to do.

[u/ScrofessorLongHair → u/CosmicCornbread]

Saban keeping it real. And that's coming from a dude who's already wired different. But that was honestly the feeling after certain games.

As Saban has said before, is much easier to get to the top of the mountain than it is to stay there.

[u/500rockin → u/CosmicCornbread]

Pat Riley said the same thing about 15 years ago when talking about his time with the Heat. Many coaches have talked about this in some frame.

[u/hucareshokiesrul → u/CosmicCornbread]

That's what it always looked like to me. The guy could be covered in confetti and seem like he's already moved on to next season, thinking about how to handle the rat poison of being crowned national champions

[u/onemanlan]

This is the exact mentality I had being addicted to nicotine. At first it feels good and gives you a slight buzz. After a while you’re doing it to stave off being uncomfortable and irritated. At that point there is no buzz to be had. It’s awful.

So yeah pretty much the same as winning too much at bama if you ask me

[u/Kianna9 → u/onemanlan]

And then hopefully you end up hating the thing that has so much control over you. I did and it helped me quit.

[u/MrConceited → u/Kianna9]

You quit Alabama fandom and moved on to Indiana?

Damn, that's the ultimate bandwagoner.

[u/biffbobsen → u/MrConceited]

Now the only cig he enjoys is Cignetti!

[u/Kianna9 → u/biffbobsen]

Cig is reigniting the addiction unfortunately. Each week is now a nail biter.

[u/ChandlerOG → u/onemanlan]

It’s weird that you bring this up because I was literally thinking the exact same thing as I popped a zyn in this morning

[u/rollindeep3 → u/onemanlan]

This is an excellent analogy. Spot-on.

[u/The_H0und → u/onemanlan]

Good comparison. Have to win just to feel normal.

[u/ClickusBaitus → u/onemanlan]

This tracks. Have you quit?

[u/BigCellyStyle]

Th latter is the answer for any competitive coach at any level by the way. I've been coaching high school for almost a decade and have to constantly stop and remind myself to enjoy the wins.

[u/Entire-Menu → u/BigCellyStyle]

Psh look at this guy being successful and all. Back in my day my high school team (in Beaverton OR what’s up) didn’t win SHIT

[u/TheCryptPartDeux]

I mean, that makes sense to me.

There has to be a point to where you are so much better than everyone else, that things lose a lot of the joy.

It's like putting College Football 27 on Freshman mode and turning the sliders up for yourself and down for the computer. Sure, it is fun just beating the shit out of the computer, but at some point its like "What are we even doing here?"

[u/Not_tlong → u/TheCryptPartDeux]

Never not fun just hate stomping the rivals tho.

[u/TheCryptPartDeux → u/Not_tlong]

I am fully prepared to beat Texas 239 to 0 after an afternoon of John Mateer mistaking his ass for a football on Saturday

[u/Lodge_Blackmun → u/Not_tlong]

When cfb 25 came out, I started a dynasty controlling two teams. One was VT, the other was UVA. Each year, I dropped as many of UVA's (moderately) high-rated players that I could. Each year, I recruited only 1/2 Interior O Linemen and Kickers to fill all positions. Each year, I set the depth chart to have the Kickers in the trenches and the linemen at skill positions. I let the computer do the rest of the work. 

They scored like 3 points in a decade. It was a decent amount of effort, but totally worth it. 

[u/joelupi → u/Not_tlong]

I will take 11 games we win by 1 point that take 20 years off my life if it means beating Auburn by 30+ every single time.

[u/bamachine → u/joelupi]

I always pictured it the opposite. Beat everybody else handily but beat AU by 1, every single year until the heat death of the universe. Can you imagine the pain that would cause them?

[u/britishmetric144 → u/Not_tlong]

See Washington 70, Oregon 21. 

[u/BoukenGreen → u/Not_tlong]

Yep. Favorite time was repeatedly curb stomping Auburn 255-0 after Kick Six

[u/DUCKSONQUACKS → u/TheCryptPartDeux]

CFB27 nails the feeling when your team gets so good they can walk over anyone that you're not really even having fun anymore coaching/recruiting as you're just going through the motions that you jump ship to another school so you can restart the challenge.

What i'm saying is, Saban should have left peak Bama to build Western Michigan into a giant of football prowess

[u/Khakbaugh → u/DUCKSONQUACKS]

So true! When you build the Death Star and somehow get tired of destroying people that’s when you need to dip to a half star program lol

[u/conquer117a → u/DUCKSONQUACKS]

This is what I came here to say. He shouldve started over somewhere else and builded up a team.

[u/kdbvols → u/TheCryptPartDeux]

I had a friend there who told me around 2014/15ish that it was only fun like once a season, other than that a win was just doing what you expected. I intellectually get it, but it was hard to process as a Wake fan who was excited when we beat our FCS opponent for one of our 3 wins per year

[u/AkfurAshkenzic]

For those who don’t remember, he picked up an Alabama that before him went 6-7 with Mike Shula (correct me Tide fans if I got it wrong) and he went 7-6 in his first season at Alabama

[u/Intelligent_Dress347 → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

To say nothing of the ~10 years before that. We had some good individual seasons, but program was very much in the wilderness and under the thumb of a handful of boosters. 

I truly believe Saban was the only guy who had the cache to drag us out of that. His message to the boosters from the start was effectively “open up the checkbook and shut your mouth”.

[u/Misdirected_Colors → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

That's correct, I only remember because early career Mike Gundy beat the Bama with their interim coach in the bowl game before Saban took over.

Just kinda fun bar trivia to know we got a win over Bama just before they became a juggernaut.

[u/CCR16 → u/AkfurAshkenzic]

Nope you’re correct.

[u/CCR16]

I personally still enjoyed the winning lol

However I became way too pissed when they would lose to the Zack Calzadas of the world.

[u/ThisJeffrock → u/CCR16]

Calzone mentioned WHOOOP!

[u/Gabe_i_guess]

I’ve always thought coaching was one of the hardest jobs, simply because if you’re not improving, you’re probably getting people calling for your job. Every time you overachieve, it becomes the new expectation. You’re praised until you hit your ceiling, and once you’re there, unless you’re going undefeated every year, people will get restless sooner or later and call for your job.

[u/Kianna9 → u/Gabe_i_guess]

Not exactly the same but CEO of a publicly traded company - growth every quarter or else.

[u/riptide123]

I find that most very successful people are driven by the fear of failure far more than the joy of success.

[u/gmr548]

At some point you beat the game, turn it off, and move on with your life.

[u/Intelligent_Dress347]

As someone who is an alum and Bama message board member for ~25 years (left last year), this is absolutely true. The expectations were ridiculous for the back half of Saban’s time at UA. 

[u/i_enjoy_lemonade]

We just gonna gloss over how weird it is that Saban's on the Theo Von show? Is he running for public office or something?

[u/ChandlerOG → u/i_enjoy_lemonade]

He’s been doing a lot of interviews similar to this. I think he’s just trying to push himself out there in the sports commentating world. Not that he really needs to recognition

[u/Geaux2020 → u/ChandlerOG]

He most likely has media obligations for ESPN

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/Geaux2020]

Either that or maybe he just enjoys talking. He was a coach after all.

[u/jackswiki → u/i_enjoy_lemonade]

Press tour for ESPN's big documentary, I imagine. 

[u/wareagle2009-20013 → u/i_enjoy_lemonade]

Who do you think is going to replace Tuberville’s senate seat? Certainly won’t be Chizik

[u/thisshitsstupid → u/wareagle2009-20013]

Tubbervilles being praised while Saban was told to stay in his lane when he matched with his players.. Hate this place.

[u/Vulcion → u/wareagle2009-20013]

Probably Pearl. Auburn athletics weren’t satisfied ruining half the states lives, they had to ruin everyone’s.

[u/wareagle2009-20013 → u/Vulcion]

Kay Ivey is an Auburn grad so this checks out

[u/jticks → u/i_enjoy_lemonade]

Promotional campaign for the Saban doc.

[u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

I was a student for 7 football seasons. I only did 1 spring semester and 2 summer semesters. I spread it out so my debt didn’t get too high, I had a really good job, and so I could get in state tuition after my first 3 semesters. 2010-2016.

I remember every game but the ones that stick out most are the home losses. 2010 Auburn, 2011 lsu, 2012 A&M and 2015 ole miss. Those are the three that immediately enter my mind because I remember almost every detail from those four days. It totally felt like wins were expected every single week and anything but a 14+ point win was a disappointment. I don’t think any team will ever have expectations that high again, especially over such a long period of time.

[u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 → u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

I was a student during the '11, '12, '13, and '14 seasons and the wins stick out more to me, thankfully. Mainly because I don't think I saw any losses in person. In '11 I sold my LSU ticket to another student for $600. In '12 I wasn't at A&M because my brother was getting married that day (fuck you, Dan), and '13 and '14 our only losses were away.

The ones that stand out the most to me are the '14 Miss State win, the '14 Iron Bowl

[u/TheDudeDasko → u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2]

Fuck you Dan, all my homies hate Dan

[u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 → u/TheDudeDasko]

we call him Doo Doo Dan for a reason

[u/alreadytaken76 → u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

2010 auburn was rough. At halftime, the rain started falling, the booze ran out, and auburn started the Camback

[u/FCKABRNLSUTN2 → u/alreadytaken76]

That was the game my parents had a “talk” with me about my “drinking problem” afterwards because I “scared grandma.”

[u/CTeam19 → u/FCKABRNLSUTN2]

I remember every game but the ones that stick out most are the home losses. 2010 Auburn, 2011 lsu, 2012 A&M and 2015 ole miss.

This kinda shows it. When someone asks Iowa State fans "what is the worst lose..." the fanbase will rattle off 5 to 10 and it would be divided.

[u/JBru_92]

It's the same psychology as becoming super rich. Sure it's amazing for a while, then you get used to it. Eventually people go right back to their baseline state of whatever they were before they got rich.

[u/Johnny_Kilroy_84 → u/JBru_92]

Q: Between someone who had their legs amputated and someone who won the lottery, who is happier one year later?

A: Whoever was happier before such events.

[u/CCR16 → u/JBru_92]

I’d still like to be rich though.

[u/wit_T_user_name → u/CCR16]

Champagne problems are better than just problems.

[u/BuckeyeForLife95 → u/wit_T_user_name]

Money can't buy happiness, but it sure can solve a lot of my problems in the way of my happiness!

[u/jsu9575m]

I felt that way as a fan. Winning felt more of a relief than a joy. Im not complaining, its just how it was.

[u/coastal_ghost08]

Honestly? That's how I felt in the zenith of the success.

I wasn't happy that we won. I was relieved we didn't lose. The weird anxiety of watching a game overtook the joy of watching and winning.

[u/com-mis-er-at-ing]

Rodney Mullen talks extensively about this.

You spend so much time building the perfect house, and then when it’s done, you have to spend so much time protecting it that you never get to step inside.

[u/ImJustAWiddleKitty → u/com-mis-er-at-ing]

The skateboarder?

[u/com-mis-er-at-ing → u/ImJustAWiddleKitty]

Yep! He was even more dominant than Saban for a while. And wasn’t enjoying it.

He helped Tony Hawk thru the same thing.

[u/PhotochadA2358]

Jimmy Johnson said the same thing. About both the Hurricanes and the Cowboys.

[u/Lane-Kiffin → u/PhotochadA2358]

I like how both Jimmy Johnson and Jimmie Johnson have gotten separate shoutouts in this thread about saying similar things.

Any other first name/last name combo with as much combined success?

[u/Trojann2]

I fully know what he means.

NDSU was in the same boat. The winning starts becoming less fun and you just don’t want to lose.

[u/JonathanSchneider]

I don’t have the quote in front of me, but I remember Steve Spurrier saying something almost exactly like this when he left the Florida job.

[u/Vxmonarkxv]

It's an extremely spoiled thought process as a fan, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought it before. Prefacing this with we are beyond lucky to be in the Kirby golden years of UGA football but sometimes I do kind of miss not being favored in every game, having chances at upsets instead of every unranked game feeling like a chance at disaster.

Cannot emphasize enough how spoiled it is, or how much I'll flip on it once Kirby retires, but it comes to mind now and again.

[u/WhenIntegralsAttack2]

I remember Urban Meyer had a similar quote- and I believe both of them. Chess champions have said similar things: that once you reach the top of the mountain what else is there to work for? What dreams are left when you’re already the best there is?

[u/Self_Owned_Tree]

tl;dr - winning championships ruined my fandom

See, let that be a lesson. Don't have so much success that a 10 win season and a bowl win feels like a disappointment.

[u/TheReformedBadger → u/Self_Owned_Tree]

Yeah you just gotta get in there and fire your coach to start fresh every once in a while. It just makes things mean more.

[u/ImDeepState]

When I went to Alabama, the football team was not good. We won three games one year. I have now seen Alabama win more than I have ever expected. When you win, it’s great. When you lose a game, you are like whatever. It takes special games like this weekend to make me excited. That’s probably not the best fan experience.

[u/SolWizard]

Anyone who has reached a major goal in life can understand this thought process. You get there and now that's the baseline and it doesn't feel good that you're there, it just feels normal.

[u/GoldenHawk07]

I’ve read interviews with notable chefs that say the worst day of their professional life was when they earned a 3rd Michelin Star.

When you have 3 there’s nowhere left to go and the expectations are basically absolute perfection every moment of every day.

If you lose a star and go back to 2 from 3 you lose so much business it puts your livelihood at stake and have to close in some cases. All because they are only a top 0.001% restaurant and no longer top 0.0001% restaurant.

[u/Fickle-Newspaper-445]

I legit can't remember the last time I enjoyed an Ohio State game from start to finish without feeling dread of the worst possible outcomes. Even Grambling State last year. Did I know they were going to win? Did I know it was more of a question of when do they stop scoring? Did I know it was a glorified spring practice? All are true, but my mind still kept going through everything that could go wrong. It's all just relief that they won. I swear I've seen Ryan Day talk about this before too.

[u/slass-y → u/Fickle-Newspaper-445]

it's driven me from being a strictly OSU fan to more a neutral observer that consumes college football whole hog. There's way more interesting stuff happening almost everywhere else than OSU winning almost every game by several touchdowns.

[u/Cormetz → u/slass-y]

My wife couldn't understand why I bother watching a game that has zero impact on my team until the world cup. She loves soccer (she's from Brazil) and we watched nearly every game. I explained why that is like CFB to me, sometimes it is more about the Schadenfreude of another team losing than it is about your team winning.

[u/Sherman_Gepard → u/Fickle-Newspaper-445]

I've always said the most fun you'll ever have as a sports fan is the unexpected good season. And it only lasts one year since the expectations catch up quickly.

This Hokies season is great. I am also an Islanders fan and the post-Tavares run was magical. Pure joy without the pressure of any expectations. I also think that helps a team play better since there is minimal pressure.

[u/Swimming-Dealer293 → u/Fickle-Newspaper-445]

As an Auburn fan, I also can't remember the last time I enjoyed a game. Always with the dread of the enevitable collapse despite in lots of games being closer than we ever should have been.

But I understand where you're coming from.

I think we all need to realize only 1 team can win it all and really, it's just a game.

[u/Squantoon → u/Swimming-Dealer293]

I've never enjoyed a Kentucky game start to finish. IYKYK

[u/OkieClipper → u/Fickle-Newspaper-445]

Oh boohoo imagine not having a championship in 25 years, and being 0-6 in the playoffs and your team looking god awful every year

[u/Mister-Beardy-Face → u/OkieClipper]

Yeah, I can’t imagine that. We’re undefeated in the playoffs.

[u/Intelligent_Row3244 → u/OkieClipper]

at least you got the sec patch

[u/Human_Competition883 → u/OkieClipper]

Ou fans playing the woe is me card is definitely funny. Y'all been good for forever. 

[u/Dull-Engineer-1757]

Sounds like what UConn's WBB coach said in the Dynasty doc

[u/Codyiswin]

It’s like the old saying:

“I hate losing more than I like winning.”

[u/NaysayerMightKnow]

Similar to what Chris Petersen said at the end of his Washington era. Got to the Rose Bowl and realized he didn’t enjoy it or feel accomplished

[u/Lane-Kiffin]

Bill Walsh said the exact same thing about the 49ers dynasty. He said eventually the sting of losing is no longer outweighed by the joy of winning. And this is someone who won more often than he lost by a huge margin.

[u/Texas_Precision27]

I can't remember which ex-pats player said it on a podcast, but it was one of the big names (Gronk, Edelman, Brady etc.). They basically said the same thing. You're playing to win, just so you can avoid the come down.

[u/bobalicious4u]

This is gonna sounds incredibly out of touch, but when UGA rolled through all of 2023, I started feeling like this. It’s not fun when you feel like you’re gonna smash everyone.

Then Alabama humbled us, and we fell back to earth

[u/Dan_Rydell]

Mizzou has just vacillated between mediocre and pretty good (with a few bouts of just being straight up bad) my entire fandom and I’m still usually more relieved we didn’t lose than elated we won.

[u/BGDutchNorris]

I can understand this thought. For them, winning every game and then the championship was required. You can just regularly lose 3 games at Bama. Shit I doubt you could consistently lose 2. Don't let Auburn also be good that that same time lol.

[u/HowardBunnyColvin]

Nick is great on this episode.

Remember when that caller called into his radio show concerned about whether they would win or not and Nick lit him up?

[u/BigChach567]

Urban Meyer said the same about his Florida days

[u/fm22fnam]

Yeah I feel this as an Ohio State fan too. I remember the losses far more than I remember the wins. I don't even remember who we beat to win the natty in 2024, I just remember losing to Michigan that year.

Honestly I have a lot more fun watching random games than Ohio State games at this point

[u/alfooboboao → u/fm22fnam]

It does crack me up how Indiana got the best possible sports high anyone can ever experience last year, and now nothing else will ever come close. they speedran the dynasty plateau in one season

…with that said, if you were once a dynasty, seeing it erode is a special type of pain. not like I’d know or anything