Bill Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history by many metrics. In college football, that honor belongs to Nick Saban. They each have an interesting case to be the best football coach ever. Now, with Belichick in college and Saban enjoying retirement, the former Alabama coach has a message.
He saw, like the rest of the sports world, how dreadful Belichick's UNC tenure began last Monday evening. It was the worst defensive effort Belichick has ever gotten from any team at any level, and it has the foundation shaking. Saban thinks that he "must" win this week to steady the ship.
“I think the most important thing is that you win with people,” Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show. “You’ve gotta have a good roster and you’ve got to have an opportunity to develop that roster." Saban admitted that getting there late like Belichick did hurt, and his roster-building was "behind the eight-ball."
That creates a problem, but the on-field product has to be better, too. “The tackling on defense wasn’t very good, obviously the turnovers for two scores wasn’t very good and there are a lot of things they need to work on and improve on," Saban said.
He's confident the UNC coach will work on those things, and Saban added, "I do think also that people need to have patience in the fact that you have to have the chance to get good players and have a chance to develop those players as a group. (Charlotte) is a must-win. No doubt.”
If the Tar Heels fall to 0-2 after a matchup with Charlotte, a school part of the UNC system, then there might really be cause for concern in Chapel Hill.