Timing is everything.<\/p>\n
The world moves in cycles.<\/p>\n
What comes around goes around.<\/p>\n
Those are everyday clich\u00e9s that hold a high level of truth in life and especially in the sandbox of sports.<\/p>\n
With the College Football Playoffs and NFL playoffs getting underway, I will examine these clich\u00e9s strictly as they apply to football and the question of dynasties. Are these teams sitting high on their thrones good or bad for the sport?<\/p>\n
There is no doubt, no question, that the University of Alabama football is as dynastic as anything college football has seen in the past 30 years \u2014 and maybe longer, with all due respect to the Nebraska teams of the 1980s and early \u201890s, the Miami Hurricanes of the late \u201880s and Bud Wilkinson\u2019s Oklahoma Sooners of the 1950s.<\/p>\n
In football\u2019s Sunday version (can\u2019t really say that with a straight face as the NFL seems to play on every day of the week), powerful dynasties are harder to come by and have more interruptions due to injuries, ownership, rules and free agency. But if you had to label one team as fitting in the dynasty category, it would be the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n
Packers\u2019 fans hold your cheese heads. Pittsburgh loyalists put down the Terrible Towels. Bill Walsh is still resting in peace. And Dallas nuts can stop shining the Silver Star. I know all too well all of the above laid claim to dynasties of their own in the 1960s, \u201870s, \u201880s and \u201890s respectively.<\/p>\n
The Patriots carry the banner in this \u201cmodern\u201d era of the NFL, and head coach Bill Bilichick has maintained his presence atop the league for two 10-year generational periods. The Patriots have played in six Super Bowls since 2002. They\u2019ve won the Lombardi Trophy four times, and lost it twice \u2014 both times to the New York Giants. The longest period of Super Bowl absence during that 14-year run was three years.<\/p>\n
Throw in gobs of divisional titles and AFC championship appearances, and you have an incomparable run of excellence.<\/p>\n
Put that spotlight on Alabama, and the team is just as impressive.<\/p>\n
The Crimson Tide is seeking its third straight national championship this season. Under the relentless pursuit of perfection with Nick Saban as head coach, Alabama has won five of the last eight SEC conference championships. And it\u2019s won three in a row with the recent 56-14 flogging of Florida in Atlanta.<\/p>\n
On his own, Saban has won five national championships (four with Alabama and one at LSU) and 10 SEC West divisional titles with an overall record of 113-18 in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n
And to top all that off, Saban consistently has the highest-rated recruiting class year in and year out.<\/p>\n
I have to wonder whether Alabama\u2019s clear and present danger to the balance of power in college football is good for the game.<\/p>\n
In the upper echelons of the college game, it begins and ends with Saban.<\/p>\n
When Alabama lured him away from the NFL Miami Dolphins in 2007, Saban had a few stumbles early on. He lost to UL-Monroe and UAB for heaven\u2019s sake. But once he got his recruits and system in, not many in the SEC or the country could stop the Tide.<\/p>\n
LSU\u2019s last success against Bama was five years ago in that 9-6 Game of the Century slugfest. The Tide avenged that defeat a short time after, with a 21-0 beat-down of the Tigers in the then-BCS title game. No sense in reliving that horror show out of deference to LSU fans. But for the point I am making here, note that since that 2009 regular season loss to LSU, Saban and the Tide have gone 66-6, with four SEC titles and three national championships.<\/p>\n
The Tigers poked the proverbial Bear and this one doesn\u2019t wear Houndstooth.<\/p>\n
When it comes to timing, in 2007, Alabama went after and got the coach they knew could lead the Crimson Tide back to the top. They rolled out the red carpet, fired up the private jets and opened the university\u2019s checkbook.<\/p>\n
Saban pounded his players with the \u201cprocess,\u201d and he developed an NFL-worthy roster, with many players going high in the pro draft. And he didn\u2019t stand pat when it came to game plans, schemes and player\u2019s skills. Saban brought in the petulant Lane Kiffin as offensive coordinator. The head coach saw where the game was headed and knew he had to put his disdain for the hurry-up, spread offenses aside if Alabama was to stay on top.<\/p>\n
Saban recruited more mobile, dual-threat quarterbacks, along with faster defensive linemen and linebackers. After losing to the spread offenses of Ole Miss and Texas A&M, Saban, again, knew where the game was going, and he hitched his wagon.<\/p>\n
LSU\u2019s Les Miles did not see the future of college football, and as a result, he lost his job and may have trouble getting rehired for next season.<\/p>\n
Earlier, I mentioned cycles and the idea that what goes around comes around. Those things were never more apparent than in the Big 10 conference this year. The Big 10, along with the PAC 12 and Big 12, didn\u2019t fall asleep at the wheel.<\/p>\n
Ohio State brought back Ohio native Urban Meyer to reenergize the Buckeyes, which he did, winning the national championship in 2014 and advancing to the first Final Four playoff bracket in 2015.<\/p>\n
Michigan lured Ann Arbor\u2019s favorite son and former quarterback Jim Harbaugh back home to revitalize a sinking program. Harbaugh had the Wolverines on the brink of a play-off spot just two years into the job.<\/p>\n
Penn State and Wisconsin are again national powers.<\/p>\n
Out of the PAC 12, Washington, with head coach Chris Peterson of Boise State fame, made the play-offs as the fourth seed and will face Alabama. The Huskies took a while, but under Peterson, they went 11-1 this year and look to remain a force. Southern Cal may be the team playing the best football right now. Stanford won\u2019t be out of the national picture as long as Oregon will, even with all that Nike money and new coach Willie Taggart headed to Eugene.<\/p>\n
The cycle is turning in the Big 12 too.<\/p>\n
Tom Herman spurned LSU for his first love at Texas, and allowed Ed Orgeron to land his dream job in Baton Rouge. Herman will follow Harbaugh\u2019s approach and should have the Longhorns competitive in less than two years.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma had two Heisman Trophy finalists this year. They turned their season around after two early losses to Houston and Ohio State.<\/p>\n
The college game moves in cycles.\u00a0 Case in point: since 2000, ten different teams have won the national championship.<\/p>\n
There is an ebb and flow to the current of college football. Consider hot offensive schemes. Do you go big and bulky on defense or lean and fast? You can have quarterbacks who can take you all the way or who just manage the game. It\u2019s still highly unpredictable when you depend on 19- and 20-year-old men.<\/p>\n
The most critical cycle change has been that most Power Five programs now recruit nationally from coast to coast. No longer is the talent-rich South the recruiting domain of the SEC; nor are the borders of Texas, California or Ohio closed to outsiders.<\/p>\n
Michigan\u2019s best player and Heisman finalist Jabrill Peppers is from New Jersey. Alabama freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts was a prep star in Houston.<\/p>\n
LSU\u2019s Orgeron, a recruiting savant, is selling the Tigers to a 5 Star quarterback prospect in Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Alabama\u2019s success and recent championship run is not bad for college football because there are enough great teams, talented coaches and players to turn the table on any given season. I\u2019m just not sure if it will happen this year.<\/p>\n
In the NFL, parity began with commissioner Pete Rozelle, continued with Paul Tagliabue and is still the aim of Roger Goodell. It was a matter of spreading the wealth, so to speak, and keeping more markets, teams and fans engaged. The other by-product of league-wide parity is stabilizing decreasing television ratings, which are down 10 percent this season.<\/p>\n
What the league doesn\u2019t want is half of the 32 clubs sitting at or below .500; nor does it want too many of these subpar teams in the play-offs.<\/p>\n
Among the elite, New England has been at the top or near it every year since 2002. The two constants there have been Bilichick and quarterback Tom Brady. I don\u2019t have to tell you these two football brainiacs have done more with much less supporting personnel than any other pair in history.<\/p>\n
The NFL supplanted Major League Baseball as the nation\u2019s national sporting pastime decades ago, mostly on the backs of powerful dynasties such as the 49ers, Steelers, Cowboys and Patriots.<\/p>\n
Every region and legion of fans needs an \u201cevil empire\u201d and their mighty trove of riches to hate. League executives on Park Avenue use the few, the proud and the best of the best in marketing and brand-building campaigns. You won\u2019t see the Browns, Jaguars or Titans in national propaganda dispensed by the NFL or network television promotions by CBS, FOX, NBC or ESPN.<\/p>\n
There has been some movement among the NFL\u2019s ruling class in the last 15 years. The old guard 49ers and Cowboys have barely, if at all, been seen in the playoffs, barring San Francisco\u2019s Super Bowl appearance under then-head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2013. Dallas is finally relevant again with rookie sensations Dak Prescott and Eke Elliott, who have the Cowboys in position for the top seed in the NFC this season.<\/p>\n
Oakland and Miami have been off the radar well over a decade. Green Bay has had two titles since 1997, the last coming in 2011. But the Packers were expected to contend for more, with one of the league\u2019s elite quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n
A few newcomers have risen up the ranks of late, namely Seattle, Baltimore and even New Orleans. (Unfortunately, the Saints are on the verge of losing that distinction by missing the play-offs\u00a0 once again.)<\/p>\n
Despite the top-heavy nature of the NFL, 11 different teams have claimed the Super Bowl championship since 2000. Of that number, there were four repeat winners in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, the Giants and, of course, New England.<\/p>\n
Bilichick\u2019s Patriots have existed in the bubble of intense vitriol from fans and different media corners \u2014 primarily due to the Spygate and Deflategate scandals. Without question, they are the Darth Vader of the league \u2014 led by pretty boy, future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, who has the world on a string.<\/p>\n
This leads me to the first of three constants needed for establishing a dynasty in both the NFL and college football.<\/p>\n
On the field, it starts and ends with the quarterback.<\/p>\n
The lasting legions of great NFL teams had Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Only a handful were led by imposing defenses \u2014 namely, the Steel Curtain defenses of the old Pittsburgh Steelers. (Quarterback Terry Bradshaw\u2019s\u00a0 bronze bust does sit in Canton.)<\/p>\n
You have to have a superior head coach with great command of the game plan and the personnel and the skill to impose his personality and will on the players. In the pro ranks, such coaches are Lombardi, Landry, Noll, Walsh, Johnson and Bilichick.<\/p>\n
At the college level, it\u2019s Wilkerson, Paterno, Bryant, Schembechler, Royal, Spurrier, Meyer and, of course, Saban, who may go down as the best in college football history when it\u2019s all said and done.<\/p>\n
Last of all, a dynasty needs great leadership in the NFL\u2019s general manager\u2019s chair and in the athletic director\u2019s position in the college game.<\/p>\n
NFL powers are built with great draft picks and smart free agency moves. Among the colleges, great teams have superior ADs, who make smart hires at head coach and administer the monies for stadiums and training facilities, which help attract 4- and 5-star recruits.<\/p>\n
So we circle back to the question of whether dynasties are good or bad in football.<\/p>\n
In the modern era of the NFL with free agency, salary caps and revenue sharing, if your team can\u2019t build itself into a dynasty or just be a playoff contender, then it\u2019s the team\u2019s fault. Get a better quarterback, head coach, GM or even owner.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s nothing wrong with having a New England to take aim at every fall.<\/p>\n
In the Power 5 conferences of college football, you have upwards of 30 teams, including independent Notre Dame, that have the resources and tradition to become one of the formidable few. Southern Cal from the West has done it. Ohio State from the Midwest \u2014 and now Michigan \u2014 have joined the fray. From the Northeast, Penn State seems to have overcome the worst scandal in college football history. Oklahoma is always in the mix out of the Southwest. And now Texas is poised with a new sheriff on the sideline.<\/p>\n
Florida and Florida State have held their heads high in the South, while Miami is making a comeback under new coach Mark Richt.<\/p>\n
And then there is Alabama. Sixteen national championships dating back to 1925 and 26 SEC titles.<\/p>\n
There were many lean years after the death of legendary head coach Bear Bryant. I covered some lousy Bama teams under Ray Perkins, Bill Curry and Mike Shula. The Crimson Tide languished under Mike Dubose, Dennis Franchione and Joe Kines.<\/p>\n
It took Saban and his process to begin the second dynasty at Alabama.<\/p>\n
With the Big 10 now the best conference in the land, the PAC 12 ready to return to the national stage, and the ACC contending for national crowns (Florida State and Clemson), it can\u2019t be long before a worthy adversary rises up from the pack.<\/p>\n
Alabama\u2019s reign can\u2019t go on forever.<\/p>\n
Or can it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Timing is everything. The world moves in cycles. What comes around goes around. Those are everyday clich\u00e9s that hold a high level of truth in life and especially in the sandbox of sports. With the College Football Playoffs and NFL playoffs getting underway, I will examine these clich\u00e9s strictly as they apply to football and [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1341,806,64,33],"yoast_head":"\n