Do championships have an expiration date?

I remember another writer telling me that winning a national title buys a coach a decade of goodwill in the college game. He said the exceptions were Bama, Florida and LSU and this was before LSU won its two recent titles.

 

Depends on the coach and the situation.
Nick Saban, after ending a 45-year drought at LSU, could've had that decade and maybe more if he'd sprinkled in an SEC championship every few years. Similarly, after ending a long drought (for them) at Alabama, and maybe going back-to-back this year, he'll have the same decade as long as he wins conference titles.
Steve Spurrier could've spent the last decade coaching at Florida, if he'd wanted to, after resurrecting that program. He was (and still is) an icon there, even though he only won one national title and got steamrolled when he played for another.
Meanwhile, at LSU, Les Miles won a national title in 2007 and has consistently fielded a strong program, but hasn't been popular since day one. His teams win, but have serious obvious deficiencies that drives people insane. LSU fans consider his announcement in 2007 that he wasn't leaving for Michigan to be one of the darkest days in the program's history. He could win another national title this year, leave for the NFL the next day, and LSU fans wouldn't shed a tear.

 

Repeat or STFU. Not neccisarily go back to back, but "Best Team of All Time" requires more than 1 great season. That Bears team had one of the great seasons of all time, but wasn't on of the great teams of all time.

Tired of hearing from some Oriole fans about how great the O's were 66-71. 3 playoff appearances in 31 years makes you what you are, a losing franchise, with a good streak.

 

What coach at UF, Bama or LSU was fired after winning a title? None.

 

Those Bears teams reached the NFC championship game in 1984 and '88, went 14-2 in '86 and 11-4 in 1987 (the strike year). They lost in the divisional playoffs twice to Washington, which was no slouch in that era.
Maybe they didn't repeat -- neither did the 1984 49ers or 1986 Giants, two more all-time great teams -- but they were far from a one-hit wonder.

 

49er fans
Celebrating close losses against good teams

 

What Bears' fans don't want to hear is that if they had an actual coach, rather than Ditka, their chances of winning more than one championship would have skyrocketed.

 

Living in the belly of the beast (i.e. in the true heart of SEC country) it is insane the way fans think. At LSU, there is a large contingent of fans who want Les Miles gone yesterday, a terrific W-L record and an NC in 2007 notwithstanding. Meanwhile, at Ole Miss, they still trot out the 1961 (or was it '62?) team that finished No. 1 in some obscure poll or polls (not AP or UPI) and claim that as a national championship. And at Alabama, they get homocidal if you don't acknowledge all 13 or 18 (pick a number) national titles that they claim. Of course, you also have the likes of MSU, Vandy and Kentucky, who shoot off fireworks and turn cartwheels over winning seasons.

As for me personally, the only team I'm fanboi passionate about are the Saints, and if the current raging debate over whether to cut or keep Garrett Hartley is any indication, I have a bad feeling the shelf life of last season's SB victory is going to be fairly short.

 

Bear Bryant couldn't carry General Neyland's clipboard!

 

An interesting phenomenon in football: Great teams based on defense are much more likely to be one-hit wonders than great teams based on offense.