🏈 A day later, I ponder if we’re overreacting to Alabama’s loss at FSU.

Two teams who had very underwhelming seasons and a program who just came off a 2-10 season. We looked for improvements in year two under DeBoer, but unfortunately, it looks like the same problems persists. Self-inflicted penalties that extend drives; poor leadership; and obvious lack of preparation. All the talk of accountability seems to have gone out the window.

 

[mando]

How long does that take? He's had a year and a half at this point to instill that. I'm not buying into the "Washington guys both performed" because they somehow are bought into the culture and no one else has. Too vague for me. Bernard was as steady as they come last year and that has continued this year. He's another Kevin Norwood. Love Bernard and hope he gets an opportunity at the next level because to me he is the quintessential team player. That's more of who they are as "Mr. Clutch" than anything in my eyes. Brailsford is a pre-season All-American, so him performing well isn't a shocker either. We knew what we got when he was planning to transfer and we were hoping for a Dickerson type leader. Proctor has high billing, but I haven't bought into his projections yet as I'm still waiting to see that dominance. Only brought him up due to the Draft hype. Either way, it shouldn't take this long to build a new culture. We're going through it now at my company in the Atlanta office and I can tell you we have turned things around in a few months time, and that's dealing with age, egos, and years of bad habits.

With the GOAT it took him 1 year for it to really set in. It was noticeable the first year but there were still issues so when there was some adversity midway through the season it raised its ugly head.

This is why I had high expectations for year 2 under CKD and then Saturday happened.

 

[mando]

This leaves two options: handle it like CNS or a different way? It's my opinion the CNS way just doesn't work today. It can with some kids but I don't believe it does with the majority.

You did preface this with its "my opinion" so I will do this same it is my opinion. A CNS coached team would not have fielded what we saw Saturday. Other coaches seam to be able to get their players to play at a high level. I think the no nonsense coaches are still going to rise to the top and those that coddle players will eventually implode. In my 60+ years watching Bama football, only the coaches that demanded excellence were successful and were able to sustiain that excellence. That is across multiple societal changes. Takes me back to the same things win that has always won, everthing else is excuses....

 

[footballer]

It's not that simple. The path, the rocky ground, the thorns and the good soil.

Your post brings back memories. My Mom and Dad, in their later years, lived in an old house on a very rocky hillside. Though there was an almost level spot in their back yard. My Dad in his 80's, by hand dug up a sizable plot and planted green beans, in the sorriest, rocky soil you could imagine. There were green beans galore on beautiful soaring plants. My Dad used Ammonium Nitrate. He called it Sodie. He could grow anything anywhere. And of course, my Mom was right there with him.

 

[mando]

Man I loved AJ’s and Trent’s reactions. AJ goes on a masterful and passionate rant about the lack of excitement on the sideline in Tallahassee. Hope every player sees this! And he’s right about the dearth of homegrown players on the current roster!

I hope every player listens to AJs comments in the first 10-15 minutes... "Play with somd damn passion and pride"

 

[Scrape&Search1032]

I hope every player listens to AJs comments in the first 10-15 minutes... "Play with somd damn passion and pride"

It be better if they were hearing it from our head coach and this staff. But yeah, I hope they do to.

 

[mando]

It be better if they were hearing it from our head coach and this staff. But yeah, I hope they do to.

Indeed the staff should be lighting a fire but the alpha leaders should be also. It is insane to think in less than 2 years we are talking about this. I gave the staff a pass year one but not year 2. The is a huge disconnect from what reputable people were seeing in fall practice and what happened on the field Saturday. We have to be somewhere between those two extremes.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Don't forget that there are several former Saban players on DeBoer's staff... HaHa Clinton-Dix, Denzel Devall, Josh Chapman, Jamie Mosley, etc... Those guys are in the building, on the field... These are actual architects of the Bama Standard® we all talk about... and it stands to reason they pass on to the current teams what that means, what that takes, why it's necessary to uphold it.

In addition to that, before the season started, during fall camp, instead of bringing in outsiders like normal for the team speaker series (guys like motivational speakers, professional athletes, etc), DeBoer chose to bring in former Bama players (like Marlon Humphrey and Mark Ingram for example) to speak to the team about, yes... the Bama Standard®.

Why none of it seems to have worked, I don't know. I doubt anyone does. It's like some puzzle that can't be put together because the pieces don't match. Unexplainable, like pretty much everything else in the last 4 days. It's as if the football gods have turned their backs on the Tide for some reason and this is all some cruel trick to torture everyone.

 

[24and7]

 

[Scrape&Search1032]

Don't forget that there are several former Saban players on DeBoer's staff... HaHa Clinton-Dix, Denzel Devall, Josh Chapman, Jamie Mosley, etc... Those guys are in the building, on the field... These are actual architects of the Bama Standard® we all talk about... and it stands to reason they pass on to the current teams what that means, what that takes, why it's necessary to uphold it.

In addition to that, before the season started, during fall camp, instead of bringing in outsiders like normal for the team speaker series (guys like motivational speakers, professional athletes, etc), DeBoer chose to bring in former Bama players (like Marlon Humphrey and Mark Ingram for example) to speak to the team about, yes... the Bama Standard®.

Why none of it seems to have worked, I don't know. I doubt anyone does. It's like some puzzle that can't be put together because the pieces don't match. Unexplainable, like pretty much everything else in the last 4 days. It's as if the football gods have turned their backs on the Tide for some reason and this is all some cruel trick to torture everyone.

I'm just gonna sit, and wait in silence.

 

[Scrape&Search1032]

Don't forget that there are several former Saban players on DeBoer's staff... HaHa Clinton-Dix, Denzel Devall, Josh Chapman, Jamie Mosley, etc... Those guys are in the building, on the field... These are actual architects of the Bama Standard® we all talk about... and it stands to reason they pass on to the current teams what that means, what that takes, why it's necessary to uphold it.

In addition to that, before the season started, during fall camp, instead of bringing in outsiders like normal for the team speaker series (guys like motivational speakers, professional athletes, etc), DeBoer chose to bring in former Bama players (like Marlon Humphrey and Mark Ingram for example) to speak to the team about, yes... the Bama Standard®.

Why none of it seems to have worked, I don't know. I doubt anyone does. It's like some puzzle that can't be put together because the pieces don't match. Unexplainable, like pretty much everything else in the last 4 days. It's as if the football gods have turned their backs on the Tide for some reason and this is all some cruel trick to torture everyone.

But seriously, you can have all the people you want come in and try to tell these guys about the standard. But if our own coaches aren't upholding that standard each and every day, then there's no point in even talking about it. That goes for every rep at practice, every team meeting, every position meeting, everything.

And just to drive home my point, I stated this earlier today, but they released a video of some practice footage. To start off the video they showed our DB's working on their jamming drills. Their was no violence with their hands, no sense of urgency to finish out the rep at full speed, they just all seemed to be going through the motions. Same shit throughout that same video, I cannot believe it when I saw it man. If that's the effort we're putting in towards practice, then no wonder we look like shit on game day.

 

[TerryP]

I didn't even consider the effects of Covid that may still linger with many people, including players. For the most part, I wrote Covid off and didn't worry about it at all. But that is me. I do realize that most of the population took it all very seriously, and some still do.
But I don't understand how Covid can still affect an athlete's mindset and their play on the field.

I'm not pointing to the health aspect here. This isn't "myocarditis" has affected how the ILB approaches the game or life.

One thing I am pointing to his the lack of structure during that time. There were players that didn't attend school in person, didn't practice or play in a game during that stretch. But when it came to schools signing players those missing developmental steps have shown their ugly heads.

It's not just those juniors and seniors. Imagine yourself as a ninth grader where you are beginning to distinguish yourself. Who you are. What you're made of. How do you do that with your peers when you only see them in virtual settings? Or, at best, a few days a week?

It's my contention those two years severely damaged the maturation of all the school kids. We're just seeing it and talking about it as it relates to this form of entertainment; football.

I talked to my wife about this a few weeks ago. I really attribute it to parenting. We didn't have helicopter parents as far as I knew in my town for my age group. Most of our parents didn't even know where we were, we figured a lot out for ourselves both good and bad, and we learned consequences. Go back to my Dad's generation and all they knew was work. He taught me a lot about hard work and earning things for myself. I've tried not to helicopter but my kids haven't had the same level of autonomy as I did, I believe that's true of most kids these days. My kids have never really had to work for anything, I mean they have chores but they haven't had to mow yards, bale hay, etc to earn money to buy their own car or something like that. I believe that good intentions of parents wanting to make the lives of their kids better coupled with smart phones and social media being ever present in a kids life has created what we have now, a generation that's mostly about me and immediate gratification.

I don't disagree, at all. I think context is warranted.

Take the two years mentioned earlier in this post. How were parents equipped to handle their '2.5's' education when both are at work and now both kids are at home?

You bring up points like our parents didn't know where we were. These kids we're talking about? Their parents did. The kids were at home instead of school; instead of the practice fields.

My mom didn't have to know where I was either. I hung out with two other guys who lived on the street. Unfortunately, EVERYONE knew where we were!

I don't care for the smart phone being used as a root problem. It's just another iteration of Atari; in a smaller form. No doubt a part of the bigger picture.

It goes back to what I'm saying here. These kids were forced to communicate through smart devices in the virtual reality they were told they had to live in for a long stretch of their developmental years.

Answers? You and I both know you can't "snatch a knot out of his head" as a form of getting attention. That's why I'm of the opinion Saban's coaching style doesn't work any longer.

 

[TerryP]

What job? I am not aware of an opening. Just media stirring the pot? Why you might ask? Bama news makes people a lot of money.

Yesterday Pat Smith posted a graphic he said that betonline.ag had put out which were lines on the next head coach. I didn't see it on the site during a brief glance. He didn't provide a link in the post to the odds; only their main page.

Stirring the pot? A line published on Bama changing coach and whom? Both can be true.

If you know Pat ... a good chance one of these are true.

The image posted above is not the same one Pat posted.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

I'm not pointing to the health aspect here. This isn't "myocarditis" has affected how the ILB approaches the game or life.

One thing I am pointing to his the lack of structure during that time. There were players that didn't attend school in person, didn't practice or play in a game during that stretch. But when it came to schools signing players those missing developmental steps have shown their ugly heads.

It's not just those juniors and seniors. Imagine yourself as a ninth grader where you are beginning to distinguish yourself. Who you are. What you're made of. How do you do that with your peers when you only see them in virtual settings? Or, at best, a few days a week?

It's my contention those two years severely damaged the maturation of all the school kids. We're just seeing it and talking about it as it relates to this form of entertainment; football.

I don't disagree, at all. I think context is warranted.

Take the two years mentioned earlier in this post. How were parents equipped to handle their '2.5's' education when both are at work and now both kids are at home?

You bring up points like our parents didn't know where we were. These kids we're talking about? Their parents did. The kids were at home instead of school; instead of the practice fields.

My mom didn't have to know where I was either. I hung out with two other guys who lived on the street. Unfortunately, EVERYONE knew where we were!

I don't care for the smart phone being used as a root problem. It's just another iteration of Atari; in a smaller form. No doubt a part of the bigger picture.

It goes back to what I'm saying here. These kids were forced to communicate through smart devices in the virtual reality they were told they had to live in for a long stretch of their developmental years.

Answers? You and I both know you can't "snatch a knot out of his head" as a form of getting attention. That's why I'm of the opinion Saban's coaching style doesn't work any longer.

You know.... maybe we hear that word to much....see it to much...talk about it to much...
Think about it to much... i have heard all this before...
Then it was "bear" now it is "saban"

Maybe the shadow cast is to long...to encompassing....to daunting..

Of...IMO

 

[Secondand26]

View attachment 31923
I'm just gonna sit, and wait in silence.

I would argue with about the “silence” part of that!

 

[Scrape&Search1032]

I would argue with about the “silence” part of that!

Lol, you're right.

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Why none of it seems to have worked, I don't know. I doubt anyone does. It's like some puzzle that can't be put together because the pieces don't match. Unexplainable, like pretty much everything else in the last 4 days. It's as if the football gods have turned their backs on the Tide for some reason and this is all some cruel trick to torture everyone.

You mentioned why in another previous post. Each player, must on his own terms, authentically want to be good. I think they want the success but have they truly bought it that they WANT to experience THE PROCESS of getting there? I think for the most part they haven't with the exception of a few.

When CNS started that 2007 season there were several star players that were just left behind. And even when CNS lost to ULM, it galvanized the team at understanding that CNS is resolute with THE PROCESS. It was absolutely AMAZING to me that CNS was just fine letting them rot in their own laziness. Some players are beyond reaching & they will hang themselves with their own rope of self-responsibility.

I look back on that first season & I tip my hat to the GOAT for standing his ground on those matters. CKD has NO choice but to weed these guys off the playing field (eventually the roster) if he has any prayer of true success. Only time will tell.

 

[Slickmullet]

The reality is it is a perfect storm of NIL entitlement, soft coaching, and changing culture at Alabama. Fans just need to realize college football has completely evolved. How does FSU go from a total dumpster fire last year to looking like they did on Saturday? Simple, last year was a bust in the portal for them and this year looks like they hit correctly.

Pull up the top 10 portal teams and look at the top 15 teams and the country and also how they played. At this point I think a winning recipe is dump money to the portal for veteran players and don’t worry about the highscoolers as much. We were 61st in portal ranking by the way.

Unfortunately for Alabama our AD was an absolute idiot and tied us to a coach that is extremely soft and not built to handle modern college football. Worst contract ever! How freaking desperate. We’re likely screwed for several years and just have to deal with it.

 

[bamatommy]

The reality is it is a perfect storm of NIL entitlement, soft coaching, and changing culture at Alabama. Fans just need to realize college football has completely evolved. How does FSU go from a total dumpster fire last year to looking like they did on Saturday? Simple, last year was a bust in the portal for them and this year looks like they hit correctly.

Pull up the top 10 portal teams and look at the top 15 teams and the country and also how they played. At this point I think a winning recipe is dump money to the portal for veteran players and don’t worry about the highscoolers as much. We were 61st in portal ranking by the way.

Unfortunately for Alabama our AD was an absolute idiot and tied us to a coach that is extremely soft and not built to handle modern college football. Worst contract ever! How freaking desperate. We’re likely screwed for several years and just have to deal with it.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

You mentioned why in another previous post. Each player, must on his own teams, authentically want to be good. I think they want the success but have they truly bought it that they WANT to experience THE PROCESS of getting there? I think for the most part they haven't with the exception of a few.

When CNS started that 2007 season there were several star players that were just left behind. And even when CNS lost to ULM, it galvanized the team at understanding that CNS is resolute with THE PROCESS. It was absolutely AMAZING to me that CNS was just fine letting them rot in their own laziness. Some players are beyond reaching & they will hang themselves with their own rope of self-responsibility.

I look back on that first season & I tip my hat to the GOAT for standing his ground on those matters. CKD has NO choice but to weed these guys off the playing field (eventually the roster) if he has any prayer of true success. Only time will tell.

In terms of giving effort and such, yes, absolutely. I didn't do a great job with it, but I was referring more to an overall blanket situation (how to prepare, how to act, what to say [and what not to say], etc). Example: you'd think those that have been around and know the recipe to a championship team could reach a handful of players, get in their ear, and instill in them that leaders also need to be enforcers. There are guys on this team that give a shit... there just doesn't seem to be any enforcers that will rock the boat. Maybe it was a red flag when all the talk came out a few weeks about about how close knit this team was. And maybe like effort, you can't really create boogeymen, it's just a DNA thing. But from personal experiences on teams, even much smaller teams than a football team, there's always someone willing to be the bad cop.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

The reality is it is a perfect storm of NIL entitlement, soft coaching, and changing culture at Alabama. Fans just need to realize college football has completely evolved. How does FSU go from a total dumpster fire last year to looking like they did on Saturday? Simple, last year was a bust in the portal for them and this year looks like they hit correctly.

Pull up the top 10 portal teams and look at the top 15 teams and the country and also how they played. At this point I think a winning recipe is dump money to the portal for veteran players and don’t worry about the highscoolers as much. We were 61st in portal ranking by the way.

Unfortunately for Alabama our AD was an absolute idiot and tied us to a coach that is extremely soft and not built to handle modern college football. Worst contract ever! How freaking desperate. We’re likely screwed for several years and just have to deal with it.

Nobody at the time of the hire was saying that. Nobody. In fact, it was being lauded by most. Beyond that, Bryne alone didn't give/approve that contract... several did, including the entire BOT. Thirdly, if Bama ends up cutting ties and hiring another proven coach (that doesn't have baggage), the next contract will be of similar stature, especially if it's a Sexton client.