For the second time in a month, Nick Saban was reminding people that a quarterback competition takes at least two quarterbacks.
One of them, strong-armed, 6-foot-5 junior Jake Coker, has received all the buzz since transferring from Florida State this spring. Blake Sims, the most veteran QB on the roster in terms of years and backup repetitions, has spent the summer as an afterthought.
Blake Sims worked with QB coach Ken Mastrole in Florida this offseason.
"No one ever seems to ask about Blake Sims," Saban volunteered when asked another question about Coker during a press conference on Sunday. "But he has done extremely well so far in camp as well."
A lack of buzz? That's OK with Sims. Paying no mind to the frenzy that surrounds any fall practice conversation is the plan for now.
"I try not to pay that much attention to it because I'm not into myself right now, I'm more into Alabama football," Sims said. "I'm more into when people see me out there, how can I put the energy into other teammates? How can I make the other quarterbacks go harder? How can I make guys look at me and say I want to match Blake Sims' intensity. So I've got to do that for us to get another ring."
Ironically, if anyone can relate to Sims' second-fiddle predicament, it's Coker.
This time last year ago at FSU Coker was overshadowed by then-freshman Jameis Winston who wowed the fanbase with a huge performance in the spring game. Winston eventually beat out Coker in fall camp, as most expected, but FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said it was not unanimous among his offensive coaching staff.
"I've worked hard since I got here and I feel like there's - I don't know if I could have done anything more than I have done right now," Coker said during Florida State's media day in Aug. 13, 2013. "Just because (Winston) is on magazine covers and all that stuff hasn't changed how I work. I do it the same way every day. I pull for him, he pulls for me, (we) hope we do the best in practice possible to make the team better and we're just playing hard and having fun."
This time around, Coker gets the attention. His former coach called him the most talented QB to play at Alabama under Saban. Coker was even named to a pair of award watch lists weeks before his first official practice at Alabama.
All the while, Saban said that Sims had an "excellent" spring, but the public's only chance to see Sims was when he and the other quarterbacks struggled in the A-Day game. Motivated, Sims continued to work in the offseason, spending time in Florida working with quarterback coach Ken Mastrole to sharpen the finer points of his game.
"He helped me out a lot, made my negative thing some positive things," Sims said.
Already flashing his ability to run in limited backup duty, Sims worked on a list of fixes with Mastrole focused on improving his acumen in the pocket. They worked on throwing balance, stride length on his dropbacks, eye movement drills to expand his field of vision, tightening up his release and the mental side of quarterbacking like recognizing protections and gauging where to locate a throw based on his personnel.
"No question he is a dynamic player out of the pocket, but people are going to want to say, 'Look, the tradition at Alabama is to be a very physical, disciplined, Nick Saban team' and they've been so successful at that," Mastrole said. "I don't know the last time they had a quarterback that could escape the pocket and go the distance. So to harness that and to really understand that when it's there, go, but you're going to win by effectively putting the ball in the playmakers' hands on the outside and making the best decisions to move the chains. I think he's understood that this year more than ever."
Teammates are noticing a different and determined player.
"Blake seems ready. He's approaching every day like he wants it, like he's hungry," receiver Christion Jones said. "I like that about him."
"He's aware of (the competition)," Mastrole said. "I don't believe it's about Blake Sims looking over his shoulder or Jacob Coker looking over his shoulder to compete. I think they are both going in there trying to play their best, trying to learn an offense and obviously you're always going to have that push which is very beneficial in any competitive setting.
"It's more about focusing on the 10 other guys in the huddle. I want him to be deflecting onto other guys and making them better so it takes that stress off yourself."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1666322#sthash.4JBgFxki.dpuf
One of them, strong-armed, 6-foot-5 junior Jake Coker, has received all the buzz since transferring from Florida State this spring. Blake Sims, the most veteran QB on the roster in terms of years and backup repetitions, has spent the summer as an afterthought.
Blake Sims worked with QB coach Ken Mastrole in Florida this offseason.
"No one ever seems to ask about Blake Sims," Saban volunteered when asked another question about Coker during a press conference on Sunday. "But he has done extremely well so far in camp as well."
A lack of buzz? That's OK with Sims. Paying no mind to the frenzy that surrounds any fall practice conversation is the plan for now.
"I try not to pay that much attention to it because I'm not into myself right now, I'm more into Alabama football," Sims said. "I'm more into when people see me out there, how can I put the energy into other teammates? How can I make the other quarterbacks go harder? How can I make guys look at me and say I want to match Blake Sims' intensity. So I've got to do that for us to get another ring."
Ironically, if anyone can relate to Sims' second-fiddle predicament, it's Coker.
This time last year ago at FSU Coker was overshadowed by then-freshman Jameis Winston who wowed the fanbase with a huge performance in the spring game. Winston eventually beat out Coker in fall camp, as most expected, but FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said it was not unanimous among his offensive coaching staff.
"I've worked hard since I got here and I feel like there's - I don't know if I could have done anything more than I have done right now," Coker said during Florida State's media day in Aug. 13, 2013. "Just because (Winston) is on magazine covers and all that stuff hasn't changed how I work. I do it the same way every day. I pull for him, he pulls for me, (we) hope we do the best in practice possible to make the team better and we're just playing hard and having fun."
This time around, Coker gets the attention. His former coach called him the most talented QB to play at Alabama under Saban. Coker was even named to a pair of award watch lists weeks before his first official practice at Alabama.
All the while, Saban said that Sims had an "excellent" spring, but the public's only chance to see Sims was when he and the other quarterbacks struggled in the A-Day game. Motivated, Sims continued to work in the offseason, spending time in Florida working with quarterback coach Ken Mastrole to sharpen the finer points of his game.
"He helped me out a lot, made my negative thing some positive things," Sims said.
Already flashing his ability to run in limited backup duty, Sims worked on a list of fixes with Mastrole focused on improving his acumen in the pocket. They worked on throwing balance, stride length on his dropbacks, eye movement drills to expand his field of vision, tightening up his release and the mental side of quarterbacking like recognizing protections and gauging where to locate a throw based on his personnel.
"No question he is a dynamic player out of the pocket, but people are going to want to say, 'Look, the tradition at Alabama is to be a very physical, disciplined, Nick Saban team' and they've been so successful at that," Mastrole said. "I don't know the last time they had a quarterback that could escape the pocket and go the distance. So to harness that and to really understand that when it's there, go, but you're going to win by effectively putting the ball in the playmakers' hands on the outside and making the best decisions to move the chains. I think he's understood that this year more than ever."
Teammates are noticing a different and determined player.
"Blake seems ready. He's approaching every day like he wants it, like he's hungry," receiver Christion Jones said. "I like that about him."
"He's aware of (the competition)," Mastrole said. "I don't believe it's about Blake Sims looking over his shoulder or Jacob Coker looking over his shoulder to compete. I think they are both going in there trying to play their best, trying to learn an offense and obviously you're always going to have that push which is very beneficial in any competitive setting.
"It's more about focusing on the 10 other guys in the huddle. I want him to be deflecting onto other guys and making them better so it takes that stress off yourself."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1666322#sthash.4JBgFxki.dpuf
