BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
In the wake of Alabama's two-game losing streak were questions of all sorts.
Who was to blame for the losses to Auburn and Oklahoma? A loss of that hunger was among those listed by members of a program that won two straight national titles entering last fall.
Quarterback AJ McCarron made headlineswhen talking about teammates being "selfish" for not completely buying in. Standing in the locker room after the Sugar Bowl, the departing captain said it became an issue with younger players in the program.
Since then, coach Nick Saban said the comments missed the mark. And last week, McCarron's former teammates were asked about the remarks he made about the "entitled" young stars.
"I don't think he should say that, because the young guys are part of the team," receiverChristion Jones said at SEC Media Days. "You can't separate a certain group from the team. Not to blame, but really to look at and to check the leadership because if leadership on the team is consistent, then that's who's going to follow them are the younger guys because that's all they see."
Jones can pinpoint when things started to go south in the Tide's bid for a third straight title.
"Last year the leadership was good but toward the end it kind of got divided and only a few people were being heard," Jones said. "And the people that needed to speak and be heard weren't speaking, so everyone kind of separated themselves and pointed the finger at the younger group.
"But that's something that you can't do with the team, because the younger group, you need them just as much as the older guys, because at any point they can be put in. They need to know their things just as much as the older guys."
Safety Landon Collins said the Tide "just wasn't on our A-game" to close the year.
"We just didn't come out ready to play," he said.
Receiver Amari Cooper called the results a motivation.
"Playing for Alabama, we have such a winning atmosphere that you don't know what it's like to lose," he said. "You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and see where you were as far as coming from high school and you were on a losing team."
But it all circles back to leadership. After the Sugar Bowl, McCarron said fellow captainsC.J. Mosley and Kevin Norwood and himself were "probably the best examples of buying in to the system." Jones pointed to another Alabama team when mentioning strong leadership qualities.
"When coach Saban is leading the team more than the leadership on the team, that's when it's a problem," Jones said. "That means no one is speaking up, no one is saying anything. He's the only one doing the coaching. When I came in in 2011, those older guys and those All-American guys on that team were the leaders on the team. They were the coaches on the team. That's what we've got to become as a unit and as a leader on the team."
Alabama hit the reset button, all three Tide players said in Hoover last week.
"It was a lot of negativity and individual playing last year," Jones said. "All those little things, which people can probably say it's not a problem, but it is. So you're not playing for your team any more, you're kind of looking at everything for yourself. So now we're trying to redefine everything as this is a team unit, no matter what happens, no matter who's playing, we're playing all in for the team to accomplish one goal."
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Who was to blame for the losses to Auburn and Oklahoma? A loss of that hunger was among those listed by members of a program that won two straight national titles entering last fall.
Quarterback AJ McCarron made headlineswhen talking about teammates being "selfish" for not completely buying in. Standing in the locker room after the Sugar Bowl, the departing captain said it became an issue with younger players in the program.
Since then, coach Nick Saban said the comments missed the mark. And last week, McCarron's former teammates were asked about the remarks he made about the "entitled" young stars.
"I don't think he should say that, because the young guys are part of the team," receiverChristion Jones said at SEC Media Days. "You can't separate a certain group from the team. Not to blame, but really to look at and to check the leadership because if leadership on the team is consistent, then that's who's going to follow them are the younger guys because that's all they see."
Jones can pinpoint when things started to go south in the Tide's bid for a third straight title.
"Last year the leadership was good but toward the end it kind of got divided and only a few people were being heard," Jones said. "And the people that needed to speak and be heard weren't speaking, so everyone kind of separated themselves and pointed the finger at the younger group.
"But that's something that you can't do with the team, because the younger group, you need them just as much as the older guys, because at any point they can be put in. They need to know their things just as much as the older guys."
Safety Landon Collins said the Tide "just wasn't on our A-game" to close the year.
"We just didn't come out ready to play," he said.
Receiver Amari Cooper called the results a motivation.
"Playing for Alabama, we have such a winning atmosphere that you don't know what it's like to lose," he said. "You don't know what it's like to look in the mirror and see where you were as far as coming from high school and you were on a losing team."
But it all circles back to leadership. After the Sugar Bowl, McCarron said fellow captainsC.J. Mosley and Kevin Norwood and himself were "probably the best examples of buying in to the system." Jones pointed to another Alabama team when mentioning strong leadership qualities.
"When coach Saban is leading the team more than the leadership on the team, that's when it's a problem," Jones said. "That means no one is speaking up, no one is saying anything. He's the only one doing the coaching. When I came in in 2011, those older guys and those All-American guys on that team were the leaders on the team. They were the coaches on the team. That's what we've got to become as a unit and as a leader on the team."
Alabama hit the reset button, all three Tide players said in Hoover last week.
"It was a lot of negativity and individual playing last year," Jones said. "All those little things, which people can probably say it's not a problem, but it is. So you're not playing for your team any more, you're kind of looking at everything for yourself. So now we're trying to redefine everything as this is a team unit, no matter what happens, no matter who's playing, we're playing all in for the team to accomplish one goal."
Continue reading...
