| FTBL Athlon's annual "SEC Coaches talk anonymously about conference foes."

[1CrimsonTider]

SEC West​

Alabama

"Defensively they’ll be one of the best teams in the country based on what we think is coming back."

"Based on what they lose on the offense, maybe this is the year where the defense is more the identity than the offense. We haven’t seen that since Lane [Kiffin] changed things up there."

"I don’t think they’re losing much at QB, swapping Mac [Jones] for Bryce Young is a one-to-one."

"They’re loaded everywhere, so the open positions at running back and on the line aren’t concerning, but replacing [DeVonta] Smith is a real thing. He was a generational talent at any other program, but even here they’re going to feel that absence, especially with a new QB."

"If I’m guessing, I think Bill [O'Brien] keeps a lot of what [Steve] Sarkisian did, at least at first."

"The defense was definitely the weaker side of the ball last year. Pete Golding has the hardest job in the country but he’s done better than you think. They do such a good job forcing you to do things; they’re too talented to just line up against, you have to use a lot of formations and motions and just 'stuff' to keep them off-balance, which means you’re liable to make mistakes, and when you get behind schedule they pounce."

"The way to give them trouble, at least last year, was to make them think a lot. Formations to the boundary, then motions, maybe trading off the tight end, making them account for matchups in real-time and get them out of tendencies. Try to create gaps."

"When you’ve seen Alabama struggle in recent years, it’s because you’re making really talented players outthink their assignments. It’s really the only real way to beat them, unless you’re a Clemson, because you can’t win one-on-one matchups. All that being said, they're still the best program in college football.”

SEC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2021

SEC football coaches talk off-the-field about teams for the 2021 season.

athlonsports.com

 

[TerryP]

"If I’m guessing, I think Bill [O'Brien] keeps a lot of what [Steve] Sarkisian did, at least at first."

Any guesses as to who said this? It's got to be someone fairly new to the conference or at the very least one who hasn't faced Alabama in several years.

How many times does this need to be said? It wasn't Sark's offense, it's not O'Brien's. It's Saban's.

 

[64Tide]

When you are the “best defensive mind in football”, you would know where to attack any defense. Folks may regret this basketball on grass, because once committed to this, nobody is doing it better than Saban. “Is this what you want football to become”. Ok…

 

[XXL TideFan]

How many times does this need to be said? It wasn't Sark's offense, it's not O'Brien's. It's Saban's.

All very true but I think that you could take a dozen different OC’s and get different results because some are zoned in better than others. Same with defense Steele, Smart, and Pruitt all visibly different to my memory at least.

 

[TerryP]

All very true but I think that you could take a dozen different OC’s and get different results because some are zoned in better than others.

"If I’m guessing, I think Bill [O'Brien] keeps a lot of what [Steve] Sarkisian did, at least at first."

Okay, what did "Sark do" that was different from the scheme? That's what I'm pointing to here. I do believe we'll see a little more RPO versus last season but that's playing to Bryce's skill set. Is that "keeping what Sark did?" I just don't get what that "coach" was saying versus what we know about the system.

 

[XXL TideFan]

Okay, what did "Sark do" that was different from the scheme? That's what I'm pointing to here. I do believe we'll see a little more RPO versus last season but that's playing to Bryce's skill set. Is that "keeping what Sark did?" I just don't get what that "coach" was saying versus what we know about the system.

Beemer or Harsin would be my guess on who said it.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Anonymous.....lol

writers just makeshit up....say whats on their mind...and call it anonymous...
Maybe this was the case...maybe not....

but trust nothing anonymous

 

[NickelDoubleDog]

Okay, what did "Sark do" that was different from the scheme? That's what I'm pointing to here. I do believe we'll see a little more RPO versus last season but that's playing to Bryce's skill set. Is that "keeping what Sark did?" I just don't get what that "coach" was saying versus what we know about the system.

Sark used more motion - and motion of various types (standard, orbit, jet) to change defensive responsibilities on the fly. It's really hard on defenses as they have to trade off which eligible receiver they have in coverage.

Much of the stuff remains the same, but Sark had some stuff like the above that wasn't as prevalent. He also had the throwback stuff (leak) off play action boot that was filthy.

 

[TerryP]

Anonymous.....lol

writers just makeshit up....say whats on their mind...and call it anonymous...
Maybe this was the case...maybe not....

but trust nothing anonymous

Athlon has been doing these interviews for over a decade now and these comments are coming from coaching staff's: SEC, ACC, B1G, all of them. I can testify there's no reason to be pessimistic these quotations aren't true.

Now, by "all of them" I mean all the power five conferences not every team's coaching staff has someone make these comments. Alabama isn't the only school who restricts media contact with their coaching staff.

 

[TerryP]

Sark used more motion - and motion of various types (standard, orbit, jet) to change defensive responsibilities on the fly. It's really hard on defenses as they have to trade off which eligible receiver they have in coverage.

A good example but not new to the scheme. We saw motion really makes its way into the offense with Kiffin and Cooper. The benefit (or difference is you will) between Sark last season and Kiffin with Coop came down to numbers (in more than one sense.)

Take DeVonta last season who had positional flexibility across the line of scrimmage being able to play the X, Y and Z positions. Now, let's consider this season.

Williams can play two positions and Metchie three: positional flexibility that comes with talented depth. The difference, or addition to the offense, looks to be more involvement from the tight end group with some playmakers in position group as well. I also expect to see more from the running game and a lot of that comes from opponents strengths: several teams on the schedule have good secondary groups while having trouble—last season—stopping the run consistently.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Athlon has been doing these interviews for over a decade now and these comments are coming from coaching staff's: SEC, ACC, B1G, all of them. I can testify there's no reason to be pessimistic these quotations aren't true.

Now, by "all of them" I mean all the power five conferences not every team's coaching staff has someone make these comments. Alabama isn't the only school who restricts media contact with their coaching staff.

Yeah. I get Athons most every year......
And read such...
Just skeptical...but may be misplaced....