🏈 Cecil Hurt: Saban must right ship again.

[Bamabww]

There was no one moment, no single play that will be replayed a thousand times on the sports channels, not this time.

Instead, it was an entire game. Setting aside its touchdown drive in the first two minutes, the University of Alabama never looked like the better team in the Sugar Bowl, certainly not like the team whose reputation as an unbeatable juggernaut preceded it.

Whether Alabama self-promoted its way to that reputation, or whether recent history and a media thirsting to create a dynasty did so, is a different question.

What the Oklahoma Sooners did in the Sugar Bowl, fairly and squarely, was to identify certain weaknesses in Alabama's offense and defense, and design ways to exploit those weaknesses.

They saw film where Alabama struggled to stop up-tempo teams, and they went up-tempo. That sensed uncertainty among Alabama's cornerbacks - the young ones and the veterans - and attacked them, relying on their own quarterback, Trevor Knight, to have a career night.

Defensively, the Sooners weren't dominant - they allowed 516 yards - but as circumstances made Alabama more and more one-dimensional, they outmaneuvered the Alabama offensive line and kept McCarron on the run - or on his back - for much of the second half.

Finding those areas and taking advantage of them is good coaching and no one (with any sense) ever said Bob Stoops wasn't a good coach.

Many people wanted to flashback five years and compare Alabama's performance to its Sugar Bowl loss to Utah on the same Superdome field. This game had some of that feel - Alabama certainly wasn't at its sharpest - but I never got the sense the Crimson Tide wasn't taking Oklahoma seriously.

It just had some real shortcomings and did not fix them as fast as Auburn and Oklahoma took advantage of them. Compound that with a lack of focus that appeared to be mental weariness as much as anything else and the results, while certainly surprising, were by no means incomprehensible.

Nick Saban did seem to catch the sulfur whiff of complacency, though.

"I just don't think that our players realized ... what it takes to win every game and that you never can take anything for granted," Saban said afterwards. "Everyone that plays us has something to prove. And they have to change the way they think, and that's difficult to do."

As with every loss, it is coaching as much as it is players. I don't think Saban denies that, although I do think his mind moves forward to the next game, the next challenge, so quickly that he doesn't spend much time on mea culpas.

He has a situation that he has faced before, and fixed before. The difference is that the expectations in 2009 - three BCS titles ago - weren't what they are now, what he has made them.

This will be the first time in five years that his team - the Alabama team - has taken even a one-game losing streak, much less two, into the offseason. But there is expectation there, too. He fixed it before so he will fix it again, right?

So you never are quite back at Square One.
For the first time in a while, Alabama will have to become something new and different to get better. It will be interesting to watch that process - to use Saban's word - and see if The Process can make it happen.

http://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1593823

 

[TerryP]

He echoes my sentiments...

Thanks BWW

 

[riz]

Yep. I'd put us firmly at about Square Two.

 

[PhillyGirl]

The process begins again!

 

[XXL TideFan]

Said it before , there was a disconnect on this team. A couple of players with an entitlement mentality will do that. Henry is going to be a monster though

 

[PhillyGirl]

Saw this on an Alabama football Facebook page.

"Coach Bryant had to make some SIGNIFICANT adjustments after consecutive five-loss seasons, when Alabama played to a tie in the Bluebonnet Bow in 1970. A missed FG cost Alabama a victory in what was then a mid-level bowl game. The team Alabama played? The Oklahoma Sooners.

I know it may sound strange, but I think I am MORE excited about the 2014 season than I was about the 2013 season. How Coach Saban handles this team and the adjustments he makes are going to be very interesting to watch."

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

I wonder if we will have the true freshman impacts of 2008 or 2009 impact the team the same way next year.

I just seems that CNS is recruiting his needs right now. We need Humphrey.

 

[TheChief]

Tony Brown has run 37.32 in the 300 hurdles. The last high school athlete I saw run 37 in the hurdles competed later in the Olympics. If you aren’t a track fan you cannot appreciate a 37, and I can’t begin to explain how fast that is. 39 seconds is (insert your own exclamatory expletive here) fast! Now, imagine someone 15 yards ahead. That would be Tony Brown.

So, when you mention Marlon Humphrey why did I mention commit Tony Brown? Marlon is a track guy. He’s even better than Brown in the 110 hurdles. If Brown committed there is no doubt in my mind that he will run track, and if Humphrey joins him the Tide will make major, major noise at NCAA’s in track. It looks to me as if Saban has consented to sharing athletes. All of this leads me to believe Marlon thinks his future in track (and of course, football) will be in capable hands, and he will sign with Alabama.

 

[TheChief]

The thought just occurred to me that if Brown and Humphrey enroll early, they could be competing in track THIS SPRING! I would imagine they would redshirt though. If they don't... OH MY!

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

How is Humphrey going to enroll early when he is announcing in February?

That'd be great, no doubt. If we can get both, we could certainly use them.

 

[TheChief]

True. Oh well.

 

[TerryP]

Tony Brown has run 37.32 in the 300 hurdles. The last high school athlete I saw run 37 in the hurdles competed later in the Olympics. If you aren’t a track fan you cannot appreciate a 37, and I can’t begin to explain how fast that is. 39 seconds is (insert your own exclamatory expletive here) fast! Now, imagine someone 15 yards ahead. That would be Tony Brown.

So, when you mention Marlon Humphrey why did I mention commit Tony Brown? Marlon is a track guy. He’s even better than Brown in the 110 hurdles. If Brown committed there is no doubt in my mind that he will run track, and if Humphrey joins him the Tide will make major, major noise at NCAA’s in track. It looks to me as if Saban has consented to sharing athletes. All of this leads me to believe Marlon thinks his future in track (and of course, football) will be in capable hands, and he will sign with Alabama.

From Rodney over on TI:

Talked with Beaumont-Ozen, TX head coach Keeath Magee. He's extremely high on Tony in every way -- on and off the field.
Said he's instant impact guy.


Said Tony is international silver medalist hurdler. Said his 110 meter hurdle time is faster than RG III's was out of HS.


Has been laser timed under 4.4 several times.


Has a 3.89 shuttle.


Legit 6-0, 198 pounds.


Said he'd be dynamite on punt returns.

 

[JoshB]

If we pull Marlon too, will there be a pair of corners in the country faster? Man we need this.

 

[planomateo]

Pretty good read on Tony from 8 months ago.

Tony is faster than Marlon Think they are gonna run track together?

---

http://247sports.com/Article/Texas-2014-standout-Tony-Brown-stars-in-football-track-132487


Brown, a standout cornerback from Beaumont (Texas) Ozen, comes from a family of coaches. His father, Tony, served as the defensive coordinator for his high school team. His mother, Tammy Walker-Brown, is Ozen’s head girls basketball coach.

Brown and his family were dealt quite a blow last fall when his father suffered a stroke. But Brown and his family have pulled together and pressed on.

“My dad always told me that adversity makes you stronger,” Brown said. “It has definitely made our family stronger. I use it as a boost in my workouts. I think about it for my games and big races.”

The 6-1, 190-pound Brown is a true two-sport star. He is rated as the nation’s No. 14 prospect overall, the nation’s No. 2 cornerback and the state of Texas’ No. 2 prospect in the 2014 class, according to 247Sports.com. At the same time, he has established records as a state champion hurdler.

Brown comes from a true athletic family. His dad played cornerback at Purdue and Texas Tech. He also ran track and was a conference champion in the 200-meter dash. His mother was a basketball player for Texas Tech from 1988-91. Her twin brother Sammy Walker played in the NFL for Green Bay and Oakland.

And his sister, Bealoved Brown, has competed internationally in track. She has signed with LSU, where she will be on a women’s track scholarship.

“I feel like the genetics are there,” Tony Brown said. “I also have an outstanding work ethic. I feel like that separates me from everybody else in the country. I feel like I want it more than anybody else in the country. I feel like my track background helps me.”

Beyond the genetics, Brown said his parents instilled the discipline and work ethic as coaches to help him with his career.

“It definitely helps having parents that coach,” said Brown, who also boasts a 3.7 GPA. “They come home and have told me about their players and the problems they’ve had. Things arise from players who are good like selfishness and things like that. I know I have to be coachable. You can run a 4.3 40, but if you’re not coachable nobody is going to coach you or pay you to play for them. That’s one thing I learned. You have to be truthful, listen when the coach is talking and don’t talk back.

“You have to have that discipline. Coaches will tell you, ‘We need you to have character.’ And character goes hand in hand with discipline. Plus, my dad was a defensive coordinator and was a corner himself. I have grown up around that and it helped me with that position.”

Keeath Magee took over as Ozen’s new head football coach this past winter. He has had a chance to work with Brown this spring as he juggled his track and football schedules.

“He is a coach’s kid,” Magee said. “He’s been around it ever since he was small. He’s seen his dad coach and watched his mom coach. He’s been around it. He brings that to the table.”

A Special Prospect – In Two Sports

Brown first made a splash in football as a freshman at Ozen in 2010, when he tallied 95 tackles, 14 pass break-ups and an interception. He became a household name among recruitniks after his sophomore year in 2011, when he logged 96 tackles, 16 pass break-ups, three interceptions and a fumble recovery as the Panthers went 7-6.

As a junior, Brown was named to the USA Today second-team All-USA team. He had 46 tackles, four forced fumbles and an interception for the Panthers, who struggled to a 4-7 finish.

“I feel like I am more of a physical corner because of my size and stature,” Brown said. “I like to use that against receivers. I have long arms and I’m strong and I try to use those on the receiver. I can be a finesse corner as well. I pride myself on playing man coverage.

“I know you can’t go to the NFL being one dimensional. I work on all facets of my game.”

Magee talked about some of the traits that set Brown apart.

“Number one, he’s a big corner,” the coach said. “He has the ability to play man out on the edge. He is also fast. He is unmistakably fast. That will bode him well. You will not see many guys at our level have his type of speed like that.

“I think he is a tremendous athlete. He is one of the hardest workers we have. He is a tremendous young man. He comes from a great family with a lot of support from his mom and sister. His dad is doing better. He is improving.

“Tony is a great kid. He is doing everything he can to succeed. It will be interesting to see how the season goes.”

Brian Perroni, who tracks recruiting across the Southwest for 247Sports.com, has been watching Brown in games and at camps since his freshman year.

“Tony Brown is a track star whose speed actually translates to the football field,” Perroni said. “It is tough to beat him deep. He's a versatile prospect in that he can play cornerback or safety. He's a thick kid but will still likely be a corner at the next level.

“He's also a great kid off the field. He is a yes sir, no sir type that simply works hard. He has offers from pretty much every school in the country but he continually shows up to camps and combines to compete to get better and try to prove he is the best. I really like that competitive streak.”

Brown’s physical attributes are, in a word, impressive. He has been clocked at 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He also benches 290 pounds and squats 475.

He affirmed his national rankings at the Nike Football Training Camp on April 7 in Dallas, when he finished fourth in the SPARQ ratings. He was timed at a camp-best 4.37 seconds in the 40. He was second in the pro shuttle (3.91 seconds) and also had a 34-inch vertical leap.

But Brown said he can’t rest on his laurels, lofty rankings or any other outside praise.

“There are two sides to that coin,” he said. “On one hand, I can be like, ‘Yeah, I feel good about this ranking.’ But on the other hand, it can also go the other way and people could take it the wrong way. I can say that it doesn’t matter because there have been guys who are two stars and not ranked but they go on and win the Thorpe Award. That’s what (Mississippi State’s) Johnthan Banks did.

“You can take it as a positive thing if you are ranked highly. If you’re not, you can’t worry about it and use it as a catalyst. If you forget all the work you’ve put in to get that high ranking, it can hurt you. My mom tells me to stay humble and remember the things that helped me get to where I am today.”

On several occasions, Brown has discussed his desire to also compete as a track athlete and train for a shot at a spot on Team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

During the indoor track season, Brown clocked the fastest high school time in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles with a 7.76-second showing at the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho.

He wrapped up his season by winning the state championship in the 110-meter hurdles in a Texas Class 4A record time of 13.4 seconds. He was also second in the 100-meter dash in a blistering 10.53 seconds.

One of Brown’s top competitors in national meets was Alabama’s Marlon Humphrey, who is coincidentally the nation’s top-ranked cornerback by 247Sports.com. Most believe Humphrey is favoring Alabama, a school Brown is also considering.

“I’m aware of him,” Brown said of Humphrey. “I raced him and beat him. Guys like him make you want to work even harder. I’m either working out or sleeping. There is no in between for me.”

Narrowing The Field

Brown has over 30 scholarship offers from nearly every major college powerhouse program. However, in an interview over the weekend, Brown said he is not admitting to any favorites.

“I really don’t have a list,” he said. “I will sit down and come up with a list probably in July.”

The schools that are primarily mentioned with Brown include LSU, Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M.

Last fall, Brown saw Alabama play Michigan outside Dallas and also attended games at LSU, Texas and Texas A&M. This winter and spring, he made unofficial visits to Texas, Alabama, Florida State, LSU and Baylor. An Ohio State assistant has also made recruiting visits this past month to see Brown in his hometown.

The 247Sports.com Crystal Ball has 20 predictions for Brown’s college choice and it is unanimous that he will verbal to LSU.

"It would be cool going to the same school (as his sister)," Brown told the Beaumont Enterprise in a recent interview. "I know we're being recruited by the same school and I'm looking at that school highly. It doesn't really change anything because they were already high on my list."

During the most recent interview with 247Sports.com, Brown spoke in general terms about what he is looking for in a school.

“First and foremost, I want to know their plans for me,” Brown said. “I am a track runner and I do want to compete in the hurdles. I am graduating early. It will also be about how I feel there and how my mom feels there. It will be a very important decision for me and my parents.

“How good their track team is matters as well. I’m also looking at it from an academic standpoint. I’m not really worried about playing time. I feel wherever I go I can earn a spot. That’s how every player should feel.”

It is understandable that family considerations will factor into Brown’s decision. According to Coach Magee, Brown’s father had recovered enough to attend one of his track meets earlier in May.

“He is recovering and he is doing better,” Magee said. “He was able to come to the regional track meet and could see him compete.”

Tony Brown said he did not know until after the meet his dad was present.

“I actually did not know he was there,” he said. “He was in the press box.”

The younger Brown did not want to elaborate on his dad’s health status other than to say, “He’s doing a lot better.”

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

Did I say that I am pumped that Brown committed to 'Bama. I was not expecting this at all. RMFT!

->Has it been confirmed that he will enroll early?

 

[TerryP]

Did I say that I am pumped that Brown committed to 'Bama. I was not expecting this at all. RMFT!

->Has it been confirmed that he will enroll early?

He's said as much.

There was an interview a week or so ago where he was talking about his first day of class, first practices, etc. and if you looked at when both of these occurred at Bama vs LSU the dates simply didn't line up for LSU.

I want to say he was talking about starting class on the 8th. UA starts on the 8th, LSU on the 15th I believe. Yet, there were those who still felt he was going to Baton Rouge. I'm still lost on their logic on that one...

 

[TerryP]

Pretty good read on Tony from 8 months ago.

Tony is faster than Marlon Think they are gonna run track together?

---

When it comes to both of these guys I believe we need to share the credit on Tony's verbal and Marlon's upcoming commitment to our track coaches.

It's not a sport a lot follow. Those that do realize what a coup Coach Moore pulled when he hired the new staff for our programs. Pulling a guy like Dan Waters from A&M was one hell of a hire! A&M's track program is on par, if not better, than the ones found in Fayetteville and Baton Rouge.

Dick Booth won a national championship at Florida with his jumpers and he comes to Tuscaloosa.

Waters first hire was Kane for sprints and hurdles...another very successful coach from OU.

 

[TheChief]

Terry, we talked about track earlier I think, about two years ago. I mentioned it would take about two years to witness the fruition of that program. I am really, really looking forward to seeing the results in track. Brown is faster than Humphrey. That doesn't mean he would always beat him in a hurdles race. There are high schoolers, even football players, who are faster than both of these two guys. Hurdlers are special though, and they have loose hips which are super helpful in being a cover corner.