🏈 Give me the lowdown on Bama for next season

[SkinyUte]

I'd like to follow you guys closer next year, so give me the lowdown on how you think the 2009 season will go. A couple specific questions:

1. Will the offense be able to reload after losing Coffee, Smith, and Wilson? I know Ingram's a stud, but it seems (to an outsider, anyways) like Coffee's going to be damn tough to replace.

2. Tell me a little bit about your next QB.

3. Seems like every time they talked about your defenders during the Sugar Bowl broadcast, they always mentioned that they were underclassmen. Sounds like most of that group will be returning, but do you have any significant losses?

Thanks in advance for the insight.

 

[Guest]

I'd like to follow you guys closer next year, so give me the lowdown on how you think the 2009 season will go. A couple specific questions:

1. Will the offense be able to reload after losing Coffee, Smith, and Wilson? I know Ingram's a stud, but it seems (to an outsider, anyways) like Coffee's going to be damn tough to replace.

2. Tell me a little bit about your next QB.

3. Seems like every time they talked about your defenders during the Sugar Bowl broadcast, they always mentioned that they were underclassmen. Sounds like most of that group will be returning, but do you have any significant losses?

Thanks in advance for the insight.

I'll give it a shot, but there's other guys on the site that are probably able to give you a lot better answers than I can.

1) Our offense will definitely take a hit loosing our experienced QB, Coffee, and the two All-Americans on the O-line. We have some talented guys coming in for the O-line like Fluker and Carpenter, but I suspect building the O-line back will take a bit of time and effort. Loosing Coffee is significant, but we have a great stable of runninbacks with Ingram, Upchurch (who was hurt during the Sugar Bowl), Matchett (redshirt freshmen), and a stud RB coming in Trent Richardson.

2) The next QB to likely be starter is Gregg McElroy, while he doesn't have much experience...it is said that he knows the offensive playbook like the back of his hand and is considered a very very smart guy. He saw a little action this year in mop up duty...one of which he threw a beautiful touchdown pass to Maze against Auburn.

3) A big loss for our defense is our All-American safety Rashad Johnson. He is considered the "quarterback of the defense" as he keeps the defense in check...making sure everyone is on the same page.

Hope I answered some questions. I'm sure one of the other guys that are more knowledgeable will expand upon this.

 

[BigAl]

Do some reading on the recruiting board that will give you some idea about who might replace some of the guys leaving. Trent Richardson has a great chance to play replacing Coffee and Dre Kirkpatrick might get an opportunity to replace Johnson on defense. People like Terry, Porter and Argo are a lot more knowledgeable about this stuff than i am.

 

[Swamptick]

I tell you what Skiny, I will be paying attention to your team. I think after your last two major bowl games and the seasons you have had as of late, more people will be joining me in that.

Y'all are a fun team to watch. Great on both sides of the ball.

I know some Alabama fans want to play y'all again. NOT ME. I have had enough.

Thanks for sticking around. We always love to have fans from other teams posting here.

 

[SkinyUte]

Hope I answered some questions. I'm sure one of the other guys that are more knowledgeable will expand upon this.

Yep, that helped. Thanks!

 

[Colin]

Don't forget about Star Jackson in the fight for the QB pos. Also, Fluker is a beast! I'm sure he'll fit right in...

 

[Guest]

I tell you what Skiny, I will be paying attention to your team. I think after your last two major bowl games and the seasons you have had as of late, more people will be joining me in that.

Y'all are a fun team to watch. Great on both sides of the ball.

I know some Alabama fans want to play y'all again. NOT ME. I have had enough.

Thanks for sticking around. We always love to have fans from other teams posting here.

Hell yea, on a personal note skinny, I believe you guys got shafted out of the title! We need a playoff! If that would have been any of the "BIG TIME" school all kinda of hell would have broke lose!

It's not right you guys earned it!

 

[SkinyUte]

I tell you what Skiny, I will be paying attention to your team. I think after your last two major bowl games and the seasons you have had as of late, more people will be joining me in that.

Y'all are a fun team to watch. Great on both sides of the ball.

I know some Alabama fans want to play y'all again. NOT ME. I have had enough.

Thanks for sticking around. We always love to have fans from other teams posting here.

Hell yea, on a personal note skinny, I believe you guys got shafted out of the title! We need a playoff! If that would have been any of the "BIG TIME" school all kinda of hell would have broke lose!

It's not right you guys earned it!

I agree, but I suppose you can't change the system overnight. The fact we got 16 first place votes in the AP poll shows that things are headed in the right direction. Hopefully this will be a tipping point in the BCS nonsense. I loved how Coach Whit had the balls to give the finger to the BCS and vote us #1. Dude has elevated himself to damn near royalty status around here.

Anyways, back to Bama for next season. It sounds like you'll likely have 2 true freshmen on the OL that will see significant playing time (correct me if I'm wrong). That's always a huge question mark, but how confident are you that they'll be able to get the job done? From the games I watched, it seems that you'll need to have that O-line solidly in place to have success, since two of the games that you struggled the most were due to a tweaked line (Tulane & Utah). Also, what sort of QB is the incoming kid? Similar to JPW as a solid game manager, or is he the kind that will carry the team with big plays?

On defense, will there be any movement towards speed over size after the FL and UT games, or will CNS stick with the same philosophy and simply try to overpower teams? From what I saw of the SEC, it looked like superior size and physicality is going to win most matchups, but maybe the last couple games changes the thinking somewhat.

 

[musso]

On defense, will there be any movement towards speed over size after the FL and UT games, or will CNS stick with the same philosophy and simply try to overpower teams? From what I saw of the SEC, it looked like superior size and physicality is going to win most matchups, but maybe the last couple games changes the thinking somewhat.

finally, someone else is feeling me on this issue. ironically, it is a rival fan instead of a fellow Tider. :lol:

SkinnyUte, i've warned my fellow Tiders ever since the preseason of the possible hazards in Saban's preference in personel with respect to his ideal defensive front. i expressed a long time ago that i feared that the size of his front seven would be too big and too heavy to match up well against some kinds of spread offenses. i also provided several links to various articles at the time (from espn.com, si.com, etc.) that noted how many coaches across the country were beginning to downsize their defensive front to a more versitile size and weight so that they wouldn't be caught in a mismatch against the increasingly popular spread offenses. at the time i was vilified by some Saban worshippers on this board for not trusting in Saban's superior expertise. after hearing Saban's post-Sugar Bowl presser, i hope some homers now understand that Saban isn't omniscient.

personally, i too am interested in how Saban responds to the UF and Utah games. because an inside running threat is integral to UF's offensive success, be it by Tebow or another back, i expected us to match up better with them than with Utah who was quite comfortable in virtually abandoning the run completely and remaining in the shot gun.

i said in the preseason that i thought Saban's 3-4 philosophy put a greater amount of pressure on recruiting than a conventional 4-3 because you need a "superhuman" NG and larger than normal DEs who still have enough speed and endurance to apply pressure throughout a game. it also requires you to sign only the best CB recruits who can play man coverage for most of the game. also, it's more complex to learn and takes a little more time to get set on each play. obviously, Utah's no huddle used that against Bama.

while a lighter, quicker defensive front is more suited to defend against offenses like Utah's, our size can be an advantage against other offenses. the key is to find a balanced size and weight given the current offensive trends. this was the key point in all the articles i posted long ago.

i contend the 4-3 provides more versitility in defending different offenses. use UF as an example. while UF's defensive front got pushed around a bit by the power running games of both Bama's and OU's, it was still able to contain both team's running game. in short yardage situations UF's D-line performs fine. in two national championship games, UF's D-line was marvelous in short yardage situations against the larger O-lines of Ohio St and OU.

 

[Guest]

On defense, will there be any movement towards speed over size after the FL and UT games, or will CNS stick with the same philosophy and simply try to overpower teams? From what I saw of the SEC, it looked like superior size and physicality is going to win most match ups, but maybe the last couple games changes the thinking somewhat.

One real recruiting class and we were in a position to win. I think the last two games exposed depth at most positions. IMHO we are still a few years away from having an overall dominating team. To beat Utah and Florida the offense needed to control the clock and they could not.

 

[Guest]

The last two games exposed a couple of weaknesses:

We definitely need to upgrade our receivers. A good secondary that gives safety help against Julio takes away much of our passing game.

Our lack of quality depth on the offensive line was exposed by Andre's suspension and Johnson's injury.

While our defense overall had a tremendous year, it did not as a rule generate an effective pass rush. Adding a speed rusher will be a priority.

Our corner coverage needs to be upgraded a bit, though we were nor as bad at tackling during the year as we were in the Utah game.

Rebuilding the offensive line will be the top priority of the spring and likely the preseason in the summer. There is a good bit of talent coming in, but this will not be an experienced group, having to replace three starters.

MacElroy will be the favorite in the spring because of the experience factor. If the OL struggles we may see more of jackson because of his superior athletic ability.

Coffee gave us a great season, but running back is the deepest position on the team. Even if Upchurch's neck injury keeps him from coming back, Ingram palyed will, and Griffin and Goode looked decent when they played. You also have power back Ivan Matchett, who was redshirted, besides the all world recruit Trent Richardson.

Defensively next year we figure to be once again very strong against the run. If we can get some pash rush without the blitz the defense will be beastly.

Honestly, I'd expect us to be a lot like this past season's team. If we once again don't turn the ball over and hold mental mistakes to a minimum we can be very good.

 

[Crimson Hawk]

On defense, will there be any movement towards speed over size after the FL and UT games, or will CNS stick with the same philosophy and simply try to overpower teams? From what I saw of the SEC, it looked like superior size and physicality is going to win most matchups, but maybe the last couple games changes the thinking somewhat.

Not even a flinch. We are just now in the process of "changing over" from a smaller, faster (primarily 3-3-5) defense under former HC Mike Shula, and DC Joe Kines, & while we had one of the top rated D's in the country in '05 (totally embarrassed Meyer & the Gators in BDS that year) CNS prefers the 3-4. You have to remember that we primarily play in a power rushing league, & all due respect, we played the NC Gators toe to toe through three quarters & lost in the end mostly due to lack of depth. Florida's "speed" didn't bother us much at all. Besides, we have exceptional speed of our own...
on both sides of the ball.

Again, all due respect to the Utah program, but you can thank the SEC Championship game loss for the early flop of our D against UU, but lack of D wasn't really what cost us the bowl game.....lack of production on O did.