D.C. Reeves
TideSports.com
Full steam into his fifth decade of coaching, there aren't many firsts left for Nick Saban.
One did sneak by the University of Alabama's head coach in Atlanta, even at 6-foot-6, 323 pounds, when Saban did something he's never done in 18 previous seasons as a college head coach: insert a true freshman as his full-time starter at left tackle.
He never had one at Michigan State, never had one at LSU, never sent one out for Toledo in 1990 nor in his previous seven seasons at Alabama.
On Saturday, Cam Robinson became Nick Saban's first full-time true freshman starter at left tackle in 19 seasons as a college head coach.
Never until Cam Robinson, the nation's top-ranked offensive lineman in the Class of 2014, took the field in the Georgia Dome against West Virginia last Saturday.
College coaches don't draft long-term plans that involve a true freshman anchoring the left edge of his offensive line. It's even more rare to see Saban and Alabama, the gold standard on the recruiting trail, put in a spot where the elite young talent siphoned into Tuscaloosa isn't forced to wait behind someone more accomplished, or at least someone who has been around longer.
But with other talented options at Alabama's disposal, the bold move is a bigger testament to the talent and potential of Robinson, a Monroe, La., native who enrolled at UA in January. He went through spring drills, took control of the starting spot in fall camp and never wavered.
So here Robinson is, 18 years old and 10 months removed from starting for West Monroe High, now charged with protecting the blind side of an inexperienced quarterback rotation. When SEC play begins, he'll be blocking the best defensive ends the league has to offer every week, a crop that will include a host of future NFL draft picks.
"Left tackle is definitely a tough position and Coach Saban along with a lot of other coaches like to have a really solid pass blocker there because that's obviously where teams put their best pass rushers. You end up in a lot of one-on-one situations when you play left tackle," former UA All-American and four-year starter Barrett Jones said.
Jones started as a redshirt freshman at guard and played his junior season at left tackle for Saban.
"It's really mentally challenging and you have to really have a lot of belief in yourself," Jones said. "If you're not confident out there are a lot of good pass rushers who will sense that and take advantage of it, especially in the SEC.
"I think it's so, so difficult to start as a true freshman. You obviously have to be very talented."
If it were easy, more college teams would be doing it.
Of the 64 starting left tackles at Power Five conference schools in 2014, 48 have at least three years of previous college football experience. Fourteen are sophomores with one or two years on a college campus. That leaves two, Robinson and Michigan's Mason Cole, as the only true freshmen tasked with handling the most magnified position on the front.
In 2013, Ole Miss' Laremy Tunsil, the nation's top-ranked lineman for the 2013 class, and Virginia Tech's Jonathan McLaughlin were the only two true freshmen doing it. At Alabama, it hasn't been done since Andre Smith in 2006, the season prior to Saban's arrival.
Before last Saturday, the youngest full-time starter Saban has ever sent out to left tackle was redshirt freshman Andrew Whitworth at LSU in 2002. That experiment panned out nicely: Whitworth started four years, set what was LSU's record for starts in a career (52) and anchored the offensive line during Saban's first national title run in 2003.
Whitworth starts his ninth season as the Cincinnati Bengals' left tackle on Sunday. And how is this for coincidence: Whitworth is from Monroe and went to West Monroe High, the same hometown and school as Robinson.
Starting Whitworth early looks brilliant now, but it doesn't mean the first year was easy.
"I remember first time I go into The Swamp (at Florida), I'm playing left tackle, I can't hear anything and you're just trying to get off the ball on time," recalled Whitworth, who is familiar with Robinson because of their hometown connection. "There's going to be some of that. But I think Cam, No. 1, he's played at a high school that plays at a really high level. They expect a lot of their players so he's prepared for that kind of atmosphere. No. 2, Nick is one of the greatest coaches in college football, he couldn't be in a better situation to play for a guy like that."
When Whitworth sees the crop of NFL rookies come to training camp each year, he tells them just how difficult a job left tackle is.
"Let's be honest, you can stop a guy 80 times in a game but the one time they make a big play people make a big deal out of it," he said. "That's how hard our position is. You look at just how disproportionate defensive lineman and offensive lineman are. A D-lineman wins one time a game he's a Hall of Famer in the NFL. That means he's averaging 16 sacks a season, which would send him to the Hall of Fame no question.
"If an NFL offensive lineman loses one time a game, meaning you give up 16 sacks a season, you wouldn't be there the next year. I can lose one out of 80 and I don't have a job."
Case in point on why almost no first-year players are trusted with the responsibility: The talent pool doesn't produce first-year players fit for the job, and even when they come along, coaches side with caution even when there is a less talented, but experienced, alternative.
The risk is big, but so is the reward. If Saban's Robinson experiment works, it means Alabama would be set at a crucial position for three full seasons before he would be eligible for the NFL draft, making the initial trial by fire in 2014 pay big dividends in 2015 and 2016.
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1677710#sthash.lvLmVo0h.dpuf
TideSports.com
Full steam into his fifth decade of coaching, there aren't many firsts left for Nick Saban.
One did sneak by the University of Alabama's head coach in Atlanta, even at 6-foot-6, 323 pounds, when Saban did something he's never done in 18 previous seasons as a college head coach: insert a true freshman as his full-time starter at left tackle.
He never had one at Michigan State, never had one at LSU, never sent one out for Toledo in 1990 nor in his previous seven seasons at Alabama.
On Saturday, Cam Robinson became Nick Saban's first full-time true freshman starter at left tackle in 19 seasons as a college head coach.
Never until Cam Robinson, the nation's top-ranked offensive lineman in the Class of 2014, took the field in the Georgia Dome against West Virginia last Saturday.
College coaches don't draft long-term plans that involve a true freshman anchoring the left edge of his offensive line. It's even more rare to see Saban and Alabama, the gold standard on the recruiting trail, put in a spot where the elite young talent siphoned into Tuscaloosa isn't forced to wait behind someone more accomplished, or at least someone who has been around longer.
But with other talented options at Alabama's disposal, the bold move is a bigger testament to the talent and potential of Robinson, a Monroe, La., native who enrolled at UA in January. He went through spring drills, took control of the starting spot in fall camp and never wavered.
So here Robinson is, 18 years old and 10 months removed from starting for West Monroe High, now charged with protecting the blind side of an inexperienced quarterback rotation. When SEC play begins, he'll be blocking the best defensive ends the league has to offer every week, a crop that will include a host of future NFL draft picks.
"Left tackle is definitely a tough position and Coach Saban along with a lot of other coaches like to have a really solid pass blocker there because that's obviously where teams put their best pass rushers. You end up in a lot of one-on-one situations when you play left tackle," former UA All-American and four-year starter Barrett Jones said.
Jones started as a redshirt freshman at guard and played his junior season at left tackle for Saban.
"It's really mentally challenging and you have to really have a lot of belief in yourself," Jones said. "If you're not confident out there are a lot of good pass rushers who will sense that and take advantage of it, especially in the SEC.
"I think it's so, so difficult to start as a true freshman. You obviously have to be very talented."
If it were easy, more college teams would be doing it.
Of the 64 starting left tackles at Power Five conference schools in 2014, 48 have at least three years of previous college football experience. Fourteen are sophomores with one or two years on a college campus. That leaves two, Robinson and Michigan's Mason Cole, as the only true freshmen tasked with handling the most magnified position on the front.
In 2013, Ole Miss' Laremy Tunsil, the nation's top-ranked lineman for the 2013 class, and Virginia Tech's Jonathan McLaughlin were the only two true freshmen doing it. At Alabama, it hasn't been done since Andre Smith in 2006, the season prior to Saban's arrival.
Before last Saturday, the youngest full-time starter Saban has ever sent out to left tackle was redshirt freshman Andrew Whitworth at LSU in 2002. That experiment panned out nicely: Whitworth started four years, set what was LSU's record for starts in a career (52) and anchored the offensive line during Saban's first national title run in 2003.
Whitworth starts his ninth season as the Cincinnati Bengals' left tackle on Sunday. And how is this for coincidence: Whitworth is from Monroe and went to West Monroe High, the same hometown and school as Robinson.
Starting Whitworth early looks brilliant now, but it doesn't mean the first year was easy.
"I remember first time I go into The Swamp (at Florida), I'm playing left tackle, I can't hear anything and you're just trying to get off the ball on time," recalled Whitworth, who is familiar with Robinson because of their hometown connection. "There's going to be some of that. But I think Cam, No. 1, he's played at a high school that plays at a really high level. They expect a lot of their players so he's prepared for that kind of atmosphere. No. 2, Nick is one of the greatest coaches in college football, he couldn't be in a better situation to play for a guy like that."
When Whitworth sees the crop of NFL rookies come to training camp each year, he tells them just how difficult a job left tackle is.
"Let's be honest, you can stop a guy 80 times in a game but the one time they make a big play people make a big deal out of it," he said. "That's how hard our position is. You look at just how disproportionate defensive lineman and offensive lineman are. A D-lineman wins one time a game he's a Hall of Famer in the NFL. That means he's averaging 16 sacks a season, which would send him to the Hall of Fame no question.
"If an NFL offensive lineman loses one time a game, meaning you give up 16 sacks a season, you wouldn't be there the next year. I can lose one out of 80 and I don't have a job."
Case in point on why almost no first-year players are trusted with the responsibility: The talent pool doesn't produce first-year players fit for the job, and even when they come along, coaches side with caution even when there is a less talented, but experienced, alternative.
The risk is big, but so is the reward. If Saban's Robinson experiment works, it means Alabama would be set at a crucial position for three full seasons before he would be eligible for the NFL draft, making the initial trial by fire in 2014 pay big dividends in 2015 and 2016.
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1677710#sthash.lvLmVo0h.dpuf
