TerryP
Staff
This conversation came up a few months ago with a friend of mine and yesterday a member here asked about it so I thought I would share a theory, nothing more than a theory, on when the first breakdown really reared its head with Applewhite.
We all have talked about JP's mechanics, etc. I'm leaving that aside for this thread and wanted to mention another aspect of where I saw a problem developing.
It's almost hidden considering it was an actual improvement over the past staff. One thing I hated with the last staff was the time left on the play clock when our guys actually made it to the line of scrimmage. It was one of the areas that Shula couldn't get a handle on...being the HC and the play caller for the offense. Don't get me wrong, there were times it went very smoothly. Others, were as choppy as the water off of Cape Cod.
Under MA, things were going more quickly with the team usually having 10+ seconds left on the play clock when they were getting in their stance. However, dating back as far as the second game of the season against Vanderbilt. On more than one occasion I noticed Saban talking in the headset saying, "Call the play Major/What's the play Major?"
Don't get me wrong. I felt it was an adjustment thing with Major, much along the same lines that we talked about Shula having to go through getting out of the NFL mentality and adjust to the college game. I'm not faulting a lot of his play calling because I could understand what he was attempting to do but I did question if he was "over thinking" the process. Ironically, a problem QB's have when they first start seeing action.
The day I thought, "This is a problem."
Recall, the UT game last year? During that game we called a time-out, the team came back and then had to call another time-out just after that because the play clock was just about to expire. Recall Saban, lividly, yelling at someone over the headset? That was at Applewhite again.
That's the kind of mistake, as in severity, that would make him bench a player. At that point I started wondering about what the future held with MA.
When Houston came calling and Saban encouraged Applewhite to talk to them I wasn't at all worried he might leave for Houston. I knew he was encouraged to talk to them and Saban had said it was for the "practice of going through these situations."
Then Texas and the story was written.
I saw a lot of Bama fans stating there was friction in the staff (offensively.) There is truth in that statement, but justifiably so. The calls for the removal of Pendry were not.
Can you blame the veteran members of our staff for expecting, no demanding, excellence from their fellow coaches when it's expected from the players?
We all have talked about JP's mechanics, etc. I'm leaving that aside for this thread and wanted to mention another aspect of where I saw a problem developing.
It's almost hidden considering it was an actual improvement over the past staff. One thing I hated with the last staff was the time left on the play clock when our guys actually made it to the line of scrimmage. It was one of the areas that Shula couldn't get a handle on...being the HC and the play caller for the offense. Don't get me wrong, there were times it went very smoothly. Others, were as choppy as the water off of Cape Cod.
Under MA, things were going more quickly with the team usually having 10+ seconds left on the play clock when they were getting in their stance. However, dating back as far as the second game of the season against Vanderbilt. On more than one occasion I noticed Saban talking in the headset saying, "Call the play Major/What's the play Major?"
Don't get me wrong. I felt it was an adjustment thing with Major, much along the same lines that we talked about Shula having to go through getting out of the NFL mentality and adjust to the college game. I'm not faulting a lot of his play calling because I could understand what he was attempting to do but I did question if he was "over thinking" the process. Ironically, a problem QB's have when they first start seeing action.
The day I thought, "This is a problem."
Recall, the UT game last year? During that game we called a time-out, the team came back and then had to call another time-out just after that because the play clock was just about to expire. Recall Saban, lividly, yelling at someone over the headset? That was at Applewhite again.
That's the kind of mistake, as in severity, that would make him bench a player. At that point I started wondering about what the future held with MA.
When Houston came calling and Saban encouraged Applewhite to talk to them I wasn't at all worried he might leave for Houston. I knew he was encouraged to talk to them and Saban had said it was for the "practice of going through these situations."
Then Texas and the story was written.
I saw a lot of Bama fans stating there was friction in the staff (offensively.) There is truth in that statement, but justifiably so. The calls for the removal of Pendry were not.
Can you blame the veteran members of our staff for expecting, no demanding, excellence from their fellow coaches when it's expected from the players?
