| FTBL 🏈 Spring Practice - 2019 : A few names are emerging as leaders

[Bama News]

https://www.tidesports.com/alabama-football-practice-notes-3-18-2019/

 

[TerryP]

But, we've already won 1 NC with Tua!

Ah now, you're just trolling.

 

[RTB Twitter Bot]

 

[TerryP]

Not quite sure when practice turned into Prax.

 

[Tidestalker]

I hope Tua's brothers is within the same neighborhood talent wise as he is. If so then things should be pretty good for Bama at the QB spot. I look forward to the REC members telling us how the scrimmages go this spring.

Eeeesh that's asking a lot. The thing that stood out with Tua was how natural and easy the ball came out of his hand... With velocity... Little bro seems to wind up a lot more. I do think he's a better athlete than Tua though, which could be a bonus.

 

[TerryP]

In news of the weird (that doesn't bring back good memories)

Ronnie Cottrell was at practice yesterday.

 

[OldPlayer]

From BamaOnLine - Travis Reier's Live report from Practice (Facebook) - KAHO not at practice...no word on return, eventhough he indicated he would be back soon
Lots of guys getting rotated in the Secondary today, especially getting looks at moving down in the nickel and dime coverages.
As is most always the case, lots of guys getting looks to find those who "get it" when moving around to different coverages and positions in the secondary.
Of course, Shy Carter is still in the black jersey and did notice that Travis mentioned Nigel Knott working with the CB's (not too surprised, just hope this kid and stay healthy and get some quality PT this year.
(and no, Ben Davis was not spotted with the OLB's today, remember he is most likely going to be limited in Spring because of his offseason surgeries.)

I hope Kaho remains academically eligible. He's missed a lot of time away with family.

 

[EasyTider]

Didn’t see it anywhere else, so FUNSIAP.

 

[BamaFan334]

Didn’t see it anywhere else, so FUNSIAP.

I think Kaho and Latu are gonna be good for us. Kaho came in late, played a ton of special teams and showed that edge we have not seen since Reuben Foster. Can't wait to see what he does.

 

[TerryP]

On what Dylan Moses has shown that indicates he's ready to be the Mike linebacker:

We're not playing him completely at Mike linebacker. We rotate them every day. He's a good football player. There's not really any difference between playing Mike and Will, except one plays on the tight end side and one plays on the split end side. I don't think he has anything to prove. It's just a matter of him getting reps. He's a very instinctive guy. I think he will be very productive wherever he ends up playing. We'll try to figure that out based on who else will be ready to play. We might play him different in nickel than we do in regular. So we'll just see how that develops.

 

[JoshB]

I think people just assume the "mike" has to be the one making the calls on the field. Usually that's because a lot of times, the "mike" stays on the field even when there's just three backers, but nothing says the "Will" can't just move to the middle in a three backer look. I'm hoping McMillon and/or Benton can step up and be that other guy if not Kaho.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Dylan talked about moving to the Mike position. He made it out as a big deal. He has wanted to make the calls and be able to move sideline to sideline since he got here. Starts at the 5 min. mark.

 

[RTB Twitter Bot]

 

[bamachine]

Dylan has always struck me as far smarter and a harder worker than Mack was, with just a little less speed.

 

[TerryP]

Earlier this week Saban commented on Chadarius Townsend showing some promise at running back. He's getting reps there again today.

 

[Tidestalker]

Earlier this week Saban commented on Chadarius Townsend showing some promise at running back. He's getting reps there again today.

That's pretty cool... He's an exciting athlete! Would love to see him get on the field

 

[Bama News]

When Alabama fell to Clemson in the national championship back in January, several factors contributed to the loss. But for UA coach Nick Saban, it may have been the lack of a single factor that led to the Crimson Tide’s downfall.

“To me, we kind of have the Alabama factor around here that has always helped us be successful,” Saban said National Signing Day in February. “… And I don’t think we played in that game with the Alabama factor. So everybody needs to understand that and respond to it.”

So far this spring, Saban and his staff have worked hard to restore the “Alabama factor.” That was the first thing Saban mentioned he wants to reestablish after the Crimson Tide started practice about two weeks ago.

The phrase is now ever present around the football facilities, so much so players have taken notice.

“I hear it a lot,” defensive back Xavier McKinney said. “I didn’t hear it as much last year, but I hear it a lot now.”

Offensive lineman Jedrick Wills Jr.remembers learning about the “Alabama factor” when he was being recruited by the Crimson Tide almost three years ago, but he says it has never been emphasized as much as it has been lately.

“Every day,” Wills said. “And definitely this year, it’s a lot bigger. Just don’t want to create any bad habits like we did last year.”

But what exactly is the “Alabama factor?”

For Saban, it’s not just a slogan he has implemented this offseason. It has been a part of his coaching style for decades, even though the “Alabama” part of the phrase was added after he took over the program in 2007.

“I didn’t come up with it,” Saban said. “It’s been who I am for the last 27-some years. It’s been who we are ever since we’ve been here. You could ask someone who played on the first, second team here that went 12-0 and lost in the SEC championship game and they could recite and tell you exactly what that is. So it’s not a slogan. It’s really what the program’s built on.”

With a bevy of new coaches and a number of starting spots yet to be decided, there’s a lot for Alabama’s players to focus on this offseason. Nonetheless, Saban’s mission to restore the “Alabama factor” will underlie everything the Crimson Tide does over the coming months.

A variety of traits truly make up the “Alabama factor.” It’s not just one thing.

“Commitment, discipline, effort, toughness, pride,” Wills said. “And then developing yourself to be relentless for 60 minutes in the ballgame.”

https://www.tidesports.com/football-alabama-factor-nick-saban-spring-season/

 

[TUSKtimes]

This will be an interesting year as far as philosophy goes. So much of the "Alabama Factor" it would seem is the style of play. Scheme and coaching to that scheme is a lot of where the "toughness" was missing.

 

[94 Grad]

This will be an interesting year as far as philosophy goes. So much of the "Alabama Factor" it would seem is the style of play. Scheme and coaching to that scheme is a lot of where the "toughness" was missing.

It bothered me pretty much all year how "easily" we scored last year. It seemed it only took 2 or 3 plays to do it and about 30 seconds. By the 2nd half, our 3rd units were in the game. What worried me was when we needed to sustain drives and really pound in the ball from the redzone, I didn't know if we could do it because we hadn't had to do it all year.... in the end, the answer to that was no and it cost us the NC.

I appreciate the quick score and I'm happy we have the talent to do that... but I sure would love some more ball control once we get up on a team and make sure we can ground/pound our way to a score too.

 

[TUSKtimes]

It bothered me pretty much all year how "easily" we scored last year. It seemed it only took 2 or 3 plays to do it and about 30 seconds. By the 2nd half, our 3rd units were in the game. What worried me was when we needed to sustain drives and really pound in the ball from the redzone, I didn't know if we could do it because we hadn't had to do it all year.... in the end, the answer to that was no and it cost us the NC.

I appreciate the quick score and I'm happy we have the talent to do that... but I sure would love some more ball control once we get up on a team and make sure we can ground/pound our way to a score too.

And it affects the defense so much. Forget that I'm using the barners as a comparison here but it is what the barn is fighting with right now. Muschamp only agreed to the job as DC if Gus promised to not run his offense as breakneck speed and protect the defense. He couldn't keep it and their defense was terrible as usual. Gus somehow got religion and started slowing down the pace of offensive play. The results have been mixed, but it has also made Kevin Steel look like a million dollars as DC. The defense has been nothing short of great since they stopped using the hyper spread. This last bowl game they went back to breakneck speed and obviously Purdue wasn't ready for what they haven't seen. The barn had the ball for 11 minutes in the first half and they already had about 400 total yards. Game over. Now, what is gus going to do in 2019?

We haven't lived so much in that world of extreme but last year we were creeping close. I'm just spitballing, but I seriously wonder when we try to spread em out this year if we don't stay more in our pro set (pistol) much like Coker was running in 2015? When we do, we obviously don't seem to forget our running game as much. Time of position and clock management will no doubt be more in our favor. Hopefully, the defense can get back to the standard we are used to setting around here.

On a side note, I just don't believe that Brian Daboll got a chance to show his style of attack with Jalen at the helm. I would have loved to see how his pro principles worked with Tua as the leader.