🏈 The Bama QB battle: Spring '15- Leadership, a simpler process, and more...

[TerryP]

Here are a few articles featuring the QB race/battle in spring camp.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

TUSCALOOSA — Ryan Kelly has seen a lot of growth from his more-well-known roommate Jake Coker.

Decatur Daily—Continue reading...

“He certainly seemed a lot more confident out there and comfortable,” Saban said Friday. “Obviously when he started last year, it was a whole new offense to him. Everyone was ahead of him, and right now I feel like right now he’s a lot more comfortable and confident with what we’re doing.”

That’s by design, as Alabama’s coaches have attempted to relieve any pressure on the five quarterbacks vying to be the starter this spring. By all accounts, the battle to replace Sims is a wide-open race where everyone will be given their opportunity to shine.

But at least after Friday’s first spring practice, it appears there’s still a pecking order that tends to follow seniority. During the open media viewing period, Coker — the senior — took the coveted first reps, followed by junior Alec Morris, sophomore Cooper Bateman, redshirt freshman David Cornwell and five-star early enrollee Blake Barnett.

“We’ve tried to make it a little easier with what we’re doing at that position so that they don’t have (the) burden some of the guys in the past have had,” Saban said, “so that the inexperienced players can develop a little more quickly. And we’re hopeful Jake will be able to do that, and we’re pleased with where he is right now.”

Of course, it’s still too early for any depth chart decisions, and Saban once again reminded local media of that fact in his first press conference of spring.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t pretty clear parameters by which the Alabama coaching staff will be judging Coker and all of the Tide’s quarterbacks as they work to determine a pecking order.

“I think that’s what we look for in a quarterback anytime: leadership, judgment, accuracy, good decision making in terms of where he delivers the ball and how he distributes it, and that’s what we’ll look for,” Saban said.

And with an unflinching focus unlikely to be distracted by anything as trivial as social media, Coker is seemingly doing everything in his power to make sure he’s that guy​

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

TUSCALOOSA — The most prominent position on the field is once again up for grabs at Alabama.

Decatur Daily—Continue reading...

Storylines: Can Coker be the guy he was billed to be a year ago or will another player — maybe even highly-touted freshman Blake Barnett — surpass the former Florida State signal caller and establish himself as the next great Alabama quarterback? Coker arrived in Tuscaloosa last summer with high expectations after transferring from the defending BCS national champion Seminoles, but veteran Tide backup Sims claimed the starting job despite a less-than-impressive spring a year ago. This will make the third quarterback competition Coker will have been a part of in the last three offseasons, losing the first to then-redshirt freshman Jameis Winston in 2013 and then again to Sims last year. Will the third time be the charm for Coker?

Outlook: Coker hasn’t even been on Alabama’s campus a full calendar year yet, but that hasn’t lessened the expectations of the Mobile native. A fifth-year senior, and the only quarterback on the Crimson Tide roster with a completed pass in a real game setting, Coker is the early favorite to be the starter, and a second offseason under Kiffin could be just what he needs to take that next step. Alec Morris, another veteran that has seen live game action but has yet to throw a collegiate pass, is the next likeliest candidate to possibly overshadow Coker. Whether or not the former Texas gunslinger can do that is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, Alabama coaches continue to indicate that the quarterback battle will be a wide-open and each of the five quarterbacks on the roster will receive a fair look at the job. Given the more spread-open offense the Tide are running under Kiffin, there is much more emphasis placed on the quarterback being more than just a facilitator. By all accounts, Coker has all the attributes to be a star quarterback, whether he embraces that and runs with it is the only unknown.
​

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

With an offseason to complete transition, Jacob Coker is impressing early in 2015.

Continue reading...

 

[jdpas29]

Jacob, Jacob, Jaaaa-cob!!!

Even though there isn't a lot of experience at QB after Coker, i feel pretty good about the position. For the record, Bateman is still my pick.

 

[bama alum]

From what all I've read, Cornwall is ahead of both Bateman and Morris. I wonder if he's ahead of Coker.

 

[bama alum]

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/al...ng-to-bama-still-looks-right-for-jacob-coker/

Did Jacob Coker make the right decision coming to Alabama?

Christopher Smith

March 18, 2015 @ 7:26am

204
SHARE ARTICLE
2
TWEET ARTICLE
When Jacob Coker lost a close competition to Jameis Winston to become Florida State’s starting quarterback prior to the 2013 season, no one anticipated he’d wait this long to get his turn.

Alabama needed a replacement for senior AJ McCarron, and it seemed like the Tide preferred not to turn to fifth-year senior Blake Sims, a career backup with 39 passes to his credit at The Capstone. At least that was the perceived inference when coach Nick Saban convinced Coker to transfer to Tuscaloosa at this time last season.

FSU coach Jimbo Fisher asserted that Coker is a better talent than any of Bama’s recent quarterbacks. Fisher implied that Coker could outperform McCarron and Greg McElroy, both of whom won national championships for the Tide.

But a funny thing happened in Tuscaloosa. Sims started the season opener. And the next game. And the next. Soon the year ended. Coker had thrown 59 passes his entire junior season, all as the backup. Sims performed better than anyone expected, teaming with Amari Cooper and new offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin to thrust the team to an SEC championship and a College Football Playoff berth despite a well-below-average Alabama defense.

Scuttlebutt emanating from Alabama indicated that Coker hadn’t grasped the playbook, didn’t seize control of the huddle and generally came across as unprepared to take advantage of the opportunity. In layman’s terms, at least from a limited outsider’s perspective, it sounds like he shrunk from the moment. To be fair, it’s not easy to pack up mid-college career, head to a new campus, learn the names of dozens of new teammates and coaches, absorb the playbook and in a few months’ time enter the field as an All-SEC quarterback.

Given everything that’s happened at both Alabama and Florida State, it does beg the question: Would Coker be better off had he stayed in Tallahassee?

Much like Francis Underwood on the Netflix show “House of Cards,” no one bought it when Winston announced he’d return to the Seminoles in ’15. Indeed, he’s going to be one of the first names NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announces on April 30. Winston was going to start for FSU in ’14 unless he was behind bars or the team discovered a Peyton Manning clone with NCAA eligibility. (Even then, the Seminoles may have found a way to start Winston.) But Coker may have predicted he’d get a chance in 2015 if he stayed.

Winston did face a one-game suspension against Clemson last season. Redshirt sophomore Sean Maguire led FSU to an overtime win before giving way to Winston. Florida State didn’t defend its national title, but still made it into the College Football Playoff. Now Maguire looks like a strong bet to start at quarterback for the Seminoles in 2015.

Coker was ahead of Maguire on the depth chart in ’13, and likely would’ve started that game against Clemson and then entered this offseason as the favorite to win the job. Would he be in a better position at FSU, entering his fifth season in the same offense and with one start to his credit? Or is he in a better place after last year’s disappointment at Alabama, teaming up with a great coordinator in Kiffin after being forced to examine how he can get better?

It’s difficult to blame Coker for his decision to transfer. Beyond winning games, or setting up NFL careers, the next priority for big-time college football players is to get the opportunity to play. Lose a competition to become the starting cornerback and you can still see the field covering kicks, if not on defense when the team deploys extra defensive backs. Fail to earn a starting job as an offensive lineman and maybe you can play during extra points, staying ready in case of an injury to one of five different starters.

But backup quarterbacks in major college football have little opportunity. Barring injury, they spend their days getting practice reps without any real defensive pressure and while throwing to sixth, seventh and eighth receiving options.

Both Alabama and Florida State are in position to continue to win games in bunches, though the Tide should enter the season with a slight advantage in the major polls. Both teams lost impact offensive skill players after last season, but can place confidence in a proven offensive system.

Touted college athletes aren’t known for patience and strong self-awareness. It seems likely that being forced to identify and correct his weaknesses for a year in relative solitude could make Coker into a better quarterback than he’d be if he got thrust into the noise of a starting job on a national championship contender last season. To his credit, Coker handled last season with class, keeping his head down and his mouth shut and supporting Sims.

“I think that’s why everyone respects him so highly is because when Blake went out there to start there was never a time where you saw him on the sideline like pouting,” senior center Ryan Kelly said, according to 247Sports.com. “He’d be the first guy — I remember we scored against Florida and he was the first guy over there high-fiving and jumping up and down, so just a team guy that everybody wants to be around.

“Quite frankly, from the quarterback, that’s what you want. I think he’s done a great job so far, and I think he’s had a positive attitude.”

There’s no definitive answer to whether or not Coker is better off in Tuscaloosa or if he would’ve benefitted more by staying at FSU. And let’s not get ahead of ourselves like we did this time last year. Coker still must do enough in practice to enter the Sept. 5 game against Wisconsin as the team’s starting quarterback. But he may win the job by default, as heralded true freshman Blake Barnett just got to campus in January, and the trio of other players at the position have to this point looked like nothing more than backups.

“Obviously when he started last year, it was a whole new offense to him, everyone was ahead of him and right now I feel like he’s a lot more comfortable and confident with what we’re doing,” Saban told the media Friday.

“We’ve tried to make it a little easier with what we’re doing at that position so that they don’t have the burden as some of the guys in the past have had so that the inexperienced players can develop a little more quickly and we’re hopeful Jake will be able to do that and we’re pleased with where he is right now.”

Kiffin and Coker’s teammates have backed him and downplayed last year, seemingly defending Coker to the media, making excuses for him without even realizing it. But it sounds like the adversity he faced on the field in 2014 has forced Coker to be a stronger, more vocal leader and a more studious player.

“He’s obviously more mature,” Kelly said. “Obviously being a fifth-year guy, you’ve seen the ins and outs of college football, and I think he’s done a great job stepping into a bigger leadership role. Last year, being his first year, it’s just hard to step into a role like that when you don’t really know a lot of guys. Now that he’s had a little bit of time to meet everybody and kind of hang out and build people’s trust up, I think he’s going to have a good year.”

If Coker does start for Alabama in 2015, given his physical ability and the presence of Kiffin, he could have a season as a senior first-year starter that exceeds even what Sims did last year. That delayed gratification would make it hard to argue with Coker’s decision to transfer to the Tide in ’14.

 

[BamaFan334]

Give me Cornwell, with Barnett burning his redshirt.

 

[jdpas29]

Last time i watched Cornwell throw, his mechanics were very Tebowesque. I hope that has improved.