-Key injuries are making an impact. Thatās not an excuse, itās football and injuries happen, itās just fact. Yes the team is deep with talent but overall itās pretty inexperienced. Some of that inexperience would be lessened with more liberal substitution throughout the season, which weāve talked about before, but itās just not Sabanās m.o.
-This team lacks leadership more than any recent UA team. With the way Saban demands accountability throughout the program (on and off the field), strong leadership is almost a must for a championship team. We have seen in the past that a loss can be what resets the team in a wayā¦ brings back the focus and gives the overall attitude a needed readjustment that Saban wasnāt able to make with his words. Will this team respond well to the loss? I honestly donāt know. I think Sabanās tone this week would be a hint. But I do think it was going to take a loss at some point for this team to at least reach their potential. It was becoming obvious that Saban was fighting an uphill battle most every week, which was made tougher when there are so few leaders. This loss should help in terms of getting their attention, but will it?
-Yes, Bama lost a lot from last yearās team but for the lost part Saban has adjusted to that and has recruited to absorb the losses. He plans on most of these guys being 3 and out nowā¦ but those were some kings we lost. Still, it was mostly impactful on the offensive side, and the offense has played well overall. Just some horribly timed mistakes and some less than stellar play calling at times, especially in goal to go.
-More importantly, in my opinion, is UA downgraded when they lost Sark and Flood. Now, thatās not a knock on OāBrien and Marroneā¦ itās just I believe that Sark is the best play caller/play designer in all of CFB. And while Marrone is really good, Flood was a tad better, likely because of his more extensive college coaching experience (which is different from NFL). Same goes for Golding, even though heās been there a while now. You can have your opinion about whether he should be the DC or not, but the real question is, who is better? As I mentioned two weeks ago, we had 2 ultra elite DCās previously in Kirby and Pruitt. Unless bringing Pruitt back works out (and it well may), then Iām not real sure Saban can get anyone significantly better than Golding. He might could, but itās no sure thing like I think many believe. Itās probably worth a separate thread on another day, but there is a ton that goes into being the defensive coordinator under Saban and someone who isnāt very familiar with the system would have, well, difficulties.
-Another thing that has hurt this year is the loss of some of the analysts. Those guys are heavily involved in scouting and game planning (obviously), and while they can be replaced, itās difficult to always upgrade with such a shallow pool of candidates (canāt just throw money at them like an assistant). Weāve lost some really good ones in the last couple years.
-And subject changing here a bit but worth mentioningā¦ the pressure just shifted to UGA. Carrying that #1 by the name can get heavy. Are they built for it? They have a really good team, but we will find out nowā¦
-Also, this is Get off my Lawn!!! territory here but Iām going to say it anyway. Itās past time to to start hammering programs when their fans rush the field. The $250,000 to them is doing nothing. In fact you see the schools openly mocking the fine, like A&M did last night. The fines should start at $1 million at least and also carry with it revenue sharing penalties from the conference. Sooner or later a player or coach is going to get injured, or a pissed off coach or player is going to injure some fans. Not to mention all the other issues like equipment getting stolen (I doubt A&M students did that, but it happens all the time).
-Lastly, If a player is hurt and canāt get off the field and causes an officialās timeout, he should miss the reminder of his teamās offensive or defensive series (or his team can use a timeout if they have one to keep him in). I donāt know what the best solution is, but something must be doneā¦ and I think it will soon. Teams like Ole Miss who blatantly abuse the spirit of the game are going to cause everyone to have to follow a more strict set of rules for it. Even A&M last night, they were not as blatant, but in most of these cases, players can get their asses off the field if they wanted. You rarely see UA players laying on the turf like a 5 year old unless itās something thatās sending them into the M*A*S*H* tent for a few plays. Saban abhors players laying on the turf when they donāt need to be and I agree 100%.
-This team lacks leadership more than any recent UA team. With the way Saban demands accountability throughout the program (on and off the field), strong leadership is almost a must for a championship team. We have seen in the past that a loss can be what resets the team in a wayā¦ brings back the focus and gives the overall attitude a needed readjustment that Saban wasnāt able to make with his words. Will this team respond well to the loss? I honestly donāt know. I think Sabanās tone this week would be a hint. But I do think it was going to take a loss at some point for this team to at least reach their potential. It was becoming obvious that Saban was fighting an uphill battle most every week, which was made tougher when there are so few leaders. This loss should help in terms of getting their attention, but will it?
-Yes, Bama lost a lot from last yearās team but for the lost part Saban has adjusted to that and has recruited to absorb the losses. He plans on most of these guys being 3 and out nowā¦ but those were some kings we lost. Still, it was mostly impactful on the offensive side, and the offense has played well overall. Just some horribly timed mistakes and some less than stellar play calling at times, especially in goal to go.
-More importantly, in my opinion, is UA downgraded when they lost Sark and Flood. Now, thatās not a knock on OāBrien and Marroneā¦ itās just I believe that Sark is the best play caller/play designer in all of CFB. And while Marrone is really good, Flood was a tad better, likely because of his more extensive college coaching experience (which is different from NFL). Same goes for Golding, even though heās been there a while now. You can have your opinion about whether he should be the DC or not, but the real question is, who is better? As I mentioned two weeks ago, we had 2 ultra elite DCās previously in Kirby and Pruitt. Unless bringing Pruitt back works out (and it well may), then Iām not real sure Saban can get anyone significantly better than Golding. He might could, but itās no sure thing like I think many believe. Itās probably worth a separate thread on another day, but there is a ton that goes into being the defensive coordinator under Saban and someone who isnāt very familiar with the system would have, well, difficulties.
-Another thing that has hurt this year is the loss of some of the analysts. Those guys are heavily involved in scouting and game planning (obviously), and while they can be replaced, itās difficult to always upgrade with such a shallow pool of candidates (canāt just throw money at them like an assistant). Weāve lost some really good ones in the last couple years.
-And subject changing here a bit but worth mentioningā¦ the pressure just shifted to UGA. Carrying that #1 by the name can get heavy. Are they built for it? They have a really good team, but we will find out nowā¦
-Also, this is Get off my Lawn!!! territory here but Iām going to say it anyway. Itās past time to to start hammering programs when their fans rush the field. The $250,000 to them is doing nothing. In fact you see the schools openly mocking the fine, like A&M did last night. The fines should start at $1 million at least and also carry with it revenue sharing penalties from the conference. Sooner or later a player or coach is going to get injured, or a pissed off coach or player is going to injure some fans. Not to mention all the other issues like equipment getting stolen (I doubt A&M students did that, but it happens all the time).
-Lastly, If a player is hurt and canāt get off the field and causes an officialās timeout, he should miss the reminder of his teamās offensive or defensive series (or his team can use a timeout if they have one to keep him in). I donāt know what the best solution is, but something must be doneā¦ and I think it will soon. Teams like Ole Miss who blatantly abuse the spirit of the game are going to cause everyone to have to follow a more strict set of rules for it. Even A&M last night, they were not as blatant, but in most of these cases, players can get their asses off the field if they wanted. You rarely see UA players laying on the turf like a 5 year old unless itās something thatās sending them into the M*A*S*H* tent for a few plays. Saban abhors players laying on the turf when they donāt need to be and I agree 100%.
