🏈 Unpopular Opinions You Have Regarding Alabama Football

[TideatMileHigh]

Title is self explanatory. Mine:

I think had Bill Curry stayed in the long run after the 1989 season, Alabama would have not endured all the hardship of NCAA sanctions and on the field competition issues with Tennessee and Florida throughout the 1990s and potentially early 2000s. Why you ask? Curry was quite innovative with his offensive philosophy at Alabama that centered around a more pro-style offense. When Spurrier went to Florida in 1990 and introduced his run and shoot offense, it completely changed the way coaches had to prepare on game day. I think had Curry remained the head coach heading into the 1990s, Alabama would've been much better equipped to handle teams like Tennessee and Florida in 1990s. I love Gene Stallings, but his big issue was his over conservative offensive philosophy that was so conservative it made Marty Schottenheimer look like Bill Walsh. That strategy got Stallings in trouble against Florida and Tennessee.

Bill Curry was a competent recruiter and seemed to run a tight ship at Alabama. I think had he been overseeing the program in the 1990s, Alabama would've escaped a lot of those crippling sanctions it suffered during the decade. I think he would've been able to still recruit quality athletes that would have put Alabama in a much better position to compete against Florida and Tennessee. And finally, I think he would've been able to get even with the Cow College in the 1990s. After 1989, Auburn started to decline under Pat Dye and I think he would've gotten even with that second rate shit school.

Bear in mind I don't think Curry would've been some Bobby Bowden type of coach at Alabama in the 1990s. I think over the long term Alabama would've been able to maintain about 8-10 wins a season throughout the 90s under Curry, and I think it is still highly possible that Alabama would've still won a national championship sometime in the early 90s. The big point of my idea is that I think Alabama would've been much better equipped to compete on the field against the eventual premier programs of the SEC in the 1990s being Tennessee and Florida while also maintaining a healthy program that would've escaped getting probed by the NCAA.

Flame away, and I'm interested to see what you all have to say. I was born in 1994, so you older folks have much better insight as to things that were going on internal to the program that wouldn't be posted on Wikipedia.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

Bill Curry was too soft for Alabama football. Those that select failed when they selected Ray Perkins then really shit the bed on Curry. Coach Stallings would have been the best selection instead of Ray at the time since he was old school and that would have worked really well at that time. The fact they hired Bill over Bobby Bowden was a joke. F U Joab and your little cabal. Bama needed a tuff football coach and not a sales manager.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I think the way football programs like Bama keep a kid completely under wraps with a packed schedule - minders on academics, minders on workouts, minders on almost every aspect of their lives - stunt their adult development during that critical 18-22 window. If a kid came from a good environment, or for whatever reason they've matured mentally and emotionally before getting into school, then they may not be impacted. If it's a kid that the athletic department knows they better keep under their thumb or there will be a problem if allowed free time to make choices, then I question how that kid is allowed to develop.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion because I'm wrong, but it's crossed my mind a few times.

RTR,

Tim

 

[TideatMileHigh]

Bill Curry was too soft for Alabama football. Those that select failed when they selected Ray Perkins then really shit the bed on Curry. Coach Stallings would have been the best selection instead of Ray at the time since he was old school and that would have worked really well at that time. The fact they hired Bill over Bobby Bowden was a joke. F U Joab and your little cabal. Bama needed a tuff football coach and not a sales manager.

So was Curry a pushover? I heard that during the 1990 Sugar Bowl he grabbed some player by the facemask on national TV and chewed his ass out.

Who are you referring to as "Joab and your little cabal"? Was that some over zealous booster?

 

[TideatMileHigh]

I think the way football programs like Bama keep a kid completely under wraps with a packed schedule - minders on academics, minders on workouts, minders on almost every aspect of their lives - stunt their adult development during that critical 18-22 window. If a kid came from a good environment, or for whatever reason they've matured mentally and emotionally before getting into school, then they may not be impacted. If it's a kid that the athletic department knows they better keep under their thumb or there will be a problem if allowed free time to make choices, then I question how that kid is allowed to develop.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion because I'm wrong, but it's crossed my mind a few times.

RTR,

Tim

Well I'd say it depends on the kid like you say. I can understand why universities utilize control measures like that.

18-22 year old kids typically lack ambition in this day and age, and require a lot of stern mentorship, otherwise they'll either do the bare minimum or not do anything at all. When I was in the military I initially fucking hated the SNCOs and NCOs when I was an E1-E3. They were hard on us, but as I've gotten older (and got promoted) I realized they did so because they knew it would be for our betterment in the long run.

 

[BamaFan334]

I've never been a fan of the blue shirt, grey shirt, green shirt, and kind of shirt other than red. To me it's as simple as hoarding stock and not letting anyone else have some. I am more upset with the fact that these guys are losing so much valuable time in their lives while they wait and push back their academic lives. The ones that don't start school or even practice with the team a year could be somewhere else thriving and right along with their academic careers. Deferring a year and most likely never taking the field at Alabama are not favorable in my opinion. To each their own, but I am not in favor of this NCAA rule allowing this stuff. All about the student athlete, right? Sounds to me it's just another way to keep talent from other programs and not caring about the kid.

 

[JoshB]

Saban needs to simplify the defense.

 

[TerryP]

Saban needs to simplify the defense.

Change.

 

[JoshB]

Change.

No, I said what I said.

 

[TerryP]

No, I said what I said.

Saban's 3-4 approach was new to the SEC when he arrived. Looking around the conference, how many teams are emulating his approach and not having the same type of succes we saw that approach have 5=6 years ago.? A lot.

His approach on defense was innovative when he arrived. It's now commonplace. While he sees fault in strength and conditioning, I'm wondering if we need to see a change on defense like we saw with the offense. An innovative approach, new to what offenses have seen.

Or, as I've also suggested, is it simply a case of the era we're in? There's no arguing it's a QB driven sport now. One has to be elite at that position. Defenses, more often than not, fail against elite quarterbacks.

 

[bamachine]

I own absolutely nothing with the claimed number of titles on it. Aside from maybe some gameday cups. All titles are mythical prior to the CFP, for every program. Does not mean I did not enjoy watching Bama beat PSU in '79, Arky in '80, whip Miami in '93, watch them beat Texas from the corner in the Rose Bowl stadium in '10, from the nosebleeds of the Superdome gain revenge against LSU in '12, whip the snot out of ND in '13. I enjoyed all of those but the titles are just as mythical as all of the USC, OU, ND, Texas, etc claimed titles throughout the years.

 

[jdpas29]

We need to run more plays on 4th down when inside the 45 and outside the 20 or so. That is until we have a more consistent kicking game.

 

[TideatMileHigh]

I liked the BCS better than the current system

 

[RollllTide!]

Defense has always been the best offence to win games and championships. If your opponent can't score, your offense doesn't have to be great.

 

[Tidestalker]

I've never been a fan of the blue shirt, grey shirt, green shirt, and kind of shirt other than red. To me it's as simple as hoarding stock and not letting anyone else have some. I am more upset with the fact that these guys are losing so much valuable time in their lives while they wait and push back their academic lives. The ones that don't start school or even practice with the team a year could be somewhere else thriving and right along with their academic careers. Deferring a year and most likely never taking the field at Alabama are not favorable in my opinion. To each their own, but I am not in favor of this NCAA rule allowing this stuff. All about the student athlete, right? Sounds to me it's just another way to keep talent from other programs and not caring about the kid.

I understand a lot of this.

My beef has always been when a player believes he has a legit scholarship offer and that changes so closely to NSD... or more specifically, if it changes on NSD. But ultimately it's all fluid and the numbers are always tight, I just think it's best practice to be up front whenever possible.

 

[mando]

The Bama defense should only allow an average of 10 points or less per game Yep unpopular but I still believe that is the standard that we have to figure out how to do.

 

[Tidestalker]

Saban's 3-4 approach was new to the SEC when he arrived. Looking around the conference, how many teams are emulating his approach and not having the same type of succes we saw that approach have 5=6 years ago.? A lot.

His approach on defense was innovative when he arrived. It's now commonplace. While he sees fault in strength and conditioning, I'm wondering if we need to see a change on defense like we saw with the offense. An innovative approach, new to what offenses have seen.

Or, as I've also suggested, is it simply a case of the era we're in? There's no arguing it's a QB driven sport now. One has to be elite at that position. Defenses, more often than not, fail against elite quarterbacks.

I've come to the conclusion it's all about getting the QB to the ground. The rule changes have put so much pressure on defenses it's only a matter of time until they brake in a game against elite talent. Gone are the days of just "out physicallying" (is that a word?) people... You have to have tremendous skill, technique, and frankly some good luck. Creating negative down & distances and/or game changing plays seems like the only way to stop these big time QB's anymore.

Which brings up another point - Saban was huge on affecting the QB being as good (maybe even better?) than a sack. Well the rules have made it so there are so few ways to impact the QB, it almost becomes a risk. Can't hit them low, can't even touch their head, and heaven forbid get there a touch late... so the ways to affect him have gotten so minimized. Which makes sack & sack fumbles more valuable than ever

 

[ElephantStomp]

Saban needs to update, innovate, etc the defense (@TerryP mentioned it earlier) change things like he did the offense.

One other one is the claimed titles thing. I don’t own anything with the number on it nor will I ever

 

[BamaFan334]

I understand a lot of this.

My beef has always been when a player believes he has a legit scholarship offer and that changes so closely to NSD... or more specifically, if it changes on NSD. But ultimately it's all fluid and the numbers are always tight, I just think it's best practice to be up front whenever possible.

I want to say we have agreed on this together before. No doubt both sides have their shenanigans, but I do wish it was more cut and dry. We're talking 15-18 year olds here, against 30-75 year olds. I would expect one side to be more mature than the other as well as more upfront. 99% of these guys are not going Pro, so we are talking about developing the future workforce as well. BUT, you also have these kids wanting to get paid and treated as professionals, so where is the line drawn? It's a toughie.

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

QB pressure while maintaining contain is the key right now to cutting the legs out of most offenses. That really requires a quick-out-of-the-box defensive scheme as somebody will get open at some point if you don't. We have been missing the folks who can get in there quickly and impact the play. How many times have we seen contain break down and allow the QB to scramble for the 1st because pressure was not there early enough? Or seen contain hold but the pressure never get there so someone gets open?