🏈 Why Bama seems to have a hard time finding QB's when other teams are plug and play.

[BigCrimson]

I've read (on here and other boards) "Why does Alabama struggle so much to find top tier qb's when other teams seem to be able too?" I have a theory. I'm not saying it's right. I don't have any evidence other than my opinion so take it for what its worth.

Alabama (under Saban) has run a pro style offense. Pro style offenses have responsibilities of being able to read defenses, go through progressions etc. Basically having to learn what a pro QB has to learn. Where as players who play under coaches like Spurrier (whose offense was a miserable failure in the NFL), Malzahn, and other coaches who run "high octane offenses. These players are operating under a much simpler system with no where near the complexities. NFL style offenses (which Saban likes to run) have A LOT of nuances that other college offenses do not have. Remember the report came out that Tim Couch never had a playbook at Kentucky. Look at the article that just come out this weekend about NFL coaches saying that the HUNH offenses are doing a "disservice" to the players.

I think our offense is harder to learn. It is not a plug and play type offense. I'd bet my bottom dollar if you were to put any of our qb's in a spurrier type system, Malzahn type system they would have success faster. Now, I'M NOT SAYING or advocating we go to these type offenses. I hate HUNH/spread offenses. I just do. But one of the things about these offenses is they are very simplistic at their core. They do not require the progressions and the reads that a pro style offense requires and I think that is one of the reasons we can't just plug and play like offenses such as Auburn or Baylor.

 

[Justneedme81]

Wait, wait... what? You kinda reaching with this one....
Alabama QB competition hasn't been frustrating, Nick Saban says

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

Stop reading mainstream sports media and listen to CNS. I don't believe Bama has struggled at all to find a QB under Saban. I think the fanbase is sometimes frustrated by the lack of info and not having a reporter embedded with the team to tell them/us every waking thought but I don't believe the coaches or the team themselves are frustrated or struggling.

 

[BigCrimson]

T

Stop reading mainstream sports media and listen to CNS. I don't believe Bama has struggled at all to find a QB under Saban. I think the fanbase is sometimes frustrated by the lack of info and not having a reporter embedded with the team to tell them/us every waking thought but I don't believe the coaches or the team themselves are frustrated or struggling.

I disagree. In watching several of CNS's press conferences his frustration was undeniable. In one press conference he almost come out and flat said it. Wishing someone would take the horns and run with it. You don't waste valuable practice snaps on five quarterbacks by design. That is rarely part of the plan.

 

[BigCrimson]

Wait, wait... what? You kinda reaching with this one....
Alabama QB competition hasn't been frustrating, Nick Saban says

Riiiight and "I will not be the next coach at Alabama." :bolt:

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

T


I disagree. In watching several of CNS's press conferences his frustration was undeniable. In one press conference he almost come out and flat said it. Wishing someone would take the horns and run with it. You don't waste valuable practice snaps on five quarterbacks by design. That is rarely part of the plan.

ok. We can agree to disagree. I have seen several SEC teams struggle to find a QB during CNS tenure and Bama wasn't/hasn't been one of them. 10rc did and has, OM has, a couple years ago MSU played 3-4 QBs deep into the season. LSU last year and may this year and at least twice prior. UF since Tebow left. Look at A&M last year, from a Heisman candidate to not even starting end of the year.

Sorry I see those as struggles

 

[DLev45]

All 4 QBs that Nick Saban has chosen in his tenure at Alabama have started an SEC Championship Game, and all but John Parker Wilson won it.

 

[mr_sparky]

The QB is running a pro style option offense. The nature of which is hard to execute with or without practice. Malzahn ran a 5-play offense with wrinkles for Scam because he is an idiot. It sure looked like Sims ran it pretty good last year considering a new O-coach. Saban has a problem a lot of other coaches would like to have; a tough decision of picking a starter. Half of what Saban says in his presses is what he wants to talk about and the other half is for the players so watch the next presser with that in mind and what he says will be much clearer. If Coker can connect on 2x more long balls than Sims, we won't lose a game this year. If he performs as well as Sims, expect the same.

 

[TerryP]

I disagree. In watching several of CNS's press conferences his frustration was undeniable

What message is he trying to send this season? To whom?

Face value isn't reality in the fall.

 

[Teague]

I think there's a big difference between having difficulty finding a QB, and taking the time to really analyze which QB actually is the best for the job.

 

[psychojoe]

I think there's a big difference between having difficulty finding a QB, and taking the time to really analyze which QB actually is the best for the job.

Absolutely. And to another poster's point, our offense is more complex than many, requires our QB to assimilate what the defenses are doing, and make a decision based on that. I refuse to accept the idea that we have not named a starter because all of our choices are bad ones.

 

[BigCrimson]

All 4 QBs that Nick Saban has chosen in his tenure at Alabama have started an SEC Championship Game, and all but John Parker Wilson won it.

Agreed, but all of them didn't just jump in and hit the ground running either. In their first year they all hit points where they struggled mightily. Where as you see teams like Baylor, Auburn and other teams who interchange quarterbacks like they are pairs of socks and there's little to no drop off. Oregon is a great example, they have a kid coming in as a transfer who wasn't even there last season and has already picked up on the offense well enough to beat out the the guy who's been there a year longer. My point is our system isn't as easy to just plug and play as HUNH/Spread teams. Have our qb's ultimately figured it out? Yep. But the transition and the process wasn't nearly as smooth. Whether it be McElroy, McCarron or Sims. They all hit periods in their first year where they struggled and the rest of the team had to basically carry them. Yet when you look at these HUNH teams I don't see their qb's going through those same periods of struggling.

 

[UAgrad93]

I've read (on here and other boards) "Why does Alabama struggle so much to find top tier qb's when other teams seem to be able too?" I have a theory. I'm not saying it's right. I don't have any evidence other than my opinion so take it for what its worth.

Alabama (under Saban) has run a pro style offense. Pro style offenses have responsibilities of being able to read defenses, go through progressions etc. Basically having to learn what a pro QB has to learn. Where as players who play under coaches like Spurrier (whose offense was a miserable failure in the NFL), Malzahn, and other coaches who run "high octane offenses. These players are operating under a much simpler system with no where near the complexities. NFL style offenses (which Saban likes to run) have A LOT of nuances that other college offenses do not have. Remember the report came out that Tim Couch never had a playbook at Kentucky. Look at the article that just come out this weekend about NFL coaches saying that the HUNH offenses are doing a "disservice" to the players.

I think our offense is harder to learn. It is not a plug and play type offense. I'd bet my bottom dollar if you were to put any of our qb's in a spurrier type system, Malzahn type system they would have success faster. Now, I'M NOT SAYING or advocating we go to these type offenses. I hate HUNH/spread offenses. I just do. But one of the things about these offenses is they are very simplistic at their core. They do not require the progressions and the reads that a pro style offense requires and I think that is one of the reasons we can't just plug and play like offenses such as Auburn or Baylor.

Exactly what I have said before but on other threads concerning our QB!

 

[PCRammer]

Stop believing the talking heads.
FSU - Starting a transfer.
UGA - Starting a transfer
Ole Miss - Starting a transfer
Oregon - Starting a transfer.

Im sure there are more, these are just off the top of my head.

 

[Justneedme81]

This thread is going downhill fast... Refer to PCRammer post... and remember this: We do not have issue finding QBs... I feel like everyone here are talking about 6 differenet things but never really got to the point... C'mon!

 

[BigCrimson]

Stop believing the talking heads.
FSU - Starting a transfer.
UGA - Starting a transfer
Ole Miss - Starting a transfer
Oregon - Starting a transfer.

Im sure there are more, these are just off the top of my head.

And odds are the qb's in the FSU and UGA offense will probably struggle more than the QB's in the Ole Miss and Oregon offenses. I'm not arguing other teams don't have to fill spots with transfers. That's obvious. My point is we don't run a plug and play offense where you can basically plug in a three, four or five star player without any experience and he won't miss a beat. Our offense is a bit more to chew on than the HUNH's and spreads. Hence the reason our first year quarterbacks have gone through some rough patches to the point where they had to be carried by other aspects of our team until they figured it out.

 

[PCRammer]

My point was there are lots of other teams of high caliber that are having to go elsewhere to find QB's. Even more so with Oregon, they should just be able to stick whoever and do well but yet starting someone from the outside.

And yes, I only read the thread title before opening my mouth. :eyeroll:

 

[Tidestalker]

I've read (on here and other boards) "Why does Alabama struggle so much to find top tier qb's when other teams seem to be able too?" I have a theory. I'm not saying it's right. I don't have any evidence other than my opinion so take it for what its worth.

Alabama (under Saban) has run a pro style offense. Pro style offenses have responsibilities of being able to read defenses, go through progressions etc. Basically having to learn what a pro QB has to learn. Where as players who play under coaches like Spurrier (whose offense was a miserable failure in the NFL), Malzahn, and other coaches who run "high octane offenses. These players are operating under a much simpler system with no where near the complexities. NFL style offenses (which Saban likes to run) have A LOT of nuances that other college offenses do not have. Remember the report came out that Tim Couch never had a playbook at Kentucky. Look at the article that just come out this weekend about NFL coaches saying that the HUNH offenses are doing a "disservice" to the players.

I think our offense is harder to learn. It is not a plug and play type offense. I'd bet my bottom dollar if you were to put any of our qb's in a spurrier type system, Malzahn type system they would have success faster. Now, I'M NOT SAYING or advocating we go to these type offenses. I hate HUNH/spread offenses. I just do. But one of the things about these offenses is they are very simplistic at their core. They do not require the progressions and the reads that a pro style offense requires and I think that is one of the reasons we can't just plug and play like offenses such as Auburn or Baylor.

I did not see a pro style offense last year. I saw an offense that stood at the line and waited for Kiffin to tell Amari Cooper where to line up, then tell Blake whether to throw it to him or hand off to the RB.

Gary Danielson was laughing at how we were basically running Auburn's offense in the SECCG last year.

AJ and GMAC ran a pro style... Kiffin reads the defense for the QB's then call's his favorite play in the waffle house menu.

 

[BigCrimson]

I did not see a pro style offense last year. I saw an offense that stood at the line and waited for Kiffin to tell Amari Cooper where to line up, then tell Blake whether to throw it to him or hand off to the RB.

Gary Danielson was laughing at how we were basically running Auburn's offense in the SECCG last year.

AJ and GMAC ran a pro style... Kiffin reads the defense for the QB's then call's his favorite play in the waffle house menu.

We ended up doing that a lot but it didn't start out that way. The staff finally had to accept what worked for Sims and on the fly scrapped a lot of what they liked to do.

 

[Tidestalker]

We ended up doing that a lot but it didn't start out that way. The staff finally had to accept what worked for Sims and on the fly scrapped a lot of what they liked to do.

Huh? On offense against Va Tech, most of the game was spent looking over at the sideline while the play clock ran down waiting for Kiffin and Blake to get the team lined up. The first few games were painfully unorganized on that side of the ball.