Saban elaborates on his position on speed of play...

I think he makes a very convincing argument. You don't have to be an Alabama fan to understand that. In particular, his points about limiting exposure in practice but not games and the need for officials to better administrate and control the pace of the game.

Good read and clarification from CNS, thanks Earle.

It doesn`t matter what Coach saban says. It would always be the "Saban Rule". That`s just how pervasive his presence is in college football. IMHO of course.

Anything that gets the Cow Palace up in arms is a good thing.........whether it passes or not.:cool2:

To me the real issue is not that most team snap in the first 10 sec, it is they hurry up and get over the ball and could snap it if the defense has 12 players or is not ready. That is why it is so difficult to substitute. If you had 10 secs you could plan to sub after any play. The only plays that I can see that the official can get the ball ready and all of the offensive plays are ready in 10 sec are running plays in the middle of the field. The offense has to be set for a sec before the snap so they would have to retrieve the ball get all of the players in place in 9 sec. Hard to do . I see very little impact on the pace of the game. A lot of these teams stand over the ball for 25 secs looking at the bench

Bazza said:

Seriously - have the referees chimed in about this? I wonder what their take is.

Also IMHO --- this is something the coaches should decide - not some committee trying to decide "what's best for the game".

Coach Saban says in the clip that a study was done with 4 programs who use the NOHU offense and they found there were only an average of 4 plays per game where the ball was snapped within' the first 10 seconds - that's not very many - so it doesn't seem this rule change is even needed by his own data.

It all seems moot to me - seems there's too much opposition.

Thanks for the video clip!

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The fact their "study" only indicated an average of 4 plays within 10 seconds does not negate the rule change might be needed. The fact that HUNH offenses are at the line of scrimmage, whether they run the play in 10 seconds or 25, effectively shuts down any opportunity the defense has to substitute a tired or slightly injured player without A) calling a timeout or B) having a player fall on the ground so the officials stop the clock.

Neither of those two options are adequate for the defense. As CNS points out HUNH offenses run enough plays to effectively extend the season by 4 additional games, which automatically exposes players to a greater risk of injury.

We usually don't hear about a lot of the nagging injuries players have played with throughout the season until some of them are scheduled for surgery or going pro and need time to heal before the combine. Even then many of them aren't 100%.

Frankly, I'm grateful that Mark Richt's voice was included here. Whatever our criticism of him, I think it's good that another well-respected coach commented on that matter.

Finally. A voice of reason. Very good response to an out of control topic of discussion. Take the control of the pace of play out of the coaches hands and put it back in the officials hands. If the officials are not in position to call the game when the ball is snapped some infractions will not be called (motion infractions, tackles getting set before the ball is snapped, etc). Hold the ball until the officials are in position so they can do their job.

I like the Ideas coming from the 10 second rule maybe they'll get it closer to what needs to be done. We all who have been watching football a while know that most changes have helped move away from defense,heck I remember you could only use your forearms for blocking.

I still think the base of CNS argument is that it creates a competitive advantage for the offense, which it does. He does not push that point as much because it sounds like he is whining and crying. Player safety is an issue with the HUNH also, but I believe the advantage it gives the offense is a bigger problem. And like CNS said, football wasn't intended to be a continuous sport. The 10 second rule wouldn't really slow down the HUNH, it would just allow the defense to substitute after every play if they wanted to.

Clubfitter said:

Finally. A voice of reason. Very good response to an out of control topic of discussion. Take the control of the pace of play out of the coaches hands and put it back in the officials hands. If the officials are not in position to call the game when the ball is snapped some infractions will not be called (motion infractions, tackles getting set before the ball is snapped, etc). Hold the ball until the officials are in position so they can do their job.

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Agree with this also. Coaches should not make rules or decide the pace of play. The NFL officials control pace of play and it seems to work for them.

Bazza said:

Seriously - have the referees chimed in about this? I wonder what their take is.
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Yes. Tom Ritter, one of the SEC referees (white hat), was on a local radio show this morning here in Nashville. He essentially said that the SEC officials will not do anything different this year compared to what they have done in the past.

I really think I hit on the crux of how Saban sees it. Not to toot my own horn (okay, maybe a bit).


He isn't big on the 10 second rule. He more or less wants the NFL clock rules and the idea of letting the officials dictate pace like the pros.

BigBama76 said:

The fact their "study" only indicated an average of 4 plays within 10 seconds does not negate the rule change might be needed. The fact that HUNH offenses are at the line of scrimmage, whether they run the play in 10 seconds or 25, effectively shuts down any opportunity the defense has to substitute a tired or slightly injured player without A) calling a timeout or B) having a player fall on the ground so the officials stop the clock..

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Actually, the point was that a 10 second rule would not force these teams to slow down. They could still run their offenses at their speed and defenses could substitute. Both could happen. That is why they mentioned that it would only impact 4 plays per game.

Anything that affects the official's control of the game should be addressed immediately and it's pretty plain that that is the case.

I don't even think the zebras should go into a hurry-up mode near the end of the half or the game, at least not to the extent they are not position themselves.

NoNC4Tubs said:

Anything that gets the Cow Palace up in arms is a good thing.........whether it passes or not.:cool2:

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Cow Palace!! I love it !!!