Nick Saban raves about Lane Kiffin's debut as Alabama's offensive coordinator

RammerJammer14 said:

Agreed. I have no idea where all this talk came from of Coker being the next Peyton, it just seemed to come out of the blue and I feel sorry for the guy having to deal with all that manufactured pressure.

However, I would like to see him play and I am sure I will in the next two weeks. I want to see what Coker can do in our offense. I was also impressed with Sims' composure on Saturday and he didn't scare the bejeezes out of me with his passing decisions like I expected him to.

I am still scratching my head over how we can be between a converted athlete/RB and a transfer for starting QB when we had at least 3yrs to develop just one of our top rated QB recruits into the next QB though. Not too sure how we got here.

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transfers is your answer. DelRio, Ely, Jackson, Simms, etc. all transferred. with AJ having a firm grip on the position, most didn't want to wait so they move on. its simple. Morris didn't panned out as expected. Bateman will need some more time, but show promise during A Day. Cornwell was injured and was limited on what he can do. Next Spring will begin the real battle for the QB job with a healthy Cornwell, Coker who will have a full year and hopefully experienced under his belt, Bateman will be the man to watch for and of course the very athletic dual threat Blake Barnett will make his presence known. it will be very exciting to see who will take charge in 2015!!

Jimbo Fisher is THE main reason for all of the lofty hype around Coker. He talked Coker up to be the next heisman winner and the media was glad to keep it going because it was Alabama.

I also believe he did it with the purpose to cause controversy.

I'm not trying to judge JC, just addressing the "hype".

sanjosecrimson said:

transfers is your answer. DelRio, Ely, Jackson, Simms, etc. all transferred. with AJ having a firm grip on the position, most didn't want to wait so they move on. its simple. Morris didn't panned out as expected. Bateman will need some more time, but show promise during A Day. Cornwell was injured and was limited on what he can do. Next Spring will begin the real battle for the QB job with a healthy Cornwell, Coker who will have a full year and hopefully experienced under his belt, Bateman will be the man to watch for and of course the very athletic dual threat Blake Barnett will make his presence known. it will be very exciting to see who will take charge in 2015!!

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Yes! Let's start the 2015 qb back-and-forth now!! :biggrin:

It'll divert some attention from the one we have going on currently.

lol guffaw lol snicker

sanjosecrimson said:

transfers is your answer. DelRio, Ely, Jackson, Simms, etc. all transferred. with AJ having a firm grip on the position, most didn't want to wait so they move on. its simple. Morris didn't panned out as expected. Bateman will need some more time, but show promise during A Day. Cornwell was injured and was limited on what he can do. Next Spring will begin the real battle for the QB job with a healthy Cornwell, Coker who will have a full year and hopefully experienced under his belt, Bateman will be the man to watch for and of course the very athletic dual threat Blake Barnett will make his presence known. it will be very exciting to see who will take charge in 2015!!

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Jackson?

My guess is that it's between Coker and Cornwell next year and then Cornwell and Barnett after that. Our 2016 starter will have the chance to keep the job for 3 years.

colbysullivan said:

Jackson?

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He is talking about Star Jackson, circa 08-09 recruit and one time theoretical backup to McElroy. Transferred to Ga State and never played. But I would argue that none of those QBs who transferred with the exception of Del Rio (a walk-on) was ever going to have the opportunity to start regardless if AJ stayed or was injured. Hence the transfer. Otherwise I expect we would have seen Star, Simms, etc lighting it up or at least starting at the schools they transferred to.

sanjosecrimson said:

transfers is your answer. DelRio, Ely, Jackson, Simms, etc. all transferred. with AJ having a firm grip on the position, most didn't want to wait so they move on. its simple. Morris didn't panned out as expected. Bateman will need some more time, but show promise during A Day. Cornwell was injured and was limited on what he can do. Next Spring will begin the real battle for the QB job with a healthy Cornwell, Coker who will have a full year and hopefully experienced under his belt, Bateman will be the man to watch for and of course the very athletic dual threat Blake Barnett will make his presence known. it will be very exciting to see who will take charge in 2015!!

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Star Jackson, no eligibility. Del Rio was a walkon. Phillip Simms couldn't win the job at UVA. We still have Bateman and Morris , two recruited QB's that made the others transfer and have been in the system for a couple of springs . As others have asked, how did we get here? There was more to work with at QB when Nick arrived than we have now.

Ahh, wasn't thinking far enough back to remember Star Jackson

colbysullivan said:

Jackson?

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Star Jackson

I'll say this about judging potential in Quarterbacks. It's almost impossible and you just don't know.
Johnny Manzeil basically begged Mack Brown for a scholarship to Texas and didn't get an offer.
No SEC school offered him.
Think about that. Vandy didn't, Kentucky didn't....
Only after Oregon offered him and he committed, did A&M offer him.
Had Mack Brown signed Johnny he may still be coaching, but he just didn't think he fit the Texas offense.
It's the toughest position to call. You just don't know.
sip

bamaga said:

Star Jackson, no eligibility. Del Rio was a walkon. Phillip Simms couldn't win the job at UVA. We still have Bateman and Morris , two recruited QB's that made the others transfer and have been in the system for a couple of springs . As others have asked, how did we get here? There was more to work with at QB when Nick arrived than we have now.

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You have think it has been, at least in part, bad evaluations. The question is whose fault is it? Saban? McElwain? Nuss? I guess you have credit McElwain with McCarron, but Sims and Ely are gone. Nuss brought in Morris, Bateman, McLeod, and Del Rio. Del Rio and McLeod are gone. Cornwell technically came under Kiffin, but you have think Nuss had a hand in his evaluation. The same is true with Morris, McElwain probably evaluated him as well. Our issue has been transfers and lack of development. Sometimes you just miss on players. For whatever reason, none of those guys that were big name QB's have taken the field yet.

TideFan in AU said:

You have think it has been, at least in part, bad evaluations. The question is whose fault is it? Saban? McElwain? Nuss? I guess you have credit McElwain with McCarron, but Sims and Ely are gone. Nuss brought in Morris, Bateman, McLeod, and Del Rio. Del Rio and McLeod are gone. Cornwell technically came under Kiffin, but you have think Nuss had a hand in his evaluation. The same is true with Morris, McElwain probably evaluated him as well. Our issue has been transfers and lack of development. Sometimes you just miss on players. For whatever reason, none of those guys that were big name QB's have taken the field yet.

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I still can't see how you develop a running back (HS running QB) into a better QB than the QB talent. Remember Blake was moved to QB because of transfers. I guess we will have to hold our breath on Barnett, another running QB, to see how he pans out. I will say lane Has a proven track record with QB's

Also just like Coker,Coming in Cooper was supposedly the best QB Nick has ever had at Bama. Guess we will have to wait on both to get a shot

Back to the play calling, I love the West Coast tint.

Yes every once in a while you have to air it out to keep the safeties from creeping up, but the passing part of the offense is built around hitting your players in stride. We have great players that fit this very well and they were used very well. Cooper, White and Jones were feasting. Even if White is out for a while it seems tailor made for Chris Black.

IMO Blake did a fabulous job and showed a lot of poise even when rattled a little. Sure there are concerns, but I was very happy with the way he played.

Our running game looks very solid, and I was very happy (despite the penalties) with how the line worked.

My only real question mark with the play calling was what happened with all the talk of getting the TE involved? Perhaps when teams determine that the have to double team Cooper every play we will see some of that.

From my observaztions,(which don't amount to much) Blake Sims was given play calls that didn't ask too much of him, which served more as a confidence booster being he was starting for the first time. High % passes and let his WR's get into space and make the play rather than ask BS to do what was outside his comfort zone. Smart move by CLK and very good play by BS.

Folks ask why the QB situation is in its current state. Let's look at each year to find the answer.

Nick Saban arrived in January 2007. The roster included John Parker Wilson (JR), Greg McElroy (RS FR), Nick Fanuzzi (FR), and several walk-ons.

The 2008 roster included Wilson, McElroy, and Star Jackson along with the walk-ons.

AJ joined the roster in 2009, and JPW graduated.

Star Jackson left after the 2009 season, and Phillip Sims joined the team. (Bama just signed the #2 pro style QB according to Rivals.) Blake Sims also joined the team but was labeled an "ATH" by recruiting services; some folks say he was recruited by Bama to be a QB but was open to playing other positions after Phillip committed.

Sims and AJ battled for the starting job in 2011 while Phillip Ely took a redshirt. Why did Alabama take a 3* quarterback when no one expected them to? Probably to ensure depth.

In the 2011 class, Bama offered scholarships to Zack Mettenberger, Cody Kessler, Jacob Coker, Jeff Driskel, Braxton Miller, and Bubba Starling. The obvious question becomes "Why did Coker go to FSU in 2011 when he could have come to Bama?" Easy answer - Bama slow played him because he ran a wing-t offense at St. Paul's and didn't go to many camps. He happened to go to a FSU camp, and Jimbo loved him.

Phillip Sims became impatient and transferred in May 2012, which left Alabama AJ McCarron and Phillip Ely as the only scholarship QBs on the roster. Therefore, the coaches moved Blake Sims to QB to provide depth.

The 2012 recruiting class looked to be amazing for Saban and Jim McElwain. Talk was Alabama might land the #1 pro style QB Gunner Kiel and the #1 dual threat QB Jameis Winston. That didn't happen, though. Kiel committed to Indiana on July 27, and Winston announced his commitment to Florida State on August 3. Two days later, Alabama pushed for Alec Morris to flip his commitment from Wake Forest to Alabama.

Saban and new OC Doug Nussmeier loaded up in the 2013 recruiting class to add depth and hopefully replace the soon to depart AJ McCarron and recently transferred Philip Ely. Alabama signed Cooper Bateman (247's #5 pro-style QB) and Parker McLeod (247's #60 pro-style QB). Luke Del Rio decided to walk-on at Alabama after Tod Molken left Oklahoma State for Southern Miss.

In 2014, Saban got one of the top pro-style QBs in David Cornwell.

Pretty much, the QB situation is the result of a few guys (Star Jackson, Phillip Sims, and Ely) becoming impatient and transferring along with Alabama missing on a few big recruits in 2011 and 2012.