How would you grade Kiffin thus far?
- Thread starter CoachJeff
- Start date
We have a top 10 offense so I'd give him an A+. Wait till we get in rhythm and Sims starts taking all offensive snaps in practice. We are ahead of *U's offense in ranking. That should tell you he's calling a great game week in and week out.
Side note: we have a top 10 defense too.
Side note: we have a top 10 defense too.
B+ most of the offense is in but I am sure he has not installed 100% yet. Would still like to see the TE used a little more but I think it will come. I know one thing, I'd hate to be the DC that has to come up with a game plan to stop this offense.
I think he's done a fantastic job and it's going to get even better as the season progresses.
sip
sip
Kiffin gets a A so far from me. Kiffin really seems to keep the defense guessing. It also looks like the offensive team likes the offense and play calling. The offense will get better as the season goes along.
For the third straight game, Alabama has run at least 70 offensive plays. Also, Alabama converted at least 50% of its third downs in every game.
I don't recall Mac or Nuss doing either of those, much less both.
I don't recall Mac or Nuss doing either of those, much less both.
I think he's been absolutely fantastic and I'm a kinda surprised with just how well it's worked out with him calling it from the sidelines too. I'd give him and A- to A for sure and if we keep improving it will be A+.
He has Blake looking very comfortable and is taking advantage of his skill set while also feeding the beast that is Cooper. I'd like to see the TE's and other WR's get involved too but if Cooper is Wide Open how do you not throw it to him ya know??
We are trying to run the ball also and have balance but the O-Line run blocking has been mediocre at best but I'm putting that on Cristobal.
I like everything I'm seeing from CLK and jmho but some people's comments about the sideline interactions with CNS are reading WAY too much into what's going on. The conversations are extremely calm compared to how CNS gets on defensive and special teams coaches. It looks like the same type of dialogue as with past OC's but those were over headsets instead of on the sideline face to face. I actually think they get along fine and are on the relative same page with everything they are trying to do. It's probably just CNS asking 'what went wrong there' and CLK telling him in an exasperated way because he's just as frustrated that something went wrong. That's my impression anyway....they both want things clicking on all cylinders and both are aggravated when it's not happening.
He has Blake looking very comfortable and is taking advantage of his skill set while also feeding the beast that is Cooper. I'd like to see the TE's and other WR's get involved too but if Cooper is Wide Open how do you not throw it to him ya know??
We are trying to run the ball also and have balance but the O-Line run blocking has been mediocre at best but I'm putting that on Cristobal.
I like everything I'm seeing from CLK and jmho but some people's comments about the sideline interactions with CNS are reading WAY too much into what's going on. The conversations are extremely calm compared to how CNS gets on defensive and special teams coaches. It looks like the same type of dialogue as with past OC's but those were over headsets instead of on the sideline face to face. I actually think they get along fine and are on the relative same page with everything they are trying to do. It's probably just CNS asking 'what went wrong there' and CLK telling him in an exasperated way because he's just as frustrated that something went wrong. That's my impression anyway....they both want things clicking on all cylinders and both are aggravated when it's not happening.
You're right. Being behind the sticks and having to convert on 3rd and 6 or more was very spotty under Nuss, and to some extent, Mac too.
I like what I've seen so far. I was worried when I first heard of the hire and many Bama haters think or hope this will be Coach Saban's downfall. I'm still a little worried that Coach Kiffin may not be able to get along with Coach Saban for a long period of time. I hope Kiffin sticks around for a couple of years at least.
I wonder if Kiffin will move to the booth at some point. Some have questioned his decision time on calling plays and being in the booth may speed this up.
I wonder if Kiffin will move to the booth at some point. Some have questioned his decision time on calling plays and being in the booth may speed this up.
Yeah, I really wish everybody would stop getting so bent out of shape over this. I recall Saban giving Nuss some VERY heated tongue lashings via the headset, and on a pretty regular basis.
He's actually been relatively calm with Kiffin to this point. It just LOOKS worse when they're talking face to face on the sidelines versus on the headsets. Nothing to worry about, IMO.
And I think Kiffin has done an excellent job so far. It's a great feeling to ACTUALLY be taking what the defense is giving us. Nuss was so hard-headed in his playcalling sometimes that it was mind-boggling.
I don't think Saban has shown any unusual anger towards Kiffin at all. I'm frankly surprised he doesn't blow up more , especially when plays aren't getting in on time.
I think he'll stay on the sidelines the whole season. Also I'd say he is at Alabama for at least 3 seasons before another HC opportunity comes around again for him.
I don't think there has been any anger from Saban toward Kiffin. Kiffin and Saban seem to communicate very well an peacefully on the sideline. I do believe the other day Saban was concerned with plays taking so long to be called in. Kiffin is new here and wants to make the perfect call and I believe he took a little extra time last game looking for that certain play. There will be no back and forth arguing from Saban and Kiffin both are too professional for that. Saban has seemed to keep his cool more this year than in years past maybe he's mellowing out or maybe he hasn't had anything to get too upset about yet.
Last edited:
If you look on barner boards you'd think they are constantly arguing and fighting. CLK was hired solely to be the fall guy. Typical idiots.
BTW, I'm watching the "Bluegrass Miracle" on the SEC Network right now, and I gotta tell ya, I'm really concerned about CNS and Jimbo Fisher's interactions right now. He sure is yelling into headset a lot! 
True enough, but we've been really bad at it at times. Mac averaged 46.12% in 2010 - 2011, Nuss averaged 46.28% in 2012 - 2013, and Kiffin has averaged 56.41% in 3 games so far. We'll see how that average holds later in the season against better defenses.
What I like: Kiffin has made Blake Sims an effective passer. I never expected that, and am glad to have been proven wrong.
What I question: We haven't played a defense that will be out of the bottom quartile of FBS defenses at the end of the year. So what do we really know?
What I fear, v1: Sims throws one of those outs to the WR that go about 30 yards parallel to the LOS before they're caught. An SEC DB jumps the route and intercepts it. Because there's nobody between a DB on the dead run and the goal line, there's a pick-six before the good guys can say bad words.
What I fear, v2: Sims throws one of those same passes, but this one is just slightly backward (as a lot of them in the first three games have been). So it's a lateral, not a forward pass. The WR bobbles it, and it hits the ground.
Because it's not a forward pass, that's a fumble, not an incomplete pass.
Best case, it goes out of bounds, or we recover. Either way, it's a 5-7 yard loss. Worse case, the bad guys recover, and we lose possession 5-7 yards behind the LOS. Worst case, the bad guys pick it up, return it, and because in that situation there are precious few good guys anywhere near in position to make a tackle, it's a return for a TD. Effectively, a pick-six.
The play calls have been fine for WVU / FAU / USM defenses. Sims arm strength may be a far more limiting factor going forward than it has been thus far.
We'll see.
What I question: We haven't played a defense that will be out of the bottom quartile of FBS defenses at the end of the year. So what do we really know?
What I fear, v1: Sims throws one of those outs to the WR that go about 30 yards parallel to the LOS before they're caught. An SEC DB jumps the route and intercepts it. Because there's nobody between a DB on the dead run and the goal line, there's a pick-six before the good guys can say bad words.
What I fear, v2: Sims throws one of those same passes, but this one is just slightly backward (as a lot of them in the first three games have been). So it's a lateral, not a forward pass. The WR bobbles it, and it hits the ground.
Because it's not a forward pass, that's a fumble, not an incomplete pass.
Best case, it goes out of bounds, or we recover. Either way, it's a 5-7 yard loss. Worse case, the bad guys recover, and we lose possession 5-7 yards behind the LOS. Worst case, the bad guys pick it up, return it, and because in that situation there are precious few good guys anywhere near in position to make a tackle, it's a return for a TD. Effectively, a pick-six.
The play calls have been fine for WVU / FAU / USM defenses. Sims arm strength may be a far more limiting factor going forward than it has been thus far.
We'll see.
Last edited:
This is unfair assessment right here with all those comments. This is too early to evaluate him. We haven't played a SEC schedule yet and that's when we'll know how good he is. I would say, we should be able to know how Good he is by the time we play Ole Miss or LSU. He's simply taking what Defense gives him. I think his playcalling has been solid so far, and you can't place all blame on Kiffin. It may be graduate assistant issue, it may be that he didn't want to use up certain plays and it's taking a while to find the one thats predictable and etc... so again, I think ya'll are being unfair right now.. because we haven't even played SEC Teams yet. How are you going to evaluate him based on cupcake teams we played against with the exception of West Virginia?
Latest threads
-
US Army replacing 5.56mm rifle with a 6.8mm for infantry- Started by Tidewater
- Replies: 5
-
-
Game One of Alabama-Texas A&M Alabama Series Moved to Friday as Part of Doubleheader- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-
Bama Game Thread: Bama Gymnastics - NCAA Championship Semi-finals (ESPN2 | 4/18 @ 8pm CT)- Started by BamaNation
- Replies: 32
-
No. 1 Visits Tuscaloosa for Second Straight Week as Alabama Hosts Top-Ranked Texas A&M
- Started by Diamond Tide
- Replies: 0
-