I just wanted to get you guys opinions on something I heard on the radio this morning in MS. And forgive me ahead of time if this has been talked about recently; I’ve been working out of the country for a couple of years and I’m just now getting back into the swing of things here in the states.
My question is this: Do you feel that there is an over-coaching of the defensive secondary done at Alabama? It was referenced as an obvious issue that CNS has by some UM radio host in MS this morning and it sounded as if it was a known flaw to anyone outside of Alabama fandom. When I first heard it, I was like NOOO WAY! Then as it soaked in, I began to think there might be some truth to it. To think of all the talent that we are able to recruit in that secondary, mixed with the well documented difficulty of some players (not just in the secondary) being able to grasp the defensive schemes, also mixed with some so-so results at times from that secondary, it made sense to me that this could actually be an issue. The radio host cited several unnamed NFL sources that rave about how good a coach CNS is, but that his only problem is he over-coaches the players and doesn’t just let them play. I think I have come to the personal opinion that if there is over-coaching done at Alabama, it’s minimal. Maybe we can over-coach a little bit because most times we have the depth to cover for those that aren’t quite getting it yet. Then again, there can’t be that much over-coaching done…we win way too many games for there to be an issue such as this.
I’m certainly not asking this from a “sky is falling”perspective…I completely trust CNS and I’m not worried in the least. And Lord knows I can’t handle another year living in MS when Ole Miss beats us. I just wanted to get other’s thoughts on the subject after hearing that this morning. It was rather intriguing.
My question is this: Do you feel that there is an over-coaching of the defensive secondary done at Alabama? It was referenced as an obvious issue that CNS has by some UM radio host in MS this morning and it sounded as if it was a known flaw to anyone outside of Alabama fandom. When I first heard it, I was like NOOO WAY! Then as it soaked in, I began to think there might be some truth to it. To think of all the talent that we are able to recruit in that secondary, mixed with the well documented difficulty of some players (not just in the secondary) being able to grasp the defensive schemes, also mixed with some so-so results at times from that secondary, it made sense to me that this could actually be an issue. The radio host cited several unnamed NFL sources that rave about how good a coach CNS is, but that his only problem is he over-coaches the players and doesn’t just let them play. I think I have come to the personal opinion that if there is over-coaching done at Alabama, it’s minimal. Maybe we can over-coach a little bit because most times we have the depth to cover for those that aren’t quite getting it yet. Then again, there can’t be that much over-coaching done…we win way too many games for there to be an issue such as this.
I’m certainly not asking this from a “sky is falling”perspective…I completely trust CNS and I’m not worried in the least. And Lord knows I can’t handle another year living in MS when Ole Miss beats us. I just wanted to get other’s thoughts on the subject after hearing that this morning. It was rather intriguing.
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Seriously though, one has to find the best balance between letting the horses run and coaching 'em. Even before last season, I know CNS talked about that in his own book ("How Good Do You Want to Be?"). He would teach his NFL db techniques only to find that some players have their own (in this case better as CNS admits) techniques or just raw talent and abilities that CNS admits that just can't be coached. In those few cases, he says it's best to let them go but be prepared to coach if needed. I am convinced more than ever that CNS is actually an engineer at heart. He has the best qualities of a great engineer which is to say he owns his own process, continuously improves it and even asks other coaches to shoot holes in his ideas when necessary. I'd say if anyone knows what the right balance is, no one's closer to CNS at that. He's not perfect but in head coaching and db coaching, he really is the best there is in the college game.
