I sure like the sound of that. Yep, with the third starting QB in three years we are guaranteed a new offensive look again. And it is going to be fun to watch...again.
Brent Key is interior OL coach; Cristobal to T/TE; Williams to off-field position
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If it works at UA the way it does at other institutions, the OC makes the ultimate decisions. Without question, he has to factor in what the complimentary coaches deem as strengths/weaknesses, but at the end of the day the OC makes the call and assistants coach up kids accordingly.
So it's possible Mario said "this way is best for the players" while Kiffin says "cool.... going to do this way"?
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Another factor in different philosophies might be whether to play the most physically gifted guy, or the guy who is gifted with brains and makes the least mistakes. Barrett Jones was not the most physically intimidating but he still won the Outland at tackle because he was always making good decisions. It did seem to me like this year's offensive line, right side especially, was confused more often than previous years. Maybe having two coaches on the line will help some of the guys who need extra attention to figure it out.
Re: Brent Key to be Alabama OL coach
I agree 100%. And thus the reason I think Coker had a far better season than most will give him credit for. Some of the passes he threw under extreme pressure were phenomenal.
In other words we were horrible at pass blocking lol
I agree 100%. And thus the reason I think Coker had a far better season than most will give him credit for. Some of the passes he threw under extreme pressure were phenomenal.Re: Brent Key to be Alabama OL coach
It's never an easy thing to criticize (or "self-evaluate") Alabama in front of a bunch of Alabama fans, because we all want to think everything is fine.
The OL play from this past year was not fine. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exemplary, nor was it commensurate with the amount of talent on-hand. That's not to say the OL didn't do some things very well. As rgw has mentioned, the power-run game, especially behind Shank and Jackson, worked really well -- despite having a revolving door at tight end (four different starters at the Y position in 2015). Ryan Kelly had a tremendous year, really just a handful of bad plays. Pierschbacher did as well as one could expect from a freshman.
On the other hand, anyone who watched the Clemson game was reminded of what Alabama has dealt with on the OL right side (and even the left, really) all year: Pass-pro issues. We preach the STAT system (Snap To Affect Time) here every year, the measurement of how fast it takes a QB to reroute after the center snaps the ball. Anything under 3 seconds is iffy. Anything under 2.5 is troubling. Anything under 2.0 is horrid. Grab a stopwatch and go back and check some of those plays against Clemson. Try not to cover your eyes.
When we preview spring training in a couple of weeks, one of the things we're going to spend some time talking about is whether Taylor's hold on the RG position is solid. Very few returning starters in the Saban years have lost their jobs heading into their senior season. But when you look at some of the talent that's coming in along the OL right now, especially with the C/G group getting a new coach, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
We can talk about whether some of the struggles (like Robinson's) was due mainly to injury, or whether it was technique or coaching philosophy, but like anything else, in the end, "ball don't lie." Alabama's QBs spent too much time getting bucked around and if Damien Harris or Kenyan Drake had been the bellcow back rather than Henry, who knows where the running game finishes.
It's never an easy thing to criticize (or "self-evaluate") Alabama in front of a bunch of Alabama fans, because we all want to think everything is fine.
The OL play from this past year was not fine. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't exemplary, nor was it commensurate with the amount of talent on-hand. That's not to say the OL didn't do some things very well. As rgw has mentioned, the power-run game, especially behind Shank and Jackson, worked really well -- despite having a revolving door at tight end (four different starters at the Y position in 2015). Ryan Kelly had a tremendous year, really just a handful of bad plays. Pierschbacher did as well as one could expect from a freshman.
On the other hand, anyone who watched the Clemson game was reminded of what Alabama has dealt with on the OL right side (and even the left, really) all year: Pass-pro issues. We preach the STAT system (Snap To Affect Time) here every year, the measurement of how fast it takes a QB to reroute after the center snaps the ball. Anything under 3 seconds is iffy. Anything under 2.5 is troubling. Anything under 2.0 is horrid. Grab a stopwatch and go back and check some of those plays against Clemson. Try not to cover your eyes.
When we preview spring training in a couple of weeks, one of the things we're going to spend some time talking about is whether Taylor's hold on the RG position is solid. Very few returning starters in the Saban years have lost their jobs heading into their senior season. But when you look at some of the talent that's coming in along the OL right now, especially with the C/G group getting a new coach, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
We can talk about whether some of the struggles (like Robinson's) was due mainly to injury, or whether it was technique or coaching philosophy, but like anything else, in the end, "ball don't lie." Alabama's QBs spent too much time getting bucked around and if Damien Harris or Kenyan Drake had been the bellcow back rather than Henry, who knows where the running game finishes.
Sure... it's possible, but it's professional suicide also. An OC's responsibility is to dictate what the game plan will be, but only a deranged OC would attempt to abandon the strengths of his players.
Hiring a SECOND offensive line coach should tell everyone here that Saban wants improvement on what has happened in the recent past. Cristobal is a good coach but we've struggled at times. 2014, we were a top tier pass pro team, decent zone run blocking, and poor power run game. 2015, we were a top-tier power run team, above average zone run team, and an overall poor pass pro group.
It is hard to get a read on what the problem is because the problems keep changing...but clearly Saban thought Key and a rearrangement of the staff was a potential solution.
It is hard to get a read on what the problem is because the problems keep changing...but clearly Saban thought Key and a rearrangement of the staff was a potential solution.
but i'm not so sure we were a top tier power run team or average zone run team without DH. 2015 we actually averaged less rushing yards per game than either 2013 or 2014.
I think the previous post from Jess is spot on about the competition we'll see on the OL. Likely the only spot that goes unchallenged is Robinson, although I think Ross P played pretty well for a RFR in his first year of duty. Worst case, the competition forces everyone to get better, hopefully way better. Else, we could Taylor lose his starting spot and some other guys who were second team this year stay second team next year.
Pretty much. He's not the most popular coach on staff and doesn't seem to mind. He's had the ax out for just about every other offensive coach at one point in the season...
Would make more sense too since the talk of him not returning went away around the bye week and the OL improved after the bye week.
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Compromise, perhap? Maybe Kiffin came to Coach and said that He and Mario figured out a way to coexist when it come to scheme on OL?
Saban's doing this because he thinks it will make the team better, and we should all trust him.
Sitting in the stands in Phoenix, it was obvious Taylor and Jackson were totally overmatched. If I noticed, you can bet the coaches knew it before game time.
It was equally obvious that, despite what was playing out on the field, they still thought Taylor and Jackson gave us the best chance to win. To me, that was the more troubling fact....two starters, adjacent to one another on the OL are getting mauled, and we don't have any other options.
OL award notwithstanding, if we don't have Henry, or if he gets hurt, we're in the Outback Bowl. It was clear to anybody with eyes that we needed to make some changes. This is what Saban thinks is best. That's good enough for me.
Sitting in the stands in Phoenix, it was obvious Taylor and Jackson were totally overmatched. If I noticed, you can bet the coaches knew it before game time.
It was equally obvious that, despite what was playing out on the field, they still thought Taylor and Jackson gave us the best chance to win. To me, that was the more troubling fact....two starters, adjacent to one another on the OL are getting mauled, and we don't have any other options.
OL award notwithstanding, if we don't have Henry, or if he gets hurt, we're in the Outback Bowl. It was clear to anybody with eyes that we needed to make some changes. This is what Saban thinks is best. That's good enough for me.
Look at the guys behind them, though. Going off Jess' projected depth chart, Dom was backed up by junior Korren Kirven (a recruited DL who switched to OL after three years on the DL) and true freshman Richie Petitbon, and Shank was in front of sophomore Bradley Bozeman and redshirt freshman Josh Casher.
Charles Baldwin is already on campus from JUCO with many expecting him to replace Dom. With the young, talented interior guys, Shank might lose his job. It's not out of the question.
One of the things that came out from the pre-bowl practices (when younger players often get more reps) was the fact that the guys coming up were going to push our returning starters - and that it wouldn't be a surprise to see some of them move ahead of the upperclassmen. I'll say this about the relationship between coaches. When guys have been head coaches in the past, there's probably going to be additional ego involved - and in the case of both CLK and CMC, we're dealing with two former HC's and I have to believe CLK's would be much greater.
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