I never like the comparison of stats. There are too many variables that aren't accounted for:
First, how good were the teams you played? A hard schedule one year vs an easy schedule the next. If you play more bad defenses in a year, your numbers are going to look better.
The quality of the players or play of those players vary. I think we all agree that Bryce bailed out a substantial number of plays this year with his improvisation. While that can be coaching as well, I believe the goal of the OC is to build a plan for success outright not line everyone up and say "go beat them however".
What I observed this year made me believe that BOB did not fit with the college framework. You never know what exactly goes on at practice or exactly what was intended during the game, but I'd love to see someone who had looked at every offensive play and seen what percentage appeared to happen on script and how many broke down and required improvisation. It wouldn't be exact, but it would show how much we "out athleted" opponents.
This is where I believe BOB failed as a college OC. In the NFL, you constantly hear about matchups. Basically, the NFL world has homogenized talent, and the constant goal is to get plays where a better player is matched against a lesser player on the other team. This is either by numbers or talent.
In college, I believe its more about developing talent and putting each player in a position to learn and succeed on any given play. This is not what we saw this year. Over the past two years, we did not see freshmen grow over the course of the year. Instead we saw static development and in some cases regression. Some of this can be put on the position coach, but if you don't play in games, its hard to develop or remain motivated. I think that is the professional mindset rather than thinking ahead at development over the year.
For example, in 2018 with Dabol as OC, the end of the NC game, we had freshman playing QB, RB, and WR at critical times during the game. That is only accomplishable because those players saw time during the season at meaningful times. (You can argue that their situation was a function of their talent and drive, but that is back to the old argument of what are you born with vs what do you have to develop. Its a combination but no one will ever know for sure how much comes from which side.)
By comparison, last two years we mainly see backups when the starters went down or as we struggled to find contribution. An example, when J Miller played he was impressive. He ran with power and effectively. There could be lots of reasons why he didn't play more, but I for one don't understand why we continuously tried to run short yardage plays with Gibbs. I love JG, but yards after contact is not his major skillset. If JM was developed he was an asset we could have used in key situations.
I'm certainly not a professional, but I've coached youth sports for 20 years. I've always believed if a player was willing to be coached, I could find a way for them to succeed within their talents. Assuming the player is willing, at Bama there is not limit on talent. So from my POV, there is only two possible cases. Either the player wasn't willing, or the system didn't develop. The number of defections could be indicative of either case, players leaving because they aren't willing or players leaving because they are frustrated by lack of development. The players that stay, however, would indicate willingness, so I am hoping that whomever we get going forward does do a better job at developing young players, because with our talent flow, we're always going to lose our best upperclassmen early.
