Can We Take a Moment to Admit Our Idiocy in the Offseason?

[Evil Crimson Dragon]

I admit nothing! I deny everything!

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

I would remind that, preseason, we were going back to primarily a running team and recruited to it. (Remember "murderball?") It's the reason we have the largest OL in the SEC, maybe the country. It didn't work. The staff, to their credit, backed up and modified their approach, although some of our problems date back to that now abandoned philosophy. I'd be willing to bet that they wish they'd recruited a leaner, more agile LT. Part of that change was convincing JM to become a running QB. Understandably, he had/has NFL ambitions and wanted to be known as a pocket-passing QB. No small part of this coaching job was getting him to buy into the proposition that he wasn't hurting his draft status by running some plays. A glance round the NFL would convince anyone that the NFL values the running ability of a QB. This has been a masterful coaching job, all in all...

Maybe it was an overcorrection...Maybe we stay bigger than we were when Bryce was the qb but not "our guys are all the size of a house" big going forward.

 

[AWRTR]

Maybe it was an overcorrection...Maybe we stay bigger than we were when Bryce was the qb but not "our guys are all the size of a house" big going forward.

There have been some plays where Proctor got his hands on someone or got a little head of steam and it was a mauling. He just has trouble dealing with guys in space if they are speed type guys. Trim him down some and keep his technique improving he will turn out to be great.

 

[RammerJammer14]

I remember when a few of us wanted Steve Spurrier rather than CNS.

So yeah, everything is debatable in hindsight. As Yogi said, "It's 50/50."

I was more of a Paul Johnson fan myself.

 

[editder]

Wasn't that Pat Dye that said that...

Right after he said, “Where’s my trousers?”

 

[Tidelines]

Right after he said, “Where’s my trousers?”

I think someone found them a couple of years later.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

Doesn't matter now. we're winning games.

 

[BamaMoon]

Here's the thing. When it looked bad and we were down on the team's performance IT WAS DESERVED. They WERE bad and they were not performing anything like we had hoped or been told in preseason (as Earl mentioned).

We lost decidedly to Texas in the biggest hyped game of the year and it still haunts us and will haunt us in the CFP poll until/unless Texas loses another game.

Then against very inferior teams we looked really bad for large chunks of games.

This board has always had some negative nellies, but this is the first in many seasons we've needed "complaint threads" and a lot of the people who were complaining weren't habitual complainers either.

You know what? You can say Jalen, the OL and the whole offense is really better right now AND still say they pretty much sucked earlier in the year and be right on both accounts.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

There have been some plays where Proctor got his hands on someone or got a little head of steam and it was a mauling. He just has trouble dealing with guys in space if they are speed type guys. Trim him down some and keep his technique improving he will turn out to be great.

Speaking from a non-expert "football fitness" standpoint, I would hope this would be the approach rather than going smaller to get "more athletic". I would first like to see if we could trim him down some, get him in some off-season agility-specific training, and see if we can have our cake and eat it too. Because who really wants a cake they can't eat? LOL!

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Speaking from a non-expert "football fitness" standpoint, I would hope this would be the approach rather than going smaller to get "more athletic". I would first like to see if we could trim him down some, get him in some off-season agility-specific training, and see if we can have our cake and eat it too. Because who really wants a cake they can't eat? LOL!

It would have to be off-season. Asking a lineman to lose during the season is hazardous because of the risk of losing strength...

 

[Bamabuzzard]

It would have to be off-season. Asking a lineman to lose during the season is hazardous because of the risk of losing strength...

Oh yeah, definitely the off season. No way he could be asked to do that during the season.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Oh yeah, definitely the off season. No way he could be asked to do that during the season.

He graduated at 345 from HS and he's now playing at 360. That probably was an unneeded 15 lb...

 

[Tidelines]

I appreciate coach Saban as much as anyone. And everyone is talking about this year being his best coaching job , and it may be. But what in the Sam hell were they doing all pre-season practice for us to look so bad to start the season. How come it took so long to put all the parts together? I'm half joking ... okay.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

He graduated at 345 from HS and he's now playing at 360. That probably was an unneeded 15 lb...

That ole "freshman 15", gets us all.

 

[STONECOLDSABAN]

I appreciate coach Saban as much as anyone. And everyone is talking about this year being his best coaching job , and it may be. But what in the Sam hell were they doing all pre-season practice for us to look so bad to start the season. How come it took so long to put all the parts together? I'm half joking ... okay.

Some things just have to play themselves out.

 

[UAH]

I appreciate coach Saban as much as anyone. And everyone is talking about this year being his best coaching job , and it may be. But what in the Sam hell were they doing all pre-season practice for us to look so bad to start the season. How come it took so long to put all the parts together? I'm half joking ... okay.

One of the things I have thought added a lot of stress to the program has been the recruitment and hiring of assistant coaches. We have seen coaches leave unexpectedly and at least one who was hired and end up heading to a different team altogether. It is difficult to build player depth in this era of the portal when the coaching staff is in disarray. Recruitment becomes more challenging as well with the obvious concerns with BOB and Golding. I view hiring and retention of critical coaches as an institutional issue not something for the head coach to shoulder alone i.e. long term compensation.

I have have had my concerns about CNS's effectivenes in terms of his growing business interest such as Ferrari but have come to realize that running a program of this size in the midst of such major changes is more that a one man job even for the GOAT.

 

[Big Bama1966]

I have made statements about the QB and OC but to me they were right on the money. Until the last 6 quarters of football most of every concern people had was very accurate. JM is a great athlete but still needs to work on passing accuracy ALOT. The OC up until the second half of the UCheat game wasn't calling the offense at what JM can do best.
Having said that it remains to be seen on whether or not JM can get better in accuracy and whether or not the OC continues to build on the offensive game plan going forward. I have to admit I have been very impressed with the play calling and JM's ability to make himself into a weapon.
One note is the OL that I have had nightmares about has gotten a lot better as the year progresses. If we keep getting better at OL/QB/OC the sky is the limit!!!

 

[Power Eye]

I have made statements about the QB and OC but to me they were right on the money. Until the last 6 quarters of football most of every concern people had was very accurate. JM is a great athlete but still needs to work on passing accuracy ALOT. The OC up until the second half of the UCheat game wasn't calling the offense at what JM can do best.
Having said that it remains to be seen on whether or not JM can get better in accuracy and whether or not the OC continues to build on the offensive game plan going forward. I have to admit I have been very impressed with the play calling and JM's ability to make himself into a weapon.
One note is the OL that I have had nightmares about has gotten a lot better as the year progresses. If we keep getting better at OL/QB/OC the sky is the limit!!!

Agree. Jalen still makes me nervous. So much of our offense before last week, really, was dependent on hitting big plays downfield on busted coverage. Granted, it kind of worked, but that's really no way to live. Then we decided to let Jalen do what he does best, and run, and that helps the rest of the offense a lot.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I appreciate coach Saban as much as anyone. And everyone is talking about this year being his best coaching job , and it may be. But what in the Sam hell were they doing all pre-season practice for us to look so bad to start the season. How come it took so long to put all the parts together? I'm half joking ... okay.

I think I explained it adequately above. They had to switch philosophies/styles. Milroe's development, particularly in passing made it possible.

 

[bamamc1]

The problem is that it didn’t come across as the normal “appreciation” or “I was wrong about this player or coach” thread in which it’s giving people a chance to say “yeah okay I was a bit wrong”. The thread more came out as “I’ve hated a lot of the things said on this board and I’ve been waiting for a high positive moment to throw everything in everyone’s face all at once”.

A more effective way would have been to quote individual posts or go the normal route of “appreciation” threads. Because painting everyone in the same category is really not a great way to achieve the “spirit” that the OP is suggesting the intent was because it’s effectively calling everyone an idiot for having an opinion that wasn’t totally pro Milroe, Rees, and Steele.

Does this include the deleted posts?