Reggie Ragland get into it with Nikhai Hill-Green on the Tide's mentality and coaching against Indiana

[Cruloc]

All true points. DeBoer prides himself on outscheming and we've seen what happens when the team is punched in the mouth.

Yep, out scheming is a plan that might work here and there....maybe if its a shock to the other team. Say like, getting up on a team early.

But if that team adjusts to your schemes and then out physicals you......you're in trouble. And vs a top SEC or Big 10 team you're gonna be in real trouble.

The same things win that always won.

 

[KrAzY3]

I’d like to think that the coaching staff will be “ challenging “ the entire team after the way they got shellacked.

I kept thinking we'd see that, but that goes back to the first year. After the Vanderbilt loss I felt like that was the wake up moment. Then the Oklahoma loss in 2024. Then the Michigan loss... then the FSU loss, then the Georgia loss. By the time you get to the Indiana game, we're talking about 5 losses that were not just close losses to good teams, but either losses to mediocre teams or getting dominated (or both). Then that game happened...

 

[tideindc]

Seems like the ex players are more upset about the current team/regime than even we are. Tells you how strong CNS culture was that they still care so much.

 

[TENNTIDE1]

I'm still trying to figure out what the "identity" of the team is, I didn't know in 24 and didn't know in 25 and not sure I will know next year.

 

[gtgilbert]

Yep, out scheming is a plan that might work here and there....maybe if its a shock to the other team. Say like, getting up on a team early.

But if that team adjusts to your schemes and then out physicals you......you're in trouble. And vs a top SEC or Big 10 team you're gonna be in real trouble.

The same things win that always won.

Jimmies and Joes over Xs and Os.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Xs and Os, but without the right raw material and building the players the right way, the scheme will only go so far.

 

[cdub55]

Jimmies and Joes over Xs and Os.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Xs and Os, but without the right raw material and building the players the right way, the scheme will only go so far.

As a guy who has coached football for almost 20 years I can tell you most coaches don't consider that circle or x on the board is going to kick the other circle or x's butt on the play. It may look good on the board but if you can't block them or get a good release at WR, etc, it isn't going to work!

 

[4Q Basket Case]

A team does take on the personality of its coach. If DeBoer really thinks that scheme is more important than lining up and beating the man across the line, even when he knows what's coming, the team will as well.

You would think two dope-slappings out of the last three games and a total inability to run the ball for two solid years would disabuse him of that idea. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't.

Scheme does matter. I'm also reminded of Charlie Weiss, Sr.'s infamous recruiting pitch while he was at Notre Dame. He told recruits and their parents that Notre Dame would have, "a decided schematic advantage."

I don't know whether Notre Dame had a schematic advantage. I do know that, if they did, it didn't win anywhere near enough games.

At an absurd extreme, you could have Urban Meyer's "infallible" game plan. But if it's executed by high-schoolers, an elite college team is still going to steamroll them.

If we don't get more physical, no scheme in the world is going to win championships. It might get us to 9 or 10 wins and a memorable upset here and there. But that record will get us no rings.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

A team does take on the personality of its coach. If DeBoer really thinks that scheme is more important than lining up and beating the man across the line, even when he knows what's coming, the team will as well.

You would think two dope-slappings out of the last three games and a total inability to run the ball for two solid years would disabuse him of that idea. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't.

Scheme does matter. I'm also reminded of Charlie Weiss, Sr.'s infamous recruiting pitch while he was at Notre Dame. He told recruits and their parents that Notre Dame would have, "a decided schematic advantage."

I don't know whether Notre Dame had a schematic advantage. I do know that, if they did, it didn't win anywhere near enough games.

At an absurd extreme, you could have Urban Meyer's "infallible" game plan. But if it's executed by high-schoolers, an elite college team is still going to steamroll them.

If we don't get more physical, no scheme in the world is going to win championships. It might get us to 9 or 10 wins and a memorable upset here and there. But that record will get us no rings.

You're describing UGA under Mark Richt. That's about where all of his teams peaked. They were good for 9-10 wins per year, have a big win, but couldn't sniff a championship. That's where the trajectory of Alabama under DeBoer seems to be headed unless an element of physicality starts entering the program.

 

[Methylred]

You're describing UGA under Mark Richt. That's about where all of his teams peaked. They were good for 9-10 wins per year, have a big win, but couldn't sniff a championship. That's where the trajectory of Alabama under DeBoer seems to be headed unless an element of physicality starts entering the program.

At least Mark Richt fielded offenses with a competent run game.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

At least Mark Richt fielded offenses with a competent run game.

With the revamped OL and the new OL coach. I'm in a wait and see mode. There's no doubt DeBoer recognized the running game was atrocious and has made moves to the correct it. Now the only thing to find out is, will the changes he's implemented work? If they do, then great, we're off and running. If they don't, I think we're possibly (POSSIBLY, NOT FOR SURE) looking at a coaching change.

 

[CoolBreeze]

As a guy who has coached football for almost 20 years I can tell you most coaches don't consider that circle or x on the board is going to kick the other circle or x's butt on the play. It may look good on the board but if you can't block them or get a good release at WR, etc, it isn't going to work!

True dat. Point is, if I know I have a stud Jimmy X vs their Joe X then my chances are good. Now Jimmy has to be coached well and prepared but it is still ability that defines the terms "Jimmies and Joes."

 

[CoolBreeze]

A team does take on the personality of its coach. If DeBoer really thinks that scheme is more important than lining up and beating the man across the line, even when he knows what's coming, the team will as well.

I have seen this assertion before but do we know it is fact? I mean, I really don't know but if CKD is the coach we need him to be then surely if that was once his philosophy then he has had to adapt his thinking. Dude has won a heck of a lot of games (albeit at lower lower levels) to not show his willingness to adapt. Adapt he must.

 

[lowend]

You're describing UGA under Mark Richt. That's about where all of his teams peaked. They were good for 9-10 wins per year, have a big win, but couldn't sniff a championship. That's where the trajectory of Alabama under DeBoer seems to be headed unless an element of physicality starts entering the program.

Mark Richt had the nice guy label, too.

 

[cdub55]

With the revamped OL and the new OL coach. I'm in a wait and see mode. There's no doubt DeBoer recognized the running game was atrocious and has made moves to the correct it. Now the only thing to find out is, will the changes he's implemented work? If they do, then great, we're off and running. If they don't, I think we're possibly (POSSIBLY, NOT FOR SURE) looking at a coaching change.

Running game, pass protection, heck I wouldn't trust that OL with winning the wing eating competition on Thursday at my local beer joint...

 

[bamaslammer]

With the revamped OL and the new OL coach. I'm in a wait and see mode. There's no doubt DeBoer recognized the running game was atrocious and has made moves to the correct it. Now the only thing to find out is, will the changes he's implemented work? If they do, then great, we're off and running. If they don't, I think we're possibly (POSSIBLY, NOT FOR SURE) looking at a coaching change.

I think we have to wait and see on this one. On the plus side, The first two years it seems the players weren't all a fit together. By year three in the portal era the team should be pretty much all guys he specifically picked. On the negative side I don't remember a coach who produced fluff ball teams suddenly produce physical teams. I really have no idea how they do it. Cignitti said he didn't even believe in practicing that much but his teams knew how to turn it on and mix it up with anybody. So I'm thinking it's not terribly likely we will see a very physical team from DeBoer

Having said all that what do we do? We are in uncharted territory now. Alabama was always a program that always had the potential to play for championships. But with rosters now being about money I don't know if we can compete with oil rich Texas teams or massive northern universities. At the same time DeBoer is 2-0 against Auburn, 2-1 against a better UGA program, 1-1 against Tennessee, 2-0 against LSU. There were times in the past these results would have considered good years if not perfect. But after Saban perspectives may be hard to balance with reality.

I do believe that to win against the best you have to be physical. You can't be lacking scheme, but if you're going to be just OK at something it would be better to be very physical and just ok with scheme. Heck I don't think Saban's teams were ever advanced scheme wise and they virtually never did anything you hadn't seen on film, but you had to button that strap on the helmet.

In conclusion I feel we have to give DeBoer more time but I'd say there's a fairly high chance he will be coaching elsewhere by 2028. He could change that trajectory this year though so lets just see how it goes.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

While I'm 100% behind a change in the OL coach, I'm not sure the revamp is a 1-year process. It takes a while for the five parts to jell into a single unit. I'm not expecting a well-oiled machine until maybe late in the season. Maybe.

Regarding a possible coaching change, and absent the wheels coming completely off or an off-field incident bad enough to void the buyout, I just don't see it. I'm expecting a rebuilding 8-4 / 9-3 kind of year which will have some fans pretty exercised. But I don't think the heat on DeBoer from anyone that matters would be up.

Depending on exactly when the annual stepdown is triggered, his buyout would be between $50 million and $60 million. Then there's the buyout of whoever we hire into the vacant chair. Then there's the perpetual passing of the hat for pay-for-play over and above the revenue sharing.

Who would realistically come, and represent the stone-cold guaranteed upgrade necessary to justify all that?

Additionally, I hear all the time that Alabama doesn't have the money to compete for HS or portal recruits with UTw, aTm, UTe, Michigan, Oregon, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

We don't have the money to do that, but we do have the money to make a coaching change? How does the arithmetic work?

 

[CoolBreeze]

While I'm 100% behind a change in the OL coach, I'm not sure the revamp is a 1-year process. It takes a while for the five parts to jell into a single unit. I'm not expecting a well-oiled machine until maybe late in the season. Maybe.

Regarding a possible coaching change, and absent the wheels coming completely off or an off-field incident bad enough to void the buyout, I just don't see it. I'm expecting a rebuilding 8-4 / 9-3 kind of year which will have some fans pretty exercised. But I don't think the heat on DeBoer from anyone that matters would be up.

Depending on exactly when the annual stepdown is triggered, his buyout would be between $50 million and $60 million. Then there's the buyout of whoever we hire into the vacant chair. Then there's the perpetual passing of the hat for pay-for-play over and above the revenue sharing.

Who would realistically come, and represent the stone-cold guaranteed upgrade necessary to justify all that?

Additionally, I hear all the time that Alabama doesn't have the money to compete for HS or portal recruits with UTw, aTm, UTe, Michigan, Oregon, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

We don't have the money to do that, but we do have the money to make a coaching change? How does the arithmetic work?

That is a really good post. I would add that I do not see us dipping in wins next year however. Mack will get his chance but I expect him to get surpassed by the resident phenom and we get unexpected production on offense, similar to this year.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

While I'm 100% behind a change in the OL coach, I'm not sure the revamp is a 1-year process. It takes a while for the five parts to jell into a single unit. I'm not expecting a well-oiled machine until maybe late in the season. Maybe.

Regarding a possible coaching change, and absent the wheels coming completely off or an off-field incident bad enough to void the buyout, I just don't see it. I'm expecting a rebuilding 8-4 / 9-3 kind of year which will have some fans pretty exercised. But I don't think the heat on DeBoer from anyone that matters would be up.

Depending on exactly when the annual stepdown is triggered, his buyout would be between $50 million and $60 million. Then there's the buyout of whoever we hire into the vacant chair. Then there's the perpetual passing of the hat for pay-for-play over and above the revenue sharing.

Who would realistically come, and represent the stone-cold guaranteed upgrade necessary to justify all that?

Additionally, I hear all the time that Alabama doesn't have the money to compete for HS or portal recruits with UTw, aTm, UTe, Michigan, Oregon, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

We don't have the money to do that, but we do have the money to make a coaching change? How does the arithmetic work?

We apparently have boosters with enough money to drop $47 million into a new golf facility. LOL! Or that's what @KrAzY3 told us. I think, currently, Alabama has the money to compete with the amount the richer schools have decided to spend. We've been top ten in NIL spending since its inception. I don't foresee even the schools with "stupid money" just opening up the coffers and dumping unlimited money into the program. Even rich people have their limits, even though they can realistically "afford it". I've literally heard Steve Sarkisian say they would not be "writing blank checks", which lets me know even the Texas boosters have made it known they're not going to just start dumping their bank accounts upside down. Mark Cuban was recently interviewed about his monetary participation in Indiana and he even alluded to it being limited.

 

[alabama mike1]

Good for Ragland!

 

[editder]

While I'm 100% behind a change in the OL coach, I'm not sure the revamp is a 1-year process. It takes a while for the five parts to jell into a single unit. I'm not expecting a well-oiled machine until maybe late in the season. Maybe.

Regarding a possible coaching change, and absent the wheels coming completely off or an off-field incident bad enough to void the buyout, I just don't see it. I'm expecting a rebuilding 8-4 / 9-3 kind of year which will have some fans pretty exercised. But I don't think the heat on DeBoer from anyone that matters would be up.

Depending on exactly when the annual stepdown is triggered, his buyout would be between $50 million and $60 million. Then there's the buyout of whoever we hire into the vacant chair. Then there's the perpetual passing of the hat for pay-for-play over and above the revenue sharing.

Who would realistically come, and represent the stone-cold guaranteed upgrade necessary to justify all that?

Additionally, I hear all the time that Alabama doesn't have the money to compete for HS or portal recruits with UTw, aTm, UTe, Michigan, Oregon, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

We don't have the money to do that, but we do have the money to make a coaching change? How does the arithmetic work?

I think he could go 8-4 and get away with it IF there are solid signs that we’re moving in the right direction, i.e., physical and mental toughness on both sides of the ball, vast improvement in the running game, solid in the trenches, no more blowouts, and stop showing up totally unprepared for multiple games.

IMO that would be more promising than a better record with the same issues we’ve seen for the past couple of years.