Moderators do you think bama can pull in a top 18 class for '04. I hope so shula seems to be doing great so far.
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by J.E.B. Stuart:
There is one thing that the NCAA sanctions did to this year's Alabama team. It caused a rash of injuries. The reason I say that is that a lot of the players most likely continued to play with small injuries that they could have sit for some plays or even a game and got better.
Also, the fewer players Bama had caused fewer players to be in the rotations. This caused players to play more snaps, where they because run down, tired, beatup, worn out, etc., thus subjecting them to injury. I have seen over the years that high schools with small numbers of players on their teams suffer many more injuries.
I officiated high school football for 25 years and noticed this many times. A player for team "A" which may have had only 35 or 40 players, would limp off, only to return a play or two later and try to continue, mainly because he was one of the best 15 or so players they had and would play both ways. I think this happens in college also, where there are fewer quality players in a rotation.
Just because Bama signs them, and they are on the team, doesn't mean they all turn out to be All-Americans. Some just don't pan out and leave the program early. Of the 25 signed each year, I don't think the percentage of those 25 doing 4 years together is very good.
In the long run, the fewer players that Bama has on the team is going to show physically on these players and with injuries. Bama suffered a lot of injuries this year. It had a great deal to do with their overall performance. Losses on the OL and DL, the QB injuries. They all add up. You can thank the NCAA sanctions for that. But, of course the NCAA does not care about the players at the school now. They are punishing the current ones for the sins of the past.</font>