Question: any thoughts to why CNS seemed so calm vs. his fiery self?

bamacon

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My thought during the game based only on the TV sideline shots was that he looked “disinterested” or “resigned”. Can’t be true but that’s what occurred to me as I watched the game.


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I think that actually was the second one. Sometimes as a coach you know it just isn’t your night. Now I honestly think if Bama and Clemson played 10 times Clemson would beat this team 8–10 times. They had the depth and the matchups and the will. This Bama team had serious flaws and most in here if they are honest can see that. That said, the offense could go score for score with Clemson. They could sneak a win or two by ball control but the defense would face the same issues each time. CNS saw this quickly. As a coach, it does change how you act or it least it did for me. Every coach has a game like it but usually they occur more often than every 13 years. With the amount of amazing talent Bama has faced over the last decade + it is ASTONISHING that we haven’t seen a game like this since 1997!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s why it was tough for me to get even slightly mad on Monday. I just smiled and shook my head.


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Chukker Veteran

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Al.com had a link... what other areas of the country are saying about the Bama blowout. I finally looked and the national media is putting the loss squarely on Saban. I would imagine they welcomed a chance to criticize him as up til the last game there really was no legitimate criticism that would stick. Speculation is he's peaked and on the down side of his career but I think he just had a very rare off night.

Can a mellow Saban coach as well as a demanding, irritable Saban? Looks like we might get to see. Maybe a reporter will ask him a question he doesn't like and he can return to classic form.
 

92tide

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Al.com had a link... what other areas of the country are saying about the Bama blowout. I finally looked and the national media is putting the loss squarely on Saban. I would imagine they welcomed a chance to criticize him as up til the last game there really was no legitimate criticism that would stick. Speculation is he's peaked and on the down side of his career but I think he just had a very rare off night.

Can a mellow Saban coach as well as a demanding, irritable Saban? Looks like we might get to see. Maybe a reporter will ask him a question he doesn't like and he can return to classic form.
they said the same thing in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2015 ;)
 

bamaga

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I just went back and watched his post game presser. All I can say is Uh-Oh, I think we will have some coaching changes after signing day, JMO. As far as depth, he made the comment that ‘we had some issues with the guys that are not out there playing , that would of helped the depth this year’ his arms were crossed, you could see him simmering below the surface! There was no point in unloading. But the things he did say like , he felt the players did a good job in preparing for the game, he also said the coaches did not properly prepare the team, and that’s on him. That comment leads me to think there will be coaching changes, but after signing day!
 

Blueguitar

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Al.com had a link... what other areas of the country are saying about the Bama blowout. I finally looked and the national media is putting the loss squarely on Saban. I would imagine they welcomed a chance to criticize him as up til the last game there really was no legitimate criticism that would stick. Speculation is he's peaked and on the down side of his career but I think he just had a very rare off night.
I suspect that CNS will use this as a key motivator for the team and the staff in 2019. But I don't fault the press for criticizing him. The buck stops with the HC, especially when he pulls down $8 million a year. He would have gotten the glory if we had won, and he gets the criticism when we lose. Seems fair.

This team was not ready to play. That is on the staff, starting with CNS. He knows it, and I'll bet that he uses it to re-energize himself and the whole program this year. He is still the GOAT, but we got a reminder that that doesn't mean that he is infallible.
 

CrimsonForce

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I think Saban would have been more animated if we were getting blown out on the field but we weren't. We out gained them in yards until their last drive so we were playing well enough between the 20s to win but didn't execute in key situations i.e. 3rd down and red zone. So yea if we were getting out gained by 300 yards then I think he would've been ticked but we were able to do most of what we wanted to outside of key areas. With that being said he was probably trying to calm the team into executing in those key areas but it obviously didn't work. I don't think blowing up on the sideline would've helped anything. Even saw a clip of Saban riding on the golf cart to the locker room and he congratulated a Clemson fan who was walking by. Like Saban said in the press conference we have to know how to win and how to lose with class..
 

cuda.1973

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My thought during the game based only on the TV sideline shots was that he looked “disinterested” or “resigned”. Can’t be true but that’s what occurred to me as I watched the game.

Looked more like frustration that nothing worked. Perhaps he knew how it was going to end, long before we did. And also why.
 

jashleyren2

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He said in the post game that he was not comfortable with what we needed to do to cover their receivers. Not a direct quote but "comfortable" was the word used to describe the situation. Take that and then see how the game began and I honestly think he knew very early on that we were not the better team that night. He knew Clemson was more prepared, more fired up. I am not saying he threw the towel in, just that he knew any amount of yelling or anything else was not going to make up for the lack of focus and preparation.
You know, what gets me, is that I think we prepared for them. I think we watched plenty of game film, but I think Clemson just wanted to win more. Their efforts on defense and on offense were just way more than ours. We have the athletes, and we have the coaching, that much is known. But they wanted it more. No amount of prep is going to get over that hump of complacency. We all struggle with it, and I'm 43 freaking years old. Complacency will cause you to lose sometimes. And it did Monday night. It happens rarely, but it showed itself this year in second halves with big leads, and in the Citadel game in the first half. This team is sooo loaded and talented and has it all together, that they generally can show up and beat anyone on earth. Except Clemson.

I think of the loss as a RESET for the program. It needed to happen. It was showing itself in the OU game, and it showed itself at other times this year too. Complacency is all it was. Venebles is good, Dabo is good. But they aren't GREAT, like Saban. Bama is better. Always is, and always will be.

I'll go out on a limb here (sarcasm), and say they will not want to see Alabama next season.
 

BamaDMD

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The man's been coaching for a long time and he knows when it's not gonna happen. Sometimes, you just have to accept you're taking a beating that night.

I also assume he realized (sounds like he recognized it even at half time) that they (the staff) had failed in preparing the guys.

Just what my gut is telling me. But I could be misinterpreting everything.
I agree. I find myself watching his demeanor over the years. By halftime I knew we were in trouble just watching how his was acting. I really did not think we would come back because I had seen that look on him just a small number of times.
 

92tide

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You know, what gets me, is that I think we prepared for them. I think we watched plenty of game film, but I think Clemson just wanted to win more. Their efforts on defense and on offense were just way more than ours. We have the athletes, and we have the coaching, that much is known. But they wanted it more. No amount of prep is going to get over that hump of complacency. We all struggle with it, and I'm 43 freaking years old. Complacency will cause you to lose sometimes. And it did Monday night. It happens rarely, but it showed itself this year in second halves with big leads, and in the Citadel game in the first half. This team is sooo loaded and talented and has it all together, that they generally can show up and beat anyone on earth. Except Clemson.

I think of the loss as a RESET for the program. It needed to happen. It was showing itself in the OU game, and it showed itself at other times this year too. Complacency is all it was. Venebles is good, Dabo is good. But they aren't GREAT, like Saban. Bama is better. Always is, and always will be.

I'll go out on a limb here (sarcasm), and say they will not want to see Alabama next season.
i don't necessarily think it was complacency or not wanting to win enough on our part. i don't think you can discount the cumulative mental toll that the nov-seccg stretch probably took on the team. they had the stress of tua and jalen both being hurt during our toughest stretch of games, then the awesome second half comeback in the seccg.
 

cuda.1973

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I agree. I find myself watching his demeanor over the years. By halftime I knew we were in trouble just watching how his was acting. I really did not think we would come back because I had seen that look on him just a small number of times.
Watched the "Home Radio Broadcast", and they did not show his halftime talk, with the ESPN sideline reporter. Just heard his segment with Rashad. He sounded exasperated.
 

jashleyren2

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This team was not ready to play. That is on the staff, starting with CNS. He knows it, and I'll bet that he uses it to re-energize himself and the whole program this year. He is still the GOAT, but we got a reminder that that doesn't mean that he is infallible.
I don't think many will argue about the greatness of Belicheck, Walsh, and others at the next level. But have they been perfect throughout? Of course not. Your point is spot on. This was one of those games. A win, which we all would have loved, was "expected". No one predicted Clemson winning it. It needed to happen this way. It sucks, but I don't even know if it was unavoidable. Heck, Georgia should have beaten us. That was the only game this year where I felt we escaped a sure loss. But we played very sloppy at times with big leads. It didn't matter because of the big lead.

Next year, I will settle for less of the blowout type of affairs. I love when we smash Tennessee or Missouri or Auburn or whoever, really. But, we need to have been tested more. It was just too easy throughout the year. Great team? Yes. Greatest ever? Still quite a possibility we were, but the numbers hid problems on the defensive side of the ball. Georgia exposed some of that, and OU did in the 2nd half. Clemson stripped it all down and showed it.

Funny thing is, we actually even led this game for a brief time. We were that good in 2018.
 

jashleyren2

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i don't necessarily think it was complacency or not wanting to win enough on our part. i don't think you can discount the cumulative mental toll that the nov-seccg stretch probably took on the team. they had the stress of tua and jalen both being hurt during our toughest stretch of games, then the awesome second half comeback in the seccg.
Great points. Stuff that I glossed over. But I'll disagree and say I think it was 100% complacency that caused this loss. We recovered from the injuries, and the opponents we played just didn't have the talent or coaching to do anything with Alabama this year. Except Georgia, and OU on one side of the ball. They both exposed that. Clemson was just more complete, and they FULLY exposed us.
 

CoachJeff

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As others have said - when Saban knows he's outmatched he doesn't lose his cool. That's perfectly normal for him. He's most likely to get fired up when someone false starts when Bama is up by 40 than when it's tied.
 

BamaDMD

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Watched the "Home Radio Broadcast", and they did not show his halftime talk, with the ESPN sideline reporter. Just heard his segment with Rashad. He sounded exasperated.
Yeah, but it wasn't just the halftime talk, it's how he looked and acted on the sidelines leading up to halftime that spoke volumes.
 

92tide

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Great points. Stuff that I glossed over. But I'll disagree and say I think it was 100% complacency that caused this loss. We recovered from the injuries, and the opponents we played just didn't have the talent or coaching to do anything with Alabama this year. Except Georgia, and OU on one side of the ball. They both exposed that. Clemson was just more complete, and they FULLY exposed us.
i do (did is more like it) very long distance trail running and one of my friends (he is a few years older than me and a good deal faster) always joked about his yearly "do" bucket (we all had about 6-7 big races we would do each year plus other lesser events). the idea is there is a finite amount of "do" that you have available (and that "do" is both mental and physical). you can get 1 maybe 2 "top" performances each year (you can still do very good, just not "the best") out of yourself and any kind of adversity; e.g. a particularly bad day, a stressful finish (even if it is ultimately successful), an injury, slowly depletes your bucket.

not sure if that makes much sense to anyone else, but over 10-12 years of racing, i found it to be fairly accurate.

so that's what i was talking about vis-a-vis complacency. i think the team peaked in the second half of the sec cg and first quarter of the ou game. i think alot of it is there just wasn't enough metaphorical gas in the tank and that affected preparation, ability to respond in game, etc. that was met with clemson playing pretty much as good as they could and we saw the results.
 

TideEngineer08

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i do (did is more like it) very long distance trail running and one of my friends (he is a few years older than me and a good deal faster) always joked about his yearly "do" bucket (we all had about 6-7 big races we would do each year plus other lesser events). the idea is there is a finite amount of "do" that you have available (and that "do" is both mental and physical). you can get 1 maybe 2 "top" performances each year (you can still do very good, just not "the best") out of yourself and any kind of adversity; e.g. a particularly bad day, a stressful finish (even if it is ultimately successful), an injury, slowly depletes your bucket.

not sure if that makes much sense to anyone else, but over 10-12 years of racing, i found it to be fairly accurate.

so that's what i was talking about vis-a-vis complacency. i think the team peaked in the second half of the sec cg and first quarter of the ou game. i think alot of it is there just wasn't enough metaphorical gas in the tank and that affected preparation, ability to respond in game, etc. that was met with clemson playing pretty much as good as they could and we saw the results.
You're probably right about the timing but I can't help but feel we have peaked during the LSU game several times over the last decade. And then it's a slow decline until the SEC championship game is over and we get built back up over the month off in December. We look great in our bowl game. Since the CFP, we've always looked depleted in the NC game, after usually looking fantastic in the semi-final.
 

92tide

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You're probably right about the timing but I can't help but feel we have peaked during the LSU game several times over the last decade. And then it's a slow decline until the SEC championship game is over and we get built back up over the month off in December. We look great in our bowl game. Since the CFP, we've always looked depleted in the NC game, after usually looking fantastic in the semi-final.
i have noticed that too.
 

RTR2u

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I don't think many will argue about the greatness of Belicheck, Walsh, and others at the next level. But have they been perfect throughout? Of course not. Your point is spot on. This was one of those games. A win, which we all would have loved, was "expected". No one predicted Clemson winning it. It needed to happen this way. It sucks, but I don't even know if it was unavoidable. Heck, Georgia should have beaten us. That was the only game this year where I felt we escaped a sure loss. But we played very sloppy at times with big leads. It didn't matter because of the big lead.

Next year, I will settle for less of the blowout type of affairs. I love when we smash Tennessee or Missouri or Auburn or whoever, really. But, we need to have been tested more. It was just too easy throughout the year. Great team? Yes. Greatest ever? Still quite a possibility we were, but the numbers hid problems on the defensive side of the ball. Georgia exposed some of that, and OU did in the 2nd half. Clemson stripped it all down and showed it.

Funny thing is, we actually even led this game for a brief time. We were that good in 2018.
I agree with all of this. Wasn't it Eli Manning and the Giants that surprised the Patriots several years ago in the Super Bowl??? Seems like NE had a perfect record and the Giants nowhere near it. I keep thinking of that. game. I hate the loss, man, I hate it, but in a way I think it was a good thing. Pity the teams that play us next year.
 

RTR2u

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You're probably right about the timing but I can't help but feel we have peaked during the LSU game several times over the last decade. And then it's a slow decline until the SEC championship game is over and we get built back up over the month off in December. We look great in our bowl game. Since the CFP, we've always looked depleted in the NC game, after usually looking fantastic in the semi-final.
I wish we would play LSU and Auburn earlier in the season. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd would be fine with me.
 

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