AJ Squats 600 Today

TideFan in AU

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You just never know what good leadership and management will do for a person. Croyle had none from his HC while he was at UA. If we could teleport his 18 year old self to present day Alabama, I'd wager he would have had a better work ethic (of course he would never make it otherwise). However, I'd also say that he would face competition at Alabama now unlike anything he faced back then. You are most likely right that he would have chosen FSU in that case.

He has his place in UA history as it is, and I'll remember some of those moments fondly.
I agree.

I will say this - you put Brodie behind any of the O-lines we've had over the last 5 years, with RB's we've had, with the recievers we've had - we would have seen a LOT of wins. Had he came in and worked hard under CNS, there's no telling how good he could have been. Brodie had the prettiest (and most accurate) long ball of any QB we've had in my lifetime.
 

crimsonaudio

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But there's always this: AJ has done the work, we don't have to guess as to whether or not he might have.

IOW, AJM > BC

I like (and liked) BC, but the reality is I respect those who put in the hard work for success. I don't know that we've ever had a QB that worked harder than AJ, and he has the jewelry to show for it .
 

Rueben

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I agree.

I will say this - you put Brodie behind any of the O-lines we've had over the last 5 years, with RB's we've had, with the recievers we've had - we would have seen a LOT of wins. Had he came in and worked hard under CNS, there's no telling how good he could have been. Brodie had the prettiest (and most accurate) long ball of any QB we've had in my lifetime.
This, right here!!! ^ . Brodie woul dhvae been a BEAST under CNS and crew. Shula blew it for him. Plain and simple.
 

crimsonaudio

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This, right here!!! ^ . Brodie woul dhvae been a BEAST under CNS and crew. Shula blew it for him. Plain and simple.
Dude, c'mon. Shula was definitely a far cry from CNS, but if BC wasn't willing to step foot into the weight room on his own accord, a coach wouldn't make that much of a difference - he might show up when he had to, but he wouldn't be squatting 600#.

Champions are self-driven.
 

TideEngineer08

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But there's always this: AJ has done the work, we don't have to guess as to whether or not he might have.

IOW, AJM > BC

I like (and liked) BC, but the reality is I respect those who put in the hard work for success. I don't know that we've ever had a QB that worked harder than AJ, and he has the jewelry to show for it .
Oh yes, I agree. I wasn't really comparing him to AJ or any other QB. Just exploring the hypothetical of Croyle in the CNS era.
 

RollTide1224

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I agree.

I will say this - you put Brodie behind any of the O-lines we've had over the last 5 years, with RB's we've had, with the recievers we've had - we would have seen a LOT of wins. Had he came in and worked hard under CNS, there's no telling how good he could have been. Brodie had the prettiest (and most accurate) long ball of any QB we've had in my lifetime.
I remember Croyle missing so many throws by slightly overthrowing the receiver. Maybe those stand out more than the other ones but I wouldn't say he had the prettiest long ball by any stretch.
 

Rueben

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Dude, c'mon. Shula was definitely a far cry from CNS, but if BC wasn't willing to step foot into the weight room on his own accord, a coach wouldn't make that much of a difference - he might show up when he had to, but he wouldn't be squatting 600#.

Champions are self-driven.
It was a chronic disease under Shula. There was none, notta, zero, discipline on the team. That is why "Duke" nearly beat Bama. And why Bama could not lead a game throught he fourth quarter. I know, I was there, out on the strip t night before the game, and saw players out clubbing it up. Well after midnight. And what did Shula say during the post game interview? "Well, Duke has a pretty good team..." I almost threw up. (And not form being out the night before.) Yes Champions are self driven, but there has to be leadership form the top. And there was none. And I am not a Shula Hater. I think he was too young to be in the position he was in at the time. Oh, and B.C. did step foot in the weight room. It was a great place to go watch T.V.
 

TrampLineman

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Dude, c'mon. Shula was definitely a far cry from CNS, but if BC wasn't willing to step foot into the weight room on his own accord, a coach wouldn't make that much of a difference - he might show up when he had to, but he wouldn't be squatting 600#.

Champions are self-driven.
I agree there but of course Saban would have lit a fire under his tail, something Shula could not and would not do. Croyle would have been a beast under Saban IMO but like you said that is mainly a "what if". But there is no way Croyle would have transferred out so he would have been forced to put in the work under CNS. Like someone else mentioned if Brodie would have had 1/2 the line A.J. had last year he STILL would have been sick. And I agree with TidefaninAU, Croyle had a very pretty long ball and could really sling it!

But in the end I agree A.J. is just a better QB who was driven by himself from the start and that has really made the difference. His work ethic is amazing, but to me a lot of the kids work ethic we have now can be attributed to Coach Saban as he could and can motivate. That was something Shula was lacking in and it showed. Success breeds success and no rules can lead to the inmates running the show which is bad for business.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I agree.

I will say this - you put Brodie behind any of the O-lines we've had over the last 5 years, with RB's we've had, with the recievers we've had - we would have seen a LOT of wins. Had he came in and worked hard under CNS, there's no telling how good he could have been. Brodie had the prettiest (and most accurate) long ball of any QB we've had in my lifetime.
I wish my memories of Brodie's long ball were the same, but I remember many balls thrown too low and hot, overshooting by one to five yards. I'll take AJ's...
 

TideFan in AU

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Dude, c'mon. Shula was definitely a far cry from CNS, but if BC wasn't willing to step foot into the weight room on his own accord, a coach wouldn't make that much of a difference - he might show up when he had to, but he wouldn't be squatting 600#.

Champions are self-driven.
Like Rolando McClain? If you can't see the influence of a great coach on certain players, I don't know what to tell you.
I was never saying that BC was better than AJ or that he would ever squat 600#. I was saying that Brodie never had the benefit of the level of players around him or the level of coaching (nor playcalling) that JPW, GMac, or AJ got. We'll never know how he would have responded to CNS nor how good he could have been if he responded well, but based on his ability to throw the ball, I think he could have been great. That's all I was saying.
 

TideFan in AU

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I wish my memories of Brodie's long ball were the same, but I remember many balls thrown too low and hot, overshooting by one to five yards. I'll take AJ's...
I agree with that Earle, but a lot of that came from him running for his life or after he'd been sacked numerous times. I also agree that AJ is overall the best QB of the bunch, and I wouldn't trade him for anybody. With that said, I think GMac and AJ would have exactly the same amount of NC's that Brodie had if they would have played behind Bucketstep's OL's.
 

Chukker Veteran

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Dude, c'mon. Shula was definitely a far cry from CNS, but if BC wasn't willing to step foot into the weight room on his own accord, a coach wouldn't make that much of a difference - he might show up when he had to, but he wouldn't be squatting 600#.

Champions are self-driven.
I fault Brodie for being a slacker in the weight room, but I really super fault Shula for letting the players' poor work habits become common knowledge. Rather than trying to satisfy demanding fans with good teams, Shula placated the fans by letting them get inside stuff they had no business knowing.
 

Catfish

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Parallel or not, this is pretty sick. I am impressed. I don't think many other starting QB's in CFB could or would do this. Save for Blake Bell, I can't think of any other QB's.
FSU had a QB that used to leg-press well over 1,000 pounds. At least until they eventually put some kind of limit on him because he kept bursting blood vessels in his eyes. He came in as a QB, but I think ended up as a FB or H-back, IIRC. And, yes, I realize that a leg press is very different from a squat. And, yes, I realize that Pat Robertson routinely leg-presses 2,000 pounds. ;)
 

FitToBeTide

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FSU had a QB that used to leg-press well over 1,000 pounds. At least until they eventually put some kind of limit on him because he kept bursting blood vessels in his eyes. He came in as a QB, but I think ended up as a FB or H-back, IIRC. And, yes, I realize that a leg press is very different from a squat. And, yes, I realize that Pat Robertson routinely leg-presses 2,000 pounds. ;)
Dan Kendra. Google him. Interesting life story, that guy.
 

bamafaninOhiO

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Like Rolando McClain? If you can't see the influence of a great coach on certain players, I don't know what to tell you.
I was never saying that BC was better than AJ or that he would ever squat 600#. I was saying that Brodie never had the benefit of the level of players around him or the level of coaching (nor playcalling) that JPW, GMac, or AJ got. We'll never know how he would have responded to CNS nor how good he could have been if he responded well, but based on his ability to throw the ball, I think he could have been great. That's all I was saying.

My thought is that he may never have came on campus if Saban was the head coach and he knew he had to put in the work to play....he may have taken an easier path to playing time...a lot of kids choose that path.

Thats also why most kids that dont want to put in the work never come to bama, and we lose out on some highly ranked recruits; simply due to the fact they dont want to put in as much sweat as Saban expects.
 

Ole Man Dan

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I fault Brodie for being a slacker in the weight room, but I really super fault Shula for letting the players' poor work habits become common knowledge. Rather than trying to satisfy demanding fans with good teams, Shula placated the fans by letting them get inside stuff they had no business knowing.
Biggest problem was that Brodie was 'A privileged Character', It didn't take long for the other players to notice the way Brodie was treated. Soon others began skipping the weight room too.
The disease spread thru contact.

Soon we were a soft team, ripe for the picking, or kicking,,,
Lack of discipline was Coach Shula's self induced problem.
Ultimately it was Coach Shula's undoing.
 
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deliveryman35

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Biggest problem was that Brodie was 'A privileged Character', It didn't take long for the other players to notice the way Brodie was treated. Soon others began skipping the weight room too.
The disease spread thru contact.

Soon we were a soft team, ripe for the picking, or kicking,,,
Lack of discipline was Coach Shula's self induced problem.
Ultimately it was Coach Shula's undoing.
Dan,

Based on my recollection, this is correct. Strength and conditioning was pretty much nonexistent between Fran leaving and Saban arriving. I was living in T-town during the Shula years and all of this was common knowledge to anybody that was in the area and closely followed the program. Ironically, of all of the holdovers from the Mike Price/Franchione staff that stayed after he got here, Shula decided to fire probably the best and most well-thought of coach of all of them, Ben Pollard--the s/c coach that Fran brought in when he came. Granted, he was no Scott Cochran but he was well regarded inside the profession and had our players in good physical shape while he was here.
 
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