I'm going to point out some things that I saw this season that is going to appear to be overly negative but that is not how I intend it to be. This was a great team and aside from the game last night, had a great season. Kudos to CNS for taking a team that lost a lot of talent to the NFL, had several critical injuries, and an almost entirely new coaching staff and still won the SEC and played for the NC. That is no small feat. But in spite of that there was some things that could have been better here are a few of my observations:
Our DL, aside from Quinnen Williams who was a beast, was very disappointing this year. I'm very high on Coach Kool so I think he will get that resolved although it may take a recruiting cycle or two. Once you get past our 1st team, with the exception of Ray, I'm not sure we have too many guys that are future stars on the DL.
Our LB play was an even bigger disappointment. With all the studs that have been recruited the past few years, our LB play should have been MUCH better than what it was. Of course injuries played a large role but Mack and Moses both seemed to not progress this season and perhaps went backwards in their development. Whoever coaches the ILBs did a poor job, IMHO. That may be a matter of getting adjusted to CNS scheme and may work itself out so that doesn't mean that I think that coach (Golding?) should be fired. Unless I'm mistaken there is talent at the LB position, we just need to develop the talent better.
The secondary was brand new so the inconsistent play there should not have been a surprise. What was a surprise is that Deonte Thompson looked like an all-American at the start of the season and then disappeared later on. He wasn't the only one. The talent appears to be there. Most players, Minkah was a rare exception, takes a season or two to pick up CNS scheme so assuming most everyone is back next year the secondary should be a strong point.
The defense as a whole was disappointing this year although going into the season we knew the offense would have to carry the team this year. I hope Tosh develops into a better DC than he has show so far. He is the least experienced DC that Saban has had so perhaps he needs some time to get things figured out. I was a huge Jeremy Pruitt fan and it seemed like JP picked it up right away and Tosh seems to be struggling.
I have never been a Brent Key fan as OL coach so I wish him well at GT and hope that CNS hires the best possible OL coach. We've got guys that can recruit, let's hire a good OL coach because that is an extremely important position that let us down at times this year.
I love our RBs but I don't know that any of them were capable of putting us on their shoulders like we've had in past years. I really wish we would figure out how to add bulk to these guys without losing speed and quickness, if that is possible. Perhaps we add too much bulk and need to learn how to dial it down just a bit? I don't know but it just seems like we don't have much speed at that position. DH is gone and JJ is probably going to leave early so it will be interested to see how NHarris, Robinson, and the stud freshman do next year.
I hope we dial the passing back a bit next year, not completely but do a better job of mixing the run and the pass. I'm a huge Enos fan so I'm optimistic that the offense will be just as good and possibly better next year.