I read an espn.com article yesterday (also had video) about Dabo and the Clemson kicker. Apparently Dabo chewed him out on the sideline vs Florida State when he missed a 24 yard field goal (they were ahead 24-0 at the time). The same kicker had missed a 40 yarder in the North Carolina game.
Dabo changed kickers in the second half of the game Saturday and said he was disappointed in his kicker and wanted to give the other guy a chance. The other guy made everything. I thought that was interesting Dabo did that.
I think after Saban yelled at DeLong after that last bad punt, that may have been it for him. I hope the other punters get a chance this weekend.
Agreed. The standard thinking is that punting and placekicking are largely mental, so you have those conversations in private, not on the field in front of crowd and teammates. Up to that point, Saban had been really patient with DeLong, at least in public, and had been so for two solid years. When he (Saban) departed from previous handling, my first thought was that the end had finally come.
I truly feel bad for the young man. I`m sure than in the kicking camps and high school, and maybe even at practice now, he`s boomed some. I`m struggling, however, to recollect even one " good", much less " great " punt that he`s gotten off.
I feel bad for him as well. Clearly, it's a mental thing, and I know he's trying his best...maybe trying too hard. But after two years of this, we've gotten to the point that the cause doesn't matter -- we simply have to have better performance out of the position. The fact is that early departures for the NFL and key injuries have taken a huge toll on our D. We just don't have the defense we normally have, and won't until next year.
Point being, the offense has been able to cover up the horrendous punting. Some games we haven't punted at all. In several others, we haven't punted until it late in the game, when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Even with absolutely no pressure to perform, punts look like ones I used to do out on the Quad.
Better defenses await, and some time soon, we're going to need a decent punt, early in the game, from inside our own 35....and we don't have the typical Alabama defense to bail out a 25-yard semi-shank.
There is nothing to make us think that improvement is coming, and we can't jeopardize the efforts of 84 other scholarshipped players simply because we don't want to hurt one player's feelings. Actually, it would be merciful not to put the guy in a truly pressurized situation. As bad as he must feel now, what would his mental state be if a shank set up a TD in a game we ended up losing by less than 7 points?
For the benefit of everyone involved, including the current punter, it's time for a change.