Bama's offense is fun again.

[paul02085]

I cant remember when our offense was this good. Maybe back when Hollingsworth was QB. I was afraid our offense would struggle this year early on and the D would have to carry us until the O grew up but that hasnt happened. We are turning into a truly scary team. And i love it.

 

[mdb-tpet]

I was lucky enough to be living in San Francisco and the Bay Area when Eddie DeBartolo hired Bill Walsh away from Stanford to run the 49ers. The magic really started when Walsh put a short, skinny, kid with a weak arm in as his quarterback to run his patented “West Coast Offense”. That offense worked if the quarterback could see the field and read his receivers. Joe Montana knew where ALL his receivers were and was the very best at reading progressions and dumping off to running backs and tight ends. The offense was just awesome and it was truly fun to watch them play in the 80s and 90s.

The 49er defense in that time was also something special with George Seifert running it and Ronnie Lott and Hacksaw Reynolds smashing people. Old Candlestick Park could be electric and you just knew the 9ers would pull out a win somehow.

Eventually Walsh retired and Seifert took over as coach and even Joe Montana got old and Steve Young took over as quarterback for a final fling. I was there for all 5 of the Superbowl parades and maybe the saddest day down at the foot of Market Street when Joe Montana said goodbye to the city. I lost interest in the pro game after that and switched to Cal and Stanford because tickets were easy to come by.

Of course, I followed Bama as closely as possible in those days as well – even subscribed to the Sunday edition of the Birmingham News, which usually arrived 2 weeks late and in tatters – but being able to watch them on the left coast was rare until 1998. Like me, most of you have seen all the games since and through the miracle of Al Gore inventing the internet, world peace, and global warming, have been able to establish the BamaNation as a truly world wide phenomenon.

Since Coach Bryant retired it seems that the Crimson Tide’s offense has been mediocre to offensive (pardon me). I grew up with Joe Willie and the Snake and then was gone when the wishbone was the rage, but it sure is fun when the offense is clicking.

Coach Saban has brought a breath of fresh air to a program that had grown stale and nowhere is that more apparent than in the offense. Coach McElwain has done wonders and the players seem to be enjoying themselves again. Winning does that.

I wrote all this just to say that after watching the first 3 games and watching Greg McElroy operate and read the field it sure looked familiar in a lot of ways. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of differences in the West Coast offense and what we’re running but the basics are there with new wrinkles and it sure is fun to watch.

We’ve got ourselves a new offense: The Gulf Coast Offense – The Crimson Tsunami – The Crimson Riptide!

Very nice post, but I just have to squash the misinformation in the middle... snopes.com: Al Gore Invented the Internet

I've been hoping for a while that Alabama would pull another Wishbone move and switch up to a totally new offense that would once again give us a distinct offensive advantage.

 

[RedStar]

The Gulf Cost Offense...I like that one.

I'm usually not one for gimmicky names for offensive sets or styles, but I like the way "Gulf Coast Offense" sounds.

I'll make a motion to formally change the "pistol" which is just awful to "The Gulf Coast Offense"

 

[PacificTide]

Hey mdb-tpet,

I was being facetious with old weird Al - I can't stand the fool. I worked in silicon valley so I know where it all came from - but Al did say he did on TV.

You will encounter a lot of sarcasm on here so don't take everything you see seriously.

 

[Bamafan78]

I've got a feeling that this offense is going to get better, and better as the boys get more, and more reps!

 

[YellowhammerLA]

With a couple of exceptions (among them Shaun Alexander, Milons taking direct snaps, and Hollingsworth's exceptional play-action fakes), you're absolutely right -- it's hard to remember our offense being genuinely fun. But in any case, it's been a while and Jim McElwain seems to be extremely capable provided he's got some weapons in his arsenal.

And on an unrelated point, why don't we keep all political talk on the non-sports board -- this isn't the place for it and you guys know that.

 

[Ole Man Dan]

It turns out our Offensive guru has made a star out of Greg McElroy. If Greg had captured the QB. spot last year, he would own our record books.
Greg captured a spot in our book with his passing performance last week. This week looked like more of the same. Now, we need Julio Jones back to go with our other receivers. Greg now knows that if Julio can't get open, that we have other guys who can, and will actually catch the ball...
Greg and our Running Backs look comfortable in 'The Pistol'.
Passing and Running = Win Win.