Video: Klatt on The Next Round (Bama's D is a PROBLEM!!!)

[Saban4Ever]

I wish Coach Saban would be our DC.
Seriously though, I hope he and Wommack are still talking about defense like they did pre-season. Does anyone know how much consulting Coach Saban has done since the season started? I just hope our defense gets better and the coaches will make adjustments.

 

[PA Tide Fan]

I wish Coach Saban would be our DC.
Seriously though, I hope he and Wommack are still talking about defense like they did pre-season. Does anyone know how much consulting Coach Saban has done since the season started? I just hope our defense gets better and the coaches will make adjustments.

I don't know how often they talk but I think Saban probably wants to stay out of things unless Wommack or DeBoer call him. In fact, I haven't heard any public comment from Saban since the loss. I guess he feels anything he might say would be construed as criticism of the coaching staff so he has no comment. We'll have to wait and see if anyone asks him about it on GameDay on Saturday.

 

[jeff7251954]

It doesn't matter. We play that half again, and they probably at least miss one of those. And if they do, we probably are talking about how great the defense was in that game. Part of it can be attributed to being gassed, and I think some of it (in both games) is on the offense. I think that'll get fixed in later years with a new QB, but right now we are extremely boom or bust on offense, and the inability to put together sustained drives has an effect on the defense. We saw it last year, too. If the defense is on the field the entire time, then they're gonna give up yards. We forced turnovers when it mattered against Georgia, though.

Not sure you can point to the Vandy game as evidence it wasn't a fluke. Vandy was running the wishbone. I remember Saban's defenses also struggling with the option. It happens. I fully expect the defense to be closer to what we saw in the Georgia first half. It was a humbling loss for sure, but I think this is the loss we needed. We'll look back and laugh about it in December when we are in the playoffs.

Not laughing!

 

[bamadws56]

It's funny to read how many people are saying they wish Saban would be our DC or wish he would come in and fix our D. Over the last 5 years - especially the Golding years - this board was full of posters questioning Saban's defense. Is it too complex? Why don't the dbs turn their heads and find the ball? Why can't we cover a tight end or a back out of the back field?
Interesting state of affairs.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

It's funny to read how many people are saying they wish Saban would be our DC or wish he would come in and fix our D. Over the last 5 years - especially the Golding years - this board was full of posters questioning Saban's defense. Is it too complex? Why don't the dbs turn their heads and find the ball? Why can't we cover a tight end or a back out of the back field?
Interesting state of affairs.

A new defensive scheme and inexperienced DB's arent a good combination. We're seeing that layout before our eyes.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

A new defensive scheme and inexperienced DB's arent a good combination. We're seeing that layout before our eyes.

defense isn't exactly DeBoer's thing. He needs to hire someone better that can do that

 

[bamadws56]

A new defensive scheme and inexperienced DB's arent a good combination. We're seeing that layout before our eyes.

I agree. My issue is more with the front 7 though. I was hoping by eliminating 2 gap responsibilities, our D line would be able to create more havoc. So far, that has not materialized.

On another note: why can't great offensive minds have staffs with great defensive minds? Why is it always one or the other? We need another Kiffin / Pruitt team prowl the Alabama sidelines!

 

[Methylred]

It's funny to read how many people are saying they wish Saban would be our DC or wish he would come in and fix our D. Over the last 5 years - especially the Golding years - this board was full of posters questioning Saban's defense. Is it too complex? Why don't the dbs turn their heads and find the ball? Why can't we cover a tight end or a back out of the back field?
Interesting state of affairs.

Yeah, and if we'd known then that we'd soon be giving up 40 points to frickin' Vanderbilt, we'd have just kept our mouths shut and enjoyed having CNS at the helm.

 

[B1GTide]

It's funny to read how many people are saying they wish Saban would be our DC or wish he would come in and fix our D. Over the last 5 years - especially the Golding years - this board was full of posters questioning Saban's defense. Is it too complex? Why don't the dbs turn their heads and find the ball? Why can't we cover a tight end or a back out of the back field?
Interesting state of affairs.

They were questioning his decision to keep golding not his defense. His defense is the most widely used in football for a reason.

 

[bamadws56]

They were questioning his decision to keep golding not his defense. His defense is the most widely used in football for a reason.

That is only partially correct. I agree there was a thunderous chorus that questioned Golding. There has also been those questioning whether Saban's defense was too complex (those also pointed to Pruitt simplifying the defense during his time here) and whether his coaching of the dbacks was out dated ( not getting their heads around/constant pass interference calls.
To be clear, I'm not one who thought Saban's D was outdated. I think the current rules make D EXTREMELY tough to be consistent.

 

[Methylred]

They were questioning his decision to keep golding not his defense. His defense is the most widely used in football for a reason.

That’s only partly true. “Third and Kirby” was a thing for a reason. It’s an inherent weakness of Saban’s scheme.

But yes, letting Golding hang around for so long was Saban’s biggest mistake as a coach IMO.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

That’s only partly true. “Third and Kirby” was a thing for a reason. It’s an inherent weakness of Saban’s scheme.

But yes, letting Golding hang around for so long was Saban’s biggest mistake as a coach IMO.

The last 5-6 years of Sabans career he lost his ability to hire top quality assistants. It showed on offense and defense. This staff is better than Sabans staffs since 2017. I still expect improvement this season but the biggest jump of improvement will be in year two. We were warned that coaching transition years at Bama has produced no less than three losses in year one, and that's including Bryants first year.

 

[KrAzY3]

The last 5-6 years of Sabans career he lost his ability to hire top quality assistants. It showed on offense and defense.

I am not sure it was so much his inability to hire so much as he got completely gutted. It's not that unusual for your coordinator to take an HC job, it is somewhat unusual for a coordinator to leave and take a job like Texas or Georgia and in both cases they left with key offensive and defensive staff members.

So, for instance after Saban lost Pruitt, it wasn't just that he'd lost Smart, and Smart's replacement, but he also lost the replacement's replacement. Mel Tucker, Lanning, Schumann, all guys that were under Saban. When Sark left there was a similar drain, notably Kyle Flood and two other coaches.

That was an incredibly unusual situation, you don't usually lose chunks of your staff like that and I think he never fully recovered. I'd also note that the three coaches Sark took with him are still at Texas and appear to be a vital part of his success, and the guys Kirby took with him had so much success two ended up head coaches and another is current DC.

One could debate though if he became attached to some guys purely because they stuck around, valuing continuity over excellence (though to put it another way it would be like trying to grow another crop after your last one got destroyed), but the sheer amount of coaches he had to replace is amazing. Some coaches spent the better part of their lengthy careers with the same coordinators.

 

[arthurdawg]

It's funny to read how many people are saying they wish Saban would be our DC or wish he would come in and fix our D. Over the last 5 years - especially the Golding years - this board was full of posters questioning Saban's defense. Is it too complex? Why don't the dbs turn their heads and find the ball? Why can't we cover a tight end or a back out of the back field?
Interesting state of affairs.

Our defenses under Saban lost ground as the offenses became ever more complicated and high powered. The game favors offense these days.

 

[Special K]

I agree even Saban’s defenses lost some edge the last 5-6 years for a variety of reasons. But never ever no not ever did any of those defenses ever look as inept, lost, and outmatched as the one I saw on the field in Nashville Saturday. Worst I’ve seen in at least 20 years. I understand and accept there will be some first year/new staff hiccups, but I really believe Wommack is out of his league - literally. I sure hope he proves me wrong.

 

[smokies1]

What happens if we lose to South Carolina, especially with another inept defensive performance

 

[JDCrimson]

Bottom line is you didn't run effectively on Saban's defense. Now you might move the ball with precision passing because Saban run a lot of isolation man defense and an athletic TE.

With the rule changes, downfield run blocking on RPO passes, tempo offense, running QB, and precision passing, it was becoming more difficult to execute Saban's defense. If he was allowed to substitute he could pretty much defeat whatever you ran on a given play and down.

Saban was not a basketball on grass DC and I think that is why he kept CPG as long as he did. He really put CPG in impossible situations many times because the conflict of Saban's principles and tendencies versus what is necessary in the current era of CF. You simply cannot play the secondary in tight man coverage with no eyes on the QB all the time. The refs will bailout the offense more times than you can afford with a defensive penalty.

And we got the mixed results this conflict would generate. We can make fun all we want, but CPG had the hardest job on the staff in balancing Saban's tendencies and what was needed on the field. Saban and Belichik were very much alike in this regard in resisting to change core tendencies of their defense. And I suspect we would have had slightly better but similarly diminishing returns with our defense had Jeremy Pruitt stayed as DC.

Opponents broke the code on his defense in 2015-2016.

 

[Jack Bourbon]

When players started getting away with blocking downfield on pass plays, all defenses suffered. I think kirbys stats have been better due to crappy division most of the time.

“Is this what we want the game to be?”

 

[PA Tide Fan]

During DeBoer's time at Washington their defense ranked 74th and 92nd in total defense. I don't know if anyone noticed that now since Steve Belichick (Bill's son) is the DC at Washington they currently rank #8 in total defense. I don't know what kind of player changes took place there but it proves the right type of coaching makes a huge difference. They must still play Penn State and Oregon so it remains to be seen if they can maintain that status but I still think it's a remarkable turnaround at this point.

 

[arthurdawg]

Bottom line is you didn't run effectively on Saban's defense. Now you might move the ball with precision passing because Saban run a lot of isolation man defense and an athletic TE.

With the rule changes, downfield run blocking on RPO passes, tempo offense, running QB, and precision passing, it was becoming more difficult to execute Saban's defense. If he was allowed to substitute he could pretty much defeat whatever you ran on a given play and down.

Saban was not a basketball on grass DC and I think that is why he kept CPG as long as he did. He really put CPG in impossible situations many times because the conflict of Saban's principles and tendencies versus what is necessary in the current era of CF. You simply cannot play the secondary in tight man coverage with no eyes on the QB all the time. The refs will bailout the offense more times than you can afford with a defensive penalty.

And we got the mixed results this conflict would generate. We can make fun all we want, but CPG had the hardest job on the staff in balancing Saban's tendencies and what was needed on the field. Saban and Belichik were very much alike in this regard in resisting to change core tendencies of their defense. And I suspect we would have had slightly better but similarly diminishing returns with our defense had Jeremy Pruitt stayed as DC.

Opponents broke the code on his defense in 2015-2016.

Fits with what my nontechnical football brain witnessed on the field.

Everyone runs aggressive offenses these days that stress the best defenses.