Special teams and *gasp* coaching

[ElkhartTider]

Wish we would've just ran the ball on that 3rd down in OT..

 

[2003TIDE]

CNS and staff have failed to develop a kicker since they've been here. We've proven it's important last night. Why we don't have a kicker's coach I don't know.

 

[BamaGoose]

CNS and staff have failed to develop a kicker since they've been here. We've proven it's important last night. Why we don't have a kicker's coach I don't know.

One reason for the kicking coach is the your only allowed so many coaches on a staff. On another note, most kickers in D-1 start off as walk-ons and then earn scholarships if they produce.

 

[CapstoneTider]

One reason for the kicking coach is the your only allowed so many coaches on a staff. On another note, most kickers in D-1 start off as walk-ons and then earn scholarships if they produce.

Ever kicker that ended up in the top 1/4 of the league at Bama started that way since Proctor in 1991.

 

[Bad Pony]

This loss was a result of:

- Bad coaching (missed long FGs instead of punts/field position, getting too cute in the red zone, playing for OT instead of using TOs to try to win, putting a one-legged punt returner on the field)

- Sub-championship-level kicking game

- Bad execution (dropped passes, poorly thrown balls, missed blocks, penalties)

- Not finishing (we seemed to give up late in the game - seemed like our players were playing uninspired late in the 4th and in OT)

- Bad officiating (the interception that wasn't, Mattheu's assault only called a hold resulting in the perp still on the field while the vic was gone for the game)


It's a miracle that we kept it as close as we did. Tonight, LSU was the better team, not because they beat us but because, unlike us, they didn't beat themselves. It hurts, but my hat's off to them. They deserved the win and we deserved the loss. We are not the best team in the country.

Our kicking game is high-schoolish, not just sub-championship level and I'll have to disagree on the interception. We clearly never had control..he was bobbling the ball and lost it. TR just had 2 big plays previously and we go to a trick play? Give me a break, we have them reeling and don't shove it down their throats? That coaching decision possibly cost us the game. I think we score a TD or get close enough that even our wobbly kicking game could hit a chip shot. The interception clearly turned the game but not because it was a bad call by the refs, it was a bad call by the coaching staff.

I'm more worried about us having a hangover against MSU next week...

 

[2003TIDE]

Yeah. Having a walk on is fine with me, but you still have to be able to evaluate/develop kicking talent. Not sure how well you can do that without an assistant that knows kicking.

 

[rhunter]

in a game like this field position and FG's made are EVERYTHING!! and we lost the game because of those two- If you'd told me before the game we get two great picks off Lee that give us great field position I'd said we win by 7-10 pts.

 

[skipster63]

I strongly believe this to be true.

With Nick Saban, your attributes that got you where you are can become your biggest liability. So we either have to be ok with where we are understanding that it is a package deal or we can just rant like I did all last night to anyone who could hear me. You ARE what your record says you are. We lost to LSU AT HOME in our house. I knew going into this game that 1/3 of your team is offense, 1/3 is defense and 1/3 is special teams. And it was painfully obvious to anyone who watched with a discerning eye that our special teams were performing poorly coming into this game. Back to my first sentence.....I just believe Nick Saban believes in the process and in that situation players have to make the plays. I knew and everyone knew the odds were slim that Cade makes that kick but I do not believe that matters all the much to Coach Saban. You put the kids into position to make the plays and if they do not........then you lose. The team is the players and the coaching and we got beat plain and simple. Now it is time to rally around the program and hopefully we'll have another chance later this year. We all herald CNS for bringing us this far. He is who he is and we bought into that. The best thing we can do now is just get behind the program and the players because there is a lot of football left to play.

I said before this game what Coach Stallings said..........that you get the privilege of playing this entire game for the 2 to 3 plays that make a difference in the outcome of the game. We didn't make those plays and LSU did plain and simple and we got beat. I hate losing but we lost. Now let's move forward because we can't change the past.

 

[MBA_99]

Hard to believe the O Co-ordinator is a millionare. Do we even have a coach on Special Teams?

Once this season I saw Tide-HSV address that, saying something like "it's hard to burn a salary coaching position on special teams", i.e. if you have a dedicate special teams coach, then you have to drop another coach. Still, historically at Bama the ST kids don't get much attention. A former player on the quad yesterday told me as much; said they used to just practice on their own before and after the rest of the team was out.

Did you watch Foster practicing at halftime? He was alone, kicking to some grad assistants. His kicks were awful; he was hooking every ball left and couldn't correct it. Why don't we have some Tight Ends or other position coach who can take seminars in kicking technique? Were those grad assistants giving feedback to Saban, saying, "Hey, he's got a technique issue tonight; don't let him try FGs"? In weekly practice, is someone looking at techinques so these kickers get better instead of learning bad habits? The results I see suggest they aren't. I hope someone can set me straight, this seems so obvious.

One bit of good news is that it'd be easy to correct in the future I suppose.

 

[Ldlane]

Wish we would've just ran the ball on that 3rd down in OT..

1. I wish we would've "blocked in the back" on Barron's return.

2. I wish AJ would've set his feet and not have thrown that pick on the sideline.


......among other wishes!