This is a young team looking for leadership

[Foleybammer]

People fail to realize we ae a young team. We start two freshman, four sophomores and nine juniors and only
play 6-7 seniors. We need most of those older guys to play their best football. By comparison South Carolina
had 13 starters that were 4/5th year players. Vandy's oline consisted of four grad stunts and one senior.
Geargia started 11 4/5th year players. At times vs SC we had two freshman corners playing.
And I hear a lot of complaining about the program from so called experts. We should be grateful we're 5-1.
Winning in the SEC is probably the hardest it's ever been. The bottom of the conference is a lot better due to
the portal. You now have a conference where 9 out of 14 teams have won a national championship.

Defensively we are in need of a leader. Right now I don;t see one. Moore with his on the field antics,
Lawson and Campbell by their poor play are hurting the team. It's hard to hold teammates accountable
when you aren't leading by example.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

There's going to be a transition period, as much as many (myself included) hoped there wouldn't be much of one. There's simply going to be and that may mean going 9-3 or lord help us 8-4 this season. But there's no doubt there's been a struggle to catch on to the new defensive scheme on top of having freshmen and sophomores on the field at the same time. As much as many want to blame the defensive scheme, other teams run it or a version of it with success. We've got players who aren't used to it and are constantly out of position, playing slow and many times playing confused.

It'll get better, but I've dang sure recalibrated my expectations for this season and honestly look forward to making it through this season and seeing the second-year version when everyone has a chance to be in the system for two years.

 

[mlh]

It'll get better, but I've dang sure recalibrated my expectations for this season and honestly look forward to making it through this season and seeing the second-year version when everyone has a chance to be in the system for two years.

Patience is key at this point. I expect to see notable improvement next year. In the meantime, buckle up and hold on. It's going to be a wild ride for the remainder of this season. Mercer looks like the only "gimmie" left on the schedule. I expect every other game to be very similar to what we witnessed last week against USCe.

 

[Cruloc]

Phil Steele's magazine has a great breakdown of team experience.

The SEC is ranked as follows: From most experienced to least.
1. Kentucky
2. Georgia
3. Ole Miss
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6. Oklahoma
7. South Carolina
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10. Auburn
11. LSU
12. Mississippi State
13. Texas
14. Missouri
15. Texas A&M
16. Alabama

Least experience overall in the NCAA
134. James Madison (5-1)
133. Michigan (4-2)..ranked #24
132. Oregon State (4-2)
131. Washington (4-3)
130. Florida State (1-5)
129. Air Force (1-5)
128. Troy (1-5)
127. Louisiana Tech (2-3)
126. Marshall (3-3)
125. Alabama (5-1)...ranked #7
124. UTEP (0-6)
123. Kansas State (5-1)...ranked #17
122. Texas A&M (5-1)....ranked #14
121. Missouri (5-1)....ranked #19

 

[92tide]

Phil Steele's magazine has a great breakdown of team experience.

The SEC is ranked as follows: From most experienced to least.
1. Kentucky
2. Georgia
3. Ole Miss
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6. Oklahoma
7. South Carolina
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10. Auburn
11. LSU
12. Mississippi State
13. Texas
14. Missouri
15. Texas A&M
16. Alabama

Least experience overall in the NCAA
134. James Madison (5-1)
133. Michigan (4-2)..ranked #24
132. Oregon State (4-2)
131. Washington (4-3)
130. Florida State (1-5)
129. Air Force (1-5)
128. Troy (1-5)
127. Louisiana Tech (2-3)
126. Marshall (3-3)
125. Alabama (5-1)...ranked #7
124. UTEP (0-6)
123. Kansas State (5-1)...ranked #17
122. Texas A&M (5-1)....ranked #14
121. Missouri (5-1)....ranked #19

that #2 georgia team has some experience losing to bama

 

[cdub55]

Phil Steele's magazine has a great breakdown of team experience.

The SEC is ranked as follows: From most experienced to least.
1. Kentucky
2. Georgia
3. Ole Miss
4. Florida
5. Arkansas
6. Oklahoma
7. South Carolina
8. Tennessee
9. Vanderbilt
10. Auburn
11. LSU
12. Mississippi State
13. Texas
14. Missouri
15. Texas A&M
16. Alabama

Least experience overall in the NCAA
134. James Madison (5-1)
133. Michigan (4-2)..ranked #24
132. Oregon State (4-2)
131. Washington (4-3)
130. Florida State (1-5)
129. Air Force (1-5)
128. Troy (1-5)
127. Louisiana Tech (2-3)
126. Marshall (3-3)
125. Alabama (5-1)...ranked #7
124. UTEP (0-6)
123. Kansas State (5-1)...ranked #17
122. Texas A&M (5-1)....ranked #14
121. Missouri (5-1)....ranked #19

#10 Aubarn has looked like a veteran team. Definitely the blue print for what we want down the road...fingers crossed

 

[jthomas666]

Developing team leaders is gonna be increasingly difficult in the NIL-era.

 

[cdub55]

Developing team leaders is gonna be increasingly difficult in the NIL-era.

Yes and no. Everyone is playing by the same rules. It is all about adapting and overcoming. Those who do will rise and those who don't will sink. The blueprint that worked 10 years ago is gone whether you liked it or hated it. We can belly ache all we want about the current structure but the guys at the top of the food chain get paid damn well to figure it out.

 

[denver]

We are so young due to transfers and to losses to the NFL? With NIL/TP then this isnt a problem that goes away easily...you have to convince players to stay...much harder in todays CFB world

 

[Cruloc]

Not only are we young, but as Herbstreit pointed out on Gameday this weekend, there's an attitude problem.

Yes, we had celebrations and some trashtalking under Saban, but its bad now, its blatantly noticeable. Almost as if the dam broke when the kids realized DeBoer wasn't Saban.

I'd also argue we have the problem with all these new kids coming in making money and the experienced players not leading how players used to lead.....maybe because they're all making some money and no one has their priorities straight.

So its a mixed bag of things....a plethora of things if you will. Lots of youth, lots of money, lack of leadership, coaching transition, etc etc. All this is causing sloppy play, mental mistakes.

I imagine we're going to lose a bunch of guys at the end of the year to the portal, everyone will. Portal opens when everyone in the playoff should be prepping....but kids will be worrying about their value and if they should enter the portal.

 

[denver]

Past Bama teams had older players to hold the incoming younger players accountable to the Bama standard..they policed from within...i dont think there is that accountability anymore with all the money and the TP threat. Young players are more sensitive, for want of a better word, and wont allow older players to lead or chastize them for mistakes...it used to be called leadership, now its called bullying lol

 

[GrayTide]

Cruloc nailed it, covered most of the problems with this team. I predicted a 9-3 record prior of the start of the season, that did not include a loss to Vanderbilt. I would not be surprised to see us find an experienced QB in the portal after the season ends. We should also find some better OL players also.