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Tide Has a Different Look

numbersman said:
I am sure that there were some players under Coach Shula who were motivated and even excelled: i.e. Demeco, Harper, etc. Just looking at some of the pics of the players this spring, I see leaner, meaner, and more pride in their appearance already.

Some might think it will take a while to get where we want to be, but I am not so sure. I think that we will see dramatic improvement at the A-Day game and more in the fall. Will it spell more victories on the field? I think we will be greatly improved. Will we win the West? I think so. The SEC? Quite possibly.

Look at our schedule: UT, LSU, Ga. at home. Some challenging but very winnable games at Ole Miss, Miss State, and Ky. Tough one at AU, but it is always a tough one. The schedule certainly breaks in our favor. I think we will have the best players on the field in order to have the best chance of winning. I think that ths could be a surprise year.




RTR!
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I think there is a lot of truth to what you are saying. The schedule this year will be easier with more of the tough games at home. We finally get an off week, by that I mean a weak opponent, between LSU and the barn. And last year with an out of shape team with no discipline playing a tougher schedule we won 6 games. I think we have a great shot at winning the West this year.
 
Crimson Flyboy said:
I think there is a lot of truth to what you are saying. The schedule this year will be easier with more of the tough games at home. We finally get an off week, by that I mean a weak opponent, between LSU and the barn. And last year with an out of shape team with no discipline playing a tougher schedule we won 6 games. I think we have a great shot at winning the West this year.
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In my opinion, several of the losses last year were the result of our staff being out-coached rather than the other team having vastly superior athletes. I expect the new staff to lose fewer games from "poor coaching."
 
Dr. Van Nostran said:
I hope and pray that the different look the Tide will have are the Crimson pants they will be wearing.
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Doc, if you look at Saturday's practice pics you will see that the new unis this fall will be crimson jersies and gray pants. Crimson helmets with gray stripes and gray numbers. Goodbye white:biggrin2:
 
GrayTide said:
Doc, if you look at Saturday's practice pics you will see that the new unis this fall will be crimson jersies and gray pants. Crimson helmets with gray stripes and gray numbers. Goodbye white:biggrin2:
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You're almost describing the Buckeyes, there Gray. Woody Hayes, anyone? :wink:
:biga2:
 
Dr. Van Nostran said:
I hope and pray that the different look the Tide will have are the Crimson pants they will be wearing.
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banhim.gif
 
I think eliminating the "elephant package" alone will net us more wins. I mean correct me if I'm wrong but weren't we first in the SEC for being in the red zone and dead last in scoring? Talent can't make up for bad gametime decision making and if Saban calls it anything like he did in the bayou we shouldn't have to worry about the head scratchers we've seen for about six years now. (And let me be frank, I think Shula was a good coach in many respects but play calling wasn't one of them. Turncoat Fran wasn't much better and Charlie Stubbs just plain shafted us in 2000) Wilson can only get better, we will be fine at tailback (If Jimmy Johns is healthy) and we do have some experience on defense, but I admit that unit needs to man up. I don't think it is unrealistic at all to think we will be competitive in the West. There's no way we are losing to State again, and Arkansas graduated most of their talent from last year. That should be two more wins right there.
 
uncle john said:
I think eliminating the "elephant package" alone will net us more wins. I mean correct me if I'm wrong but weren't we first in the SEC for being in the red zone and dead last in scoring? Talent can't make up for bad gametime decision making and if Saban calls it anything like he did in the bayou we shouldn't have to worry about the head scratchers we've seen for about six years now. (And let me be frank, I think Shula was a good coach in many respects but play calling wasn't one of them. Turncoat Fran wasn't much better and Charlie Stubbs just plain shafted us in 2000) Wilson can only get better, we will be fine at tailback (If Jimmy Johns is healthy) and we do have some experience on defense, but I admit that unit needs to man up. I don't think it is unrealistic at all to think we will be competitive in the West. There's no way we are losing to State again, and Arkansas graduated most of their talent from last year. That should be two more wins right there.
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You're right, friend.. in fact we ranked nationally when it came to getting down the field into the red zone. Concurrently, and sadly though, there were only three or four teams IN THE COUNTRY that were worse than us in the red zone.

I've always said that if 'Bama can score points consistently we will win alot of games.. we would've last year, for sure.

RTR
 
One terrible statistic I want to forget is that last year was the ONLY year in a very long time, at least as far as I remember, that we started the year unranked and remained that way for the entire season. In fact, I believe the more games we played, the worse we got.
This year however, although we may start unranked, it may not be as low as we ended last year, much of that due to the new HC and his staff. I'm hoping for a gradual improvement over time and a much more positive attitude all the way around. The better we think of ourselves, the better we will be thought of by others.
Roll Tide
 
Bama Reb said:
One terrible statistic I want to forget is that last year was the ONLY year in a very long time, at least as far as I remember, that we started the year unranked and remained that way for the entire season.
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I believe 04' Bama was unranked the whole year as well. You're right about Alabama getting worse as the season progressed. Was quite disturbing.
 
uncle john said:
I think eliminating the "elephant package" alone will net us more wins. I mean correct me if I'm wrong but weren't we first in the SEC for being in the red zone and dead last in scoring? Talent can't make up for bad gametime decision making and if Saban calls it anything like he did in the bayou we shouldn't have to worry about the head scratchers we've seen for about six years now. (And let me be frank, I think Shula was a good coach in many respects but play calling wasn't one of them. Turncoat Fran wasn't much better and Charlie Stubbs just plain shafted us in 2000) Wilson can only get better, we will be fine at tailback (If Jimmy Johns is healthy) and we do have some experience on defense, but I admit that unit needs to man up. I don't think it is unrealistic at all to think we will be competitive in the West. There's no way we are losing to State again, and Arkansas graduated most of their talent from last year. That should be two more wins right there.
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Stubbs was never given the keys to the car. He would have brought a more wide open offense to Alabama but DuBose listened more to Neil Calloway who Stubbs shared the OC title with.
 
Really Big Bama Fan said:
In my opinion, several of the losses last year were the result of our staff being out-coached rather than the other team having vastly superior athletes. I expect the new staff to lose fewer games from "poor coaching."
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ditto...Nobody blew us out last year. I don't think it was our lack of talent that had us at 6-6 last year. I think the talent is there...at least, on offense. Defense might be a sore spot this year with the youth and the new system. I'm kind of in the middle on how good I think we will be this year. I do think that for the first time, maybe ever, our offense will be our strength...boy that just sounds weird. Anyways our defensive players ALWAYS play with pride and heart and I expect that they will play good enough to keep us in every game and when your in the game in the 4th quarter anything can happen. Hopefully our hearts won't be broken in the 4th quarter as much this year as it has the last few years.
 
foley_boy said:
ditto...Nobody blew us out last year. I don't think it was our lack of talent that had us at 6-6 last year. I think the talent is there...at least, on offense. Defense might be a sore spot this year with the youth and the new system. I'm kind of in the middle on how good I think we will be this year. I do think that for the first time, maybe ever, our offense will be our strength...boy that just sounds weird. Anyways our defensive players ALWAYS play with pride and heart and I expect that they will play good enough to keep us in every game and when your in the game in the 4th quarter anything can happen. Hopefully our hearts won't be broken in the 4th quarter as much this year as it has the last few years.
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I concur totally!!
I've said it once and I'll say it again..."We win 3 more games last year off of motivation and attitude alone if CNS and company were there.... Not to mention, much better play calling on O.......
I think our O this year will be better and "sustain" long drives which will keep our young D rested and time to learn the system. We'll run a more aggressive style also, which I think is great, more turnovers and sacks. We gel in to a solid D unit by the middle of the season.
 
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How young is the defense going to be? I mean, for what some of you are saying, it sounds as if we are going to be staring 11 true freshmen.

I work with kids and it is interesting to watch a group of Seniors graduate and look at what you have left. I can remember a strong group of leaders I had that graduated. The next year I was concerned about who would step up and lead. No problems. My next year's Senior Class came in and took what the previous class did and built on that.

We do have some talent and some experience. Unfortunately, the inexperience comes from the d-line and LB's. Maybe this is where everyone is concerned, and rightfully so.

I believe Gilberry will flourish with this defense. If I'm understnading things right, he will basically go get the QB. If I'm wrong, someone please tell me. I think Greenwood and Saunders will have the same thing happen. On the inside is where we will definitely need some help. Do I think CS will run his 3-4 without the right people up front? I believe he is smarter than that and will run what he thinks will work with this group. I think he has a great grasp of the schemes he is going to ask these guys to run.

The LB's are in worse shape, I believe, than the line. We've got Hall back, but all the others are green. Collins is still there, but he is in the middle. That's going to put a lot of pressure on some of the young guys. My guess would be that if McClain comes in in the Fall and plays to his potential, hopefully he will grasp the scheme quickly and be ready to contribute. The problem, in my opinion, in the LB's is depth. The quality is there. Quantity- no.

The Secondary I believe is in decent shape. You have an all-conference CB in Castille and Gray and Mitchell will provide depth. I believe they said Rogers was coming along and some other of the young guys are as well. Safety is an issue, but I believe will be filled with Woodall and Carter. I believe this is the strong point for the D.

This is what I think we will see. Struggle at the beginning a bit (schedule will help). Start to gel (hopefully around FSU) and Stick it time (right around Ole miss and UT). What is going to be the difference is the comittment from the players. They know if they don't work, they don't play. Competition will be fierce and I expect a lot of hitting going on. The RIGHT players will play. I believe we have the staff that will be able to figure these guys out. I think we will see a big difference between last year and this year.

Do I think we will go undefeated? No, but I do expect us to surprise some people.

Roll Tide!!
ChattTide
 
I agree with pretty much everything you say Chat.
The front 7 on D is where my concerns are. Maybe "young" is not the correct word to use.... It's more like "green" and "thin". The backers will have to read better and be able to drop back in to pass coverage more often now. Which only comes with experience....That's where big plays could bite us.
But as stated, by mid-season I think we'll gel and maybe by year's end be a solid "D"... not great but solid.
All in all.... I think we're in for a pleasant season where we'll see constant improvement from week to week. I won't be in a constant nauseous state like last year hopefully.
Just looking at the videos and pics of the first spring practice and seeing CNS actually out there being a position coach gives me expectations of great things in the years to come.:BigA:
 
nivekstan said:
they still have mcfadden and jones, that's really all they need.
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Without at least the threat of a passing game to keep the D honest, a run-only offense can't win in the SEC, even with Jones and McFadden 100% healthy. It might win against some of the weaker defenses, but SEC contenders and weak defense don't fit in the same sentence. They've got to play Bama, UcheaT, and LSU on the road this year. No way they make it back to the title game.
 
bmcklv said:
Without at least the threat of a passing game to keep the D honest, a run-only offense can't win in the SEC, even with Jones and McFadden 100% healthy. It might win against some of the weaker defenses, but SEC contenders and weak defense don't fit in the same sentence. They've got to play Bama, UcheaT, and LSU on the road this year. No way they make it back to the title game.
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i agree with you to a point, however, if there is one thing that arkansas has proven over the years is that they can run it against anyone. my point wasn't that arkansas will contend again next season, simply that as long as they have mcfadden and jones i will not be chalking up a "w" before the game is played.
 
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