News Article: Why Nick Saban believes Alabama offense has been playing ‘left-handed’

[TideEngineer08]

We preach love and not fear anymore. You make a mistake? It's ok. We love you and you are trying so hard.

There is no fear in failing to please those that teach/coach/mentor us anymore. I'm not talking about fear of getting corrected/reprimanded, I'm talking about genuine fear of letting them down. We know we are loved, and everything is going to be ok.

 

[tusks_n_raider]

There is some truth to this wrt to continuity w/ Bryce specifically...

But

It is absolutely fair to judge the rest of the Offense from a development standpoint.

Who is in at QB has nothing to do with Penalties, OL Blocking, Running Plays, WR Routes etc etc.

It's also concerning that with all the extra practice reps for Jalen and Ty that neither really got meaningful time in the Miss St game when it was basically over for the entire 2nd half and Bryce obviously was experiencing some Shoulder/Arm fatigue after half when it probably tightened up on him.

IF anything else happens to Bryce we are no more prepared for it than we were a month ago.

 

[bamaclimber]

The parent's standard and expected excuse of "He just had a bad day coach, he's just a kid and when they don't feel like doing something they don't, HA, HA, HA" is then met with my "Well, when they become an adult, life really don't care what they don't feel like doing. We have to learn that there will be a lot things in life that we have to do even when we don't feel like doing them." The look on their faces is priceless.

I'm observing that modern life does care how the adult feels, which is why parents are expecting teachers and coaches to accommodate their kids. More and more adults are being coddled - by their employers, families, organizations, the government. Don't offend anyone, bend over backwards flexibility, make exceptions, protect you from the consequences of your decisions, etc., etc.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

Lol this thread took a real turn.

 

[AlexanderFan]

What about before the injury?

 

[tusks_n_raider]

What about before the injury?

Fair

We've had the same issues on Offense for all of 2021 and 2022

Jamo and Metchie covered a lot of it up last year.

 

[uafan4life]

I think Gibbs has it together between the ears. I also think Moody, Kool-Aid, and maybe Ricks after the MSU game. That man was mad at the world and I liked it.

Also I would take five Dickerson's on the line. That guy was an animal.

A team with five Landon Dickersons on the O-Line would never lose a game...

 

[davefrat]

I'm 52. I was raised by very loving, supportive parents, but I didn't get a lot of praise growing up. I knew I was towing the line if I didn't hear anything from my parents. It was when they had something to say to me that I knew I was messing up. I don't think that's very common anymore.

 

[uafan4life]

I'm 52. I was raised by very loving, supportive parents, but I didn't get a lot of praise growing up. I knew I was towing the line if I didn't hear anything from my parents. It was when they had something to say to me that I knew I was messing up. I don't think that's very common anymore.

The concept of "no news is good news" seems lost on many...

ETA: Though, it's "toeing the line," like in darts...

 

[davefrat]

The concept of "no news is good news" seems lost on many...

ETA: Though, it's "toeing the line," like in darts...

When my dad said "I need to talk to you" I knew I was in hot water. If it was radio silence I knew I was in good shape.

 

[teamplayer]

A team with five Landon Dickersons on the O-Line would never lose a game...

Unless, of course, they also had Landon Dickersons at the skill positions.

Yes, this is just a joke. I don't need any rebuttals explaining how they could still run for five yards every play and be unstoppable.

 

[denver]

lots of truth in what Coach Saban is saying..not just at QB...we havent been settled at OL/WR and disrupted at QB...there has been little continuity for a few reasons...some of it forced upon us and some brought on by ourselves...here's to getting a more fluid and efficient offense...even without it we are scoring, with it we will be unbeatable

 

[theballguy]

Well, there's a reason (IMO) for this shift but it doesn't fit into the scope of the football board. I coach youth sports between the ages of 9 and 17 and yes, it is "fascinating" to watch, but not in a good way.

If all this is true though, then why are Josh Heupel and Kirby Smart outdoing us in these areas? Why are they getting more out of their players than Nice Saban is?

Are all kids getting softer? All coaches getting softer? Are only Bama players getting softer?

True, kids have it much better today but that's always been the case over time. That could be seen as progress -- some of it good (we do things smarter and get rid of unnecessary harshness), some of it bad (some of the harshness was just adversity and had to be overcome leading to character building). I don't buy the reasoning that kids are softer completely. Other teams are catching up to Bama. The reasons are complex.

I do know our offense was much better before BoB. And our defense was much better before Golding. Do we replace them? I feel like we should but what do I know?

 

[CajunCrimson]

If all this is true though, then why are Josh Heupel and Kirby Smart outdoing us in these areas? Why are they getting more out of their players than Nice Saban is?

Are all kids getting softer? All coaches getting softer? Are only Bama players getting softer?

True, kids have it much better today but that's always been the case over time. That could be seen as progress -- some of it good (we do things smarter and get rid of unnecessary harshness), some of it bad (some of the harshness was just adversity and had to be overcome leading to character building). I don't buy the reasoning that kids are softer completely. Other teams are catching up to Bama. The reasons are complex.

I do know our offense was much better before BoB. And our defense was much better before Golding. Do we replace them? I feel like we should but what do I know?

Different generation coaches. More “big brother” approach vs a father figure. Fewer and fewer kids respond to hardline approaches like Coach Saban uses.

 

[TideEngineer08]

If all this is true though, then why are Josh Heupel and Kirby Smart outdoing us in these areas? Why are they getting more out of their players than Nice Saban is?

Are all kids getting softer? All coaches getting softer? Are only Bama players getting softer?

True, kids have it much better today but that's always been the case over time. That could be seen as progress -- some of it good (we do things smarter and get rid of unnecessary harshness), some of it bad (some of the harshness was just adversity and had to be overcome leading to character building). I don't buy the reasoning that kids are softer completely. Other teams are catching up to Bama. The reasons are complex.

I do know our offense was much better before BoB. And our defense was much better before Golding. Do we replace them? I feel like we should but what do I know?

I don't know that they are actually outdoing us though...

Fact is, we got screwed by the refs in Knoxville, UT itself made plenty of goofy mistakes which were glossed over by said refs, and they only won by 3.

Kirby finally broke through and beat us in the title game after our WR and DB corps was knocked out due to injury.

Excuses, yes, but the point is it's not like they are blowing us away. The line is razor thin. They're dealing with the same issues but they've caught a couple breaks lately that we haven't.

This is not unique to Alabama. Not at all.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I don't know that they are actually outdoing us though...

Fact is, we got screwed by the refs in Knoxville, UT itself made plenty of goofy mistakes which were glossed over by said refs, and they only won by 3.

Kirby finally broke through and beat us in the title game after our WR and DB corps was knocked out due to injury.

Excuses, yes, but the point is it's not like they are blowing us away. The line is razor thin. They're dealing with the same issues but they've caught a couple breaks lately that we haven't.

This is not unique to Alabama. Not at all.

But what evidence do we have they're dealing with the same issues? I think it was CoachJeff who pointed out in another thread our short yardage running is specifically an Alabama problem.

Georgia D looks good again a year after having a pretty elite one. And idk that anyone would accuse those defenses of lacking toughness.

Dynasties fade, maybe we finally are. But it's not because "kids these days"

 

[CoolBreeze]

I'd be a crappy football coach. I love LOVE too much.

 

[Cruloc]

I coach youth baseball and also assist on the 14/15-year-old level as well. Here's what I see that is contributing to a lot of what we're seeing:

* Parents want their kids who they openly admit are "soft" to "get tougher". However, they don't want their kids to go through what it takes to be "tougher". I can't tell you how many parents over the years have literally walked up to me and say "Coach, I need you to make my kid tougher, he's soft". Then after one or two practices, I either get approached after practice or a call on the phone that goes something like this "Don't you think you were a little hard on the kids today, coach? They're only kids." For the record, nothing they're questioning me about as being "too hard" even remotely falls into the category of "crossing the line".

They don't hustle after being told to hustle more than once? They run a lap, do pushups, or both. This continues to be done until they fall in line. I've had some who ran or have done pushups for the majority of the practice. I've gotten where I don't do that as much anymore, after three times and they do it a fourth. I put them in the bleachers to watch the rest of practice and then have a conversation with their parents afterward, with the kid present. The parent's standard and expected excuse of "He just had a bad day coach, he's just a kid and when they don't feel like doing something they don't, HA, HA, HA" is then met with my "Well, when they become an adult, life really don't care what they don't feel like doing. We have to learn that there will be a lot things in life that we have to do even when we don't feel like doing them." The look on their faces is priceless.

*Quitting- Parents pull their kids off teams at the first sign of any little immaterial thing not going their way. We've had parents pull their kids off the team because we werent' winning enough. Yet their kid never sat, got tons of reps and played multiple positions yet quit because we weren't winning rings enough. We've had parents pull their kids because the kid wasn't playing a position they weren't even remotely capable of playing, but was playing very good at the position we had him at. I could go on for another twenty paragraphs but you get the just.

I've had a kid get pulled off my little league team because.....we weren't winning. I got some excuse from the mother, but it was because we just weren't very good. And that kid was my #1 draft pick on our team. By the end of the year we finally were getting competitive, I had a lot of kids that hadn't played in years vs a couple teams that had nothing but travel ball players.

Kids are soft these days....that's why when you find one that isn't, its such a breath of fresh air. Had a couple like that in my short time coaching in little league....they are rare and stand out.

 

[Cruloc]

I'd be a crappy football coach. I love LOVE too much.

You could have the kids sing kumbaya in the huddle, throw the other team off.

 

[TideEngineer08]

But what evidence do we have they're dealing with the same issues? I think it was CoachJeff who pointed out in another thread our short yardage running is specifically an Alabama problem.

Georgia D looks good again a year after having a pretty elite one. And idk that anyone would accuse those defenses of lacking toughness.

Dynasties fade, maybe we finally are. But it's not because "kids these days"

Well the thread has gone in 2 different directions and I'm as much to blame as anyone. We've got 2 conversations going here; one about the mechanics of our issues such as play calling, player execution, strategy. The other about the bigger picture of player attitudes, culture, discipline, etc.

My point about teams like UT and UGA dealing with the same issues were the issues of young people today and how they handle stress, discipline, correction, etc.