#1 Nick Saban
The guy is currently the G.O.A.T of the BCS era, enough said.
#2 Defense
Tide defense has ranked in the top 3 in the country defensively for several years. This year will be no different, as Saban rehired one of the best defensive coaches in the country, outside of Kirby Smart, in Jeremy Pruitt. We also have amassed some of the greatest talent in the country defensively.
#3 Lane Kiffin
Lane Kiffin is the evil genius of offenses. He is like the rain man when it comes to play calling. He will have several highly talent players to run his zanny schemes. Calvin Ridley, Ardarius Stewart, Robert Foster, O.J. Howard, Bo Scarbrough, Damien Harris and possibly Jalen Hurts.
#4 Talent
We are loaded with several future 1st round picks. Rueben Foster, Tim Williams, Cam Robinson, Eddie Jackson, Marlon Humphrey, Deshawn Hand, Jonathan Allen, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison to name a few.
The QB situation will not be a problem we will dominate the NCAA once again and bring the Natty home to T-town.
Nick Saban and Kirby Smart will always be an Alabama Fan's favorite coaching tandem. They struck fear in the hearts of NCAA teams across the country for nearly a decade together. Kirby created defenses that sent chills down the spines of offenses for 8 years, but it was only a matter of time before the apprentice clashed with his master.
I will break this down and boxing references to better explain what is happening here:
Kirby Smart threw the first jab at Nick by announcing he would be leaving the dynasty they built together by taking the head coaching job with conference rival Georgia Bulldogs.
Nick Saban countered back with a hay-maker to Kirby by hiring away Jeremy Pruitt, the then Georgia defensive coach.
Kirby would swing back but miss heavily with an attempt to ruin the Natty for Nick.
Kirby would follow that up with a right cross that missed as well, when he attempted to hire away Nick's most prized asset, Scott Cochran.
Saban avoided Smart's flurry but could not avoid his low blow when Smart fired a public shot at Saban saying he would "absolutely" let graduate transfers leave Georgia to attend any school they like, even a SEC school. This was an attempt to appeal to new recruits and players seeking to leave Saban's program (Maurice Smith).
Next move is Saban's we'll have to wait and see what the master has up his sleeves.
Jalen has destroyed the competition in three scrimmages with the Tide. Nick has yet to name him the starter. Everyone is adamant about starting Cooper Bateman, only because he played last year and I remind you played horribly. If Cooper Bateman, who has been trash this year also, gets the start and keeps the job. Jalen Hurts is too good of a player to ride the bench. He would definitely be a starter on any other programs roster. Giving how easy it is to quit these days for young players, is it far fetched to believe Hurts would leave the Tide?
Scary I know.
Our Crimson Tide has lost 7 players since the wrap up of spring practice in April. The ease of transferring has allowed players who can't earn early playing time to quit and play for less powerful programs. This poses a serious problem for us because we can only start 22 players during the season. The rest will have to come off the bench. For this is not ideal, as we recruit so many 4 and 5 star head strong athletes, that coming off the bench is not an option.
Let's break it down by position starting with quaterbacks. You can only have one. After the second game of the season Jalen Hurts will be the starter. Now you have three upperclassmen, Cooper Bateman, David Cornwell and Blake Barnett, that want be happy. I see two of these guys leaving the program seeking better opportunities before season's end.
We will break down the rest of roster for possible transfers in a later post, so stay tuned.
How many players do you see leaving? please comment below.
Lets look at the facts, last year Alabama's defense allowed only 200.5 yards passing and 70.5 yards rushing per game. Clemson had 405 passing and 145 rushing yards. During the game it seemed the Bama defense was always out of place, which in turn allowed Clemson to score 40 points.
Before the playoff begin Kirby Smart was named the Georgia Bulldogs Head Coach. My question was why not leave and prepare your new team for the 2016-2017 season. Kirby chose to stay until the final game. Sabotaging the Natty would have possibly affected the moral of the Tide heading into the next season, opening up the door for a rejuvenated Georgia Bulldogs team to sweep the SEC. He didn't factor in the Brilliance of Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin (hence the onside kick and 45 points).
After a failed attempt at sabotaging the Natty, Kirby set his sights on weakening Saban's defense by drawing away his depth chart hence the Maurice Smith bonanza. Maurice had nothing to leave for because he would have gotten plenty of playing time with the Tide in that DB rotation, so did Smart offer this kid something greater than playing time?. Luckily he only got the one but you better believe he wanted more and will probably kept trying.
Of course, this an conspiracy theory but it should make you wonder.
In only two Pre-Season games Derrick Henry has shown the world that he is one of the best backs in the NFL today. Once again proving to critics(who are often wrong) that he is the best back in the world and the clear best option to start.
In High school, Henry destroyed the the all-time rushing record in the country, but critics still did not believe he could be a solid back in the NCAA. Henry not only proved them wrong, he broke SEC rushing records rushing for 2219 yards, 28 touchdowns and won the Heisman, all while leading Bama to the a National Title. Still, NFL scouts didn't believe this guy would transfer well to the NFL and he drop to the second round. Big mistake, Teams will and should be smacking themselves for passing this beast up. Henry will break every rushing record in the NFL and once again prove his doubters wrong.
Tim Williams is the best player in the country. I mean did you see him during A-Day. Nick Saban had to tell him to dial it down. The man is unstoppable. I must have watched his highlight reel from last year 100 times. I have never been as excited to see a player play. He is better than any Defensive end or OLB in the country. Last year he recorded 10 1/2 sacks coming off the bench. Lets do the math. Nick will double his playing time, meaning double the sacks, we are looking at Williams making a mind blowing 21 sacks this year.
