Interestingly enough, when I look at Steele I see a lot that mirrors Coach Kines: intensity, expectations, past experience, minus the quips. (which I'll miss.) While I can see where you are coming from, when I look over his resume I see a lot of situations where I feel he has proven himself. In spades. Is the most remarkable point on his resume his time spent with the LB's at FSU? I don't know. I look at the 5 years he spent coaching the "Black Shirts" and that very well may just as impressive, if not more so. And, for what it's worth, Saban has been working mostly with the DB's this spring. I know you aren't questioning his talent at coaching linebackers. May be true. I wouldn't even dream of going as far, at this point, of saying Alabama will win this game. But, getting "burned?" I can't see it. You won by 14 last year scoring on all 4 opportunities. As compared to 6 scoring opportunities we had resulting in a fumble and interception in the red zone combined with 2 missed FG's. Frankly, that sounds a lot like what the fan base thought during your last visit to BDS. Just sayin'... Right now, if a team wants to take advantage of the weaknesses in the defense, it would be up the middle. (NG, ILB's) 'preciate the thoughts to Darby's family. He did have a tough year. However, he also had a tough year running the ball. I won't get into what has been happening with Johns off the field, but I would interject the point that very seldom did Shula call the same plays for both players. That being said, a lot of the differences fell into the point of Con trying to implement his *version* of a zone scheme (blocking) that Darby didn't seem to be able to adjust to. {Side note: Add to that last point the alignments of the OL going with wider splits. That small area in itself will open up the running game a bit more} Screens. They've been implemented and practiced quite a bit. Another thing that works real well out of the shotgun, single back set, is the wheel route. There are a handful of RB's that have good hands, and great speed for that call.
That's not even close to the story...no offense. That mantra has been the party line of a lot of fans, but Johns put himself in the situation he was in.
gee whiz terr, has bama ever lost a game because they were outclassed, outmanned, out performed?????? wtf??????????? isn't every bama loss due to dumb luck or poor coaching? seems like everyone of your non-contributor posts have this common theme. btw, with as much time as you spend here and having posted well over 1000 times, don't you think it's time to become a paying member on this site?
At least some of us are dealing with football talk...and, I love it when people from the South call Alabama fans, Bammers...all the while, not knowing, their a bammer themselves. It's a historical term Red, for people in the South.
Bamma fans certainly spend a lot of time trying to justify hiring Saban. I hope they enjoy Shreveport next December. At least it will be an improvement over their last season. Maybe Nick can improve on his record in the Indy Bowl. ldskule:
"Trying to Justify?" A better question is why so many try to criticize or use the move as an indictment against the school, fan base, and Athletic Department? I've seen the return on the investment begin already, as have many.
