Highly impressed with Coach Doug Nussmeier's playcalling.

[Bamabuzzard]

I loved Jim McElwain and I think I'm going to end up loving CDN more. I have been highly impressed at his performance for a first time signal caller. The timing of when he calls plays has been point on so far and it seems it doesn't take him very long at all to adjust on the fly to what the defense is doing. Hope he sticks around a while.

 

[OakMtn4Bama]

Doing a good job of mixing it up

 

[TideFan in AU]

The red zone (or zed area, as Coach says ) is MUCH better. I also loved that zone read play that Blake Sims scored on - that gives the opposition something to think about.

 

[Bryant-Saban]

Amen my crimson tide fan loving every mintue !!!!!

 

[Bamabuzzard]

The red zone (or zed area, as Coach says ) is MUCH better. I also loved that zone read play that Blake Sims scored on - that gives the opposition something to think about.

I have a feeling that the later we get into the season (especially the LSU game) we will begin to see more and more of that. I would imagine it has already cross Saban's mind "What a nice wrinkle to throw at LSU on November 3rd". Sims can actually pass so that package with him in there could be very, very dangerous.

It could very well be why Sims got put in there so much yesterday AND was the first out in the WKU game.

 

[JBama_in_PCOLA]

Yes he has been a pleasant surprise. I think he has taken what CJM had, what CNS and meshed it with what he has. I don't think he's even getting started. We haven't had to bring it out yet and we are averaging 40.

 

[harley2]

Tend to agree with you, especially play calling in the Red Zone.

 

[IBUY]

Couldn't agree more. He's making good use of his "weapons cache".

 

[TideHiFlyer]

I have a feeling that the later we get into the season (especially the LSU game) we will begin to see more and more of that. I would imagine it has already cross Saban's mind "What a nice wrinkle to throw at LSU on November 3rd". Sims can actually pass so that package with him in there could be very, very dangerous.

It could very well be why Sims got put in there so much yesterday AND was the first out in the WKU game.

Absolutely has to be one of the "explosive plays" that CNS was talking about earlier in the year. 90 percent of the country followed the camera(self included). We were in the endzone before anyone figured out what the heck just transpired. More coming, I am sure. See you in Miami!

 

[trenda]

Agreed. On that note, how you like to start your job like that? Awesome; but at the same time, the bar sure is set high right now.

CDN has helped us not only NOT miss a beat, we seem to be a little further ahead now.

 

[Florida Tom]

I loved Jim McElwain and I think I'm going to end up loving CDN more. I have been highly impressed at his performance for a first time signal caller. The timing of when he calls plays has been point on so far and it seems it doesn't take him very long at all to adjust on the fly to what the defense is doing. Hope he sticks around a while.

Im glad you started this, it is amazing the maturity of this offense.

 

[pluckngrit]

very impressed so far...

 

[rjtide]

Talk about being balanced in playcalling. Coach Nuss is doing a great job of utilizing all the skill players on O. Nice job indeed of mixing the run and pass and using one to set up the other whether a running or passing play if that makes any sense.

 

[TIDEnGA]

Bless his heart. He did all that vs. his former college coach. That's got to be an awkward conversation. Hopefully John L. will congratulate him on the great job that it was.

 

[BamaInMo1]

I am really impressed with the play calling. He really mixes things up well. He uses so many weapons that's it's really hard to effectively game plan for our offense. Great hire by Coach Saban.

 

[TideMan09]

I love Coach Nuss's play calling..I'm not surprised in the least about how impressive our offensive play calling has been..His offenses at Washington & Fresno St were among the best in the nation..I loved Coach Mac..I dunno..I always felt Coach Saban put a leash on his play calling..Either that..Or his red zone play calling was just plain dreadful most of the time..I don't have that feeling with Coach Nuss..I honestly think Coach Saban hasn't put that leash on Coach Nuss..I may be totally wrong about this..I feel like Coach Saban has more confidence in Coach Nuss(than he did Coach Mac) & has allowed Coach Nuss too open up the offensive play book..And our offense is a better & more fun too watch because of that..Coach Nuss has HC'ing material written all over him..I hope we can keep him around a few years..JMO

On a side note..I'm not trying too dog Cach Mac..I loved him at Bama & was sad too see him leave..I have too admit though..I love Coach Nuss a tad bit more..

 

[rgw]

Nussmieier comes from the same coaching tree as McElwain, so I knew there would be a lot of similarities. I like that the playcalling has remained true to what we did well under McElwain but with a few subtle and necessary adjustments. If McElwain had one fault, it was the feeling that the whole offensive playbook didn't seem to attack anything beyond the 20+ yards. We are a heavy run team but our passes were all mesh crossing routes, medium square-ins, and short hooks.

Sometimes I felt we ended up defending ourselves as much as the defense because we never aggressively attacked the deep areas safeties usually protect therefore the whole defense ended up within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The big adjustment in the BCSCG against LSU was the bootleg with a deep corner route. We slowly but surely forced them to move their safeties back and cheat towards the sideline which later opened up the interior run. Nussmeier seems to be ensuring that wasn't a one-game adjustment but a philosophical change in how we gameplan.

We still run all the screens and crossing routes which were highly successful passes under McElwain but Nussmeier shows a little more creativity in route combinations and the play fake to make pop plays on the defense eying the run. I guess we need to wait and see how it holds up as we play better teams and get more tape on our new wrinkles, but the basic idea of making teams pay for bringing everyone within ten yards of the LOS is a keeper.

 

[TideMan09]

If Coach Smith is anything other than being proud for Coach Nuss after the game..He should be ashamed of himself..Because Coach Nuss could have hung a 100pts on him if he wanted & Coach Saban allowed it..

Bless his heart. He did all that vs. his former college coach. That's got to be an awkward conversation. Hopefully John L. will congratulate him on the great job that it was.

 

[CapstoneGrad06]

I loved Jim McElwain and I think I'm going to end up loving CDN more. I have been highly impressed at his performance for a first time signal caller. The timing of when he calls plays has been point on so far and it seems it doesn't take him very long at all to adjust on the fly to what the defense is doing. Hope he sticks around a while.

He isn't completely new as a play caller. While he was OC in name only at Washington, he did call plays at Fresno State for one season.

 

[im4uainva]

It seemed to me that over the last few years, Bama's opponents knew that Bama was primarily a run team and designed their defenses to combat that. And, for the most part, they still couldn't stop Bama. Now, with Bama's developing passing attack, CDN has introduced unpredictability into the formula. And Bama's offense has risen to the challenge. And thus far the results have been extremely satisfying (for me, anyway).
In my mind I have upgraded the Bama offense from a 'Tide' to a FULL GROWN TSUNAMI. So, please forgive me my presumptiveness, but, so far, from what I've seen of Bama, they have evolved.
Roll Tsunami, Roll!