Question: "Alabama can't run the ball" - Have we ever had that issue before?

[Cruloc]

-3 in the SECCG......

-3

We were -3 in the SECCG in rushing.

We should have been shutout in the SECCG and the Indiana game.

This staff had absolutely no answers......NO answers whatsoever.

We just gave into our circumstances....had our will taken vs UGA and Indiana.

 

[KrAzY3]

The lack of a running game makes CKD decision to go for it on our 34 yard line in the first quarter an even worse decision when you think your best way to get the first down is to run on outside with a WR.

A lot of people don't realize how typical that is of his offense.

For instance Washington 2023 is the gold standard of his offense and I think we can all agree it was a pretty good team. Against west coast defenses at least. Want to know who their second leading rusher that year was? A wide receiver. Want to know was third on the team in rush attempts? Their quarterback, with only 35 attempts (scrambles/sacks).

I think they can fix it without outside help, but for quite some time here I've been trying to explain to people what this offense really looks like, and it's a team that doesn't know how to run the ball. They didn't even know what to do with Justice Haynes, literally one of the best running backs in the country.

 

[TDBama78]

Yep. Listen again how Cignetti answers the question at the 1:35 mark of this video. Listen how he says about the things "we used to preach when I was at Alabama" which sort of implies he doesn't think those things are being preached now.

Watch cigs expression when he says Alabama has a great coach. Coaches know coaches, telling. Hint, it's a dismissive smirk.

 

[Cruloc]

A lot of people don't realize how typical that is of his offense.

For instance Washington 2023 is the gold standard of his offense and I think we can all agree it was a pretty good team. Against west coast defenses at least. Want to know who their second leading rusher that year was? A wide receiver. Want to know was third on the team in rush attempts? Their quarterback, with only 35 attempts (scrambles/sacks).

I think they can fix it without outside help, but for quite some time here I've been trying to explain to people what this offense really looks like, and it's a team that doesn't know how to run the ball. They didn't even know what to do with Justice Haynes, literally one of the best running backs in the country.

DeBoer's style and culture will not win here. He is going to have to morph himself and his style.

He's got no real, physical running game...never has.

He doesn't demand enough from his staff and players.

I just don't think he has an attention to detail that is needed for big time college football. You don't get blown out 6 times in 2 years and lose multiple games when you're favored by double digits....if you've got a high attention to detail.

He allows the team....and probably pushes it along himself.....to feel "disrespected" and try to feed off emotion too much. His team highs are too high and his team lows are too low.

 

[TDBama78]

DeBoer's style and culture will not win here. He is going to have to morph himself and his style.

He's got no real, physical running game...never has.

He doesn't demand enough from his staff and players.

I just don't think he has an attention to detail that is needed for big time college football. You don't get blown out 6 times in 2 years and lose multiple games when you're favored by double digits....if you've got a high attention to detail.

He allows the team....and probably pushes it along himself.....to feel "disrespected" and try to feed off emotion too much. His team highs are too high and his team lows are too low.

My red flags went up on day one at the 1st press conference, when he chokes up about leaving Washington, it's was like he was being forced against his will, you can cry at home, this is our new leader, our General to lead us into battle. Should have revoked his man card right then.

 

[JDCrimson]

Watching Seattle play San Francisco tonight, I can see why Seattle fired Ryan Grubb after one season.

I like the way Seattle plays ball. Very physical style of play. They are very effective in the run game. At one point they were averaging 8ypc.

 

[JDCrimson]

Idk when it was worse, I just know not being able to convert several short yard runs against Auburn in 2013 cost us a 3rd national championship...

 

[TideFan in AU]

Actually, Shula's last year Alabama ran for an average of 3.5 yards per carry.

So there's your comparison...

This year reminded me of a Bucketstep Bob O Line..

 

[KrAzY3]

Idk when it was worse, I just know not being able to convert several short yard runs against Auburn in 2013 cost us a 3rd national championship...

That team was actually really good at running the ball, they averaged 5.8 YPC. The issue was that Yeldon and Drake, neither of them were really power backs, so not the best for converting short yardage situations.

If you want something to dwell on though, Henry was the third back that year.

 

[Tideflyer]

Yep. Listen again how Cignetti answers the question at the 1:35 mark of this video. Listen how he says about the things "we used to preach when I was at Alabama" which sort of implies he doesn't think those things are being preached now.

Yep, that was marvelous….and a nice touch I thought. Sort of a “ suggestion “ in a well put way I thought. That WAS indeed Alabama football in the past.

 

[Tideflyer]

A lot of people don't realize how typical that is of his offense.

For instance Washington 2023 is the gold standard of his offense and I think we can all agree it was a pretty good team. Against west coast defenses at least. Want to know who their second leading rusher that year was? A wide receiver. Want to know was third on the team in rush attempts? Their quarterback, with only 35 attempts (scrambles/sacks).

I think they can fix it without outside help, but for quite some time here I've been trying to explain to people what this offense really looks like, and it's a team that doesn't know how to run the ball. They didn't even know what to do with Justice Haynes, literally one of the best running backs in the country.

So…..we have to hope for some sort of an epiphany on the part of the coaching staff in general and CKD in particular? Why am I not overflowing with confidence concerning that ?

 

[SMOKIESBAMAFAN]

Alabama has more talent than they did in 2006 but the offensive line coaching has been really ineffective. On top of that we live in a different world now. Back then you had a greater number of "easy" games. Games where you could not be at your best and still win and rack up good statistics. Today, there just isn't much for easy wins. You have maybe two cupcakes brought in every season to allow your freshman to get some live reps but every other team you play now has enough talent to beat you, no necessarily more talent, but enough to beat you if they play well and you don't. You normally win but most of the time the game is uncomfortably close and your stats aren't that good.

OL is not the only issue. Indiana threw 2 running backs at us. guys nobody thinks has pro potential, not really that fast, but guys who wanted to stone cold knock the first guy got in their way out, Nasty people really, Like guys from the leather helmet days. they beat us like a rented mule with them, forget tackling, they brought the pain to us, we didn't tackle them as much as we got tangled in their feet as they ran over us. We need top talent at RB but we ALSO need that guy, I really have stopped caring how our recruits rate out on the "NFL potential" scale. That's a league I care nothing about. I want guys who want to hurt people., hurt their feelings, hurt their pride, make their girlfriends leave them. nasty people.

Couldn’t agree more. I have never seen Alabama linemen and linebackers getting flat out destroyed and run over like I have this season.

 

[KrAzY3]

So…..we have to hope for some sort of an epiphany on the part of the coaching staff in general and CKD in particular? Why am I not overflowing with confidence concerning that ?

Yeah but in his defense this is an NAIA guy.

If you look over even young guys like Dan Lanning, you see him at a major program in 2011. You see Cignetti at a major program in the 80s! DeBoer didn't step foot on an FBS program until 2014 and a power conference program until 2019 and even then it was Indiana (where key parts of his staff, even Penix came from).

So, he spent a big chunk of his career and even playing days about as far removed from power conference football as you can get. He's a smart coach, smart enough to improve offenses everywhere but Alabama, and that's where he's run into a wall. I would add that he basically went his entire career up until his time at Alabama not dealing with any 5 stars and then he suddenly had more than any other teams.

I don't see that as that bad a problem though, now that we're in year three. Yes, he wasn't the best fit to make use of Saban's talent, and that was my concern all along. But, we're kind of past that now, that's done and in the rear view mirror. Now we're just to the point of can be adjust to the SEC? I believe he can, he just has to want to. If he gets outside of that NAIA/Indiana bubble and brings in some outside help I think the issue shouldn't be that hard to address. He just needs to install a legitimate, SEC caliber running game.

 

[arthurdawg]

Yeah but in his defense this is an NAIA guy.

If you look over even young guys like Dan Lanning, you see him at a major program in 2011. You see Cignetti at a major program in the 80s! DeBoer didn't step foot on an FBS program until 2014 and a power conference program until 2019 and even then it was Indiana (where key parts of his staff, even Penix came from).

So, he spent a big chunk of his career and even playing days about as far removed from power conference football as you can get. He's a smart coach, smart enough to improve offenses everywhere but Alabama, and that's where he's run into a wall. I would add that he basically went his entire career up until his time at Alabama not dealing with any 5 stars and then he suddenly had more than any other teams.

I don't see that as that bad a problem though, now that we're in year three. Yes, he wasn't the best fit to make use of Saban's talent, and that was my concern all along. But, we're kind of past that now, that's done and in the rear view mirror. Now we're just to the point of can be adjust to the SEC? I believe he can, he just has to want to. If he gets outside of that NAIA/Indiana bubble and brings in some outside help I think the issue shouldn't be that hard to address. He just needs to install a legitimate, SEC caliber running game.

This.

I see his and Morgan's performance in the portal this year, management of the coaching staff, and performance next year as defining wether or not we are seeing the "Peter Principle" in action or not.

I think the problems and the answers are pretty darned obvious. We may not be able to fix them all in one year, but we should see clear evidence that they are being addressed, and if so year 4 should definitely happen to see where we can get too with CKD.

Beyond that... This year was a disaster in terms of trying to hire a coach and we need stability, so if we keep winning at least 10 games a year and keep our recruiting strong, I'm game for CKD for a couple of more years and then we could consider a change if a compelling candidate came open. Its a tough call though, the wrong pick and we could be Florida or the Barn.

 

[CrimsonBloodn62]

I like the way Seattle plays ball. Very physical style of play. They are very effective in the run game. At one point they were averaging 8ypc.

Yeah, watching how Seattle dominated San Francisco on both sides of the ball really reminded me of how Bama used to do it a few years back. Seattle just looked bigger, stronger, and faster than SF across the board. And while SF was missing several key players, I don’t think that would’ve changed the outcome of who won tonight.

 

[arthurdawg]

The coda to our running game is that we were terrible when not playing the little sisters of the poor...

Our RBs

8 carries for 15 yards against Indiana

7 carries for 21 yards in Georgia

Jam had several games where he had double digit carries and barely double digit yards.

 

[Cruloc]

So…..we have to hope for some sort of an epiphany on the part of the coaching staff in general and CKD in particular? Why am I not overflowing with confidence concerning that ?

Because we all know DeBoer isn't going to have some epiphany and suddenly things improve. His system is his system.....and worse than that, his culture is his culture.

 

[BigAlinKnoxville]

I just worry that we're going to spend the next three years sinking further and further into mediocrity, all while "there's hope" hangs in the air, and ultimately wind up with a repeat of the 2000 3-8 record.

 

[CB4]

So…..we have to hope for some sort of an epiphany on the part of the coaching staff in general and CKD in particular? Why am I not overflowing with confidence concerning that ?

Yeah, I have a little faith that this is happening…

 

[spidermayin]

Another issue we had this year is there was no threat of the deep ball. Of the handful of times I saw of throw it deep, Ty was off target. I think it's harder to run when you don't have that homerun ball in your back pocket that the defense has to keep people back to defend.