Posted this earlier on another thread... applies here to Phil Steele's crew:
In reading preseason mags for some time now, there's one thing that I have learned about non-regional people... they don't have a pulse on the current happenings with a team. If you simply look at things from a surface level, it would appear that Bama is going to be strong this year because of:
(1) a coach who's among the top ten in the country.
(2) 17-19 returning starters (including special teams).
(3) a schedule that has most tougher games at home.
However, what people unfamiliar with Bama's team don't realize is:
(1) a team is having to adjust to a new HC whose philosophies are usually 100% different from the previous regime (can you say learning curve and attition?)
(2) all defensive starters are learning a brand new defensive philosophy... and some (i.e. Saunders) are starting in different positions; OL starters except for Caldwell/Smith weren't that good even last year.
(3) while games against the likes of Georgia, LSU, etc. are at home, we have the misfortune of being matched up against stronger, better conditioned, and more talented teams... you simply don't recover from the downfalls of Shula's program (especially S&C) in one year... it will take a few years.
My point? National people, unless they have contacts CLOSE to all programs that are covered, don't know much outside of "surface level things." As a result, I usually get sick of reading preseason magazine predictions.
In reading preseason mags for some time now, there's one thing that I have learned about non-regional people... they don't have a pulse on the current happenings with a team. If you simply look at things from a surface level, it would appear that Bama is going to be strong this year because of:
(1) a coach who's among the top ten in the country.
(2) 17-19 returning starters (including special teams).
(3) a schedule that has most tougher games at home.
However, what people unfamiliar with Bama's team don't realize is:
(1) a team is having to adjust to a new HC whose philosophies are usually 100% different from the previous regime (can you say learning curve and attition?)
(2) all defensive starters are learning a brand new defensive philosophy... and some (i.e. Saunders) are starting in different positions; OL starters except for Caldwell/Smith weren't that good even last year.
(3) while games against the likes of Georgia, LSU, etc. are at home, we have the misfortune of being matched up against stronger, better conditioned, and more talented teams... you simply don't recover from the downfalls of Shula's program (especially S&C) in one year... it will take a few years.
My point? National people, unless they have contacts CLOSE to all programs that are covered, don't know much outside of "surface level things." As a result, I usually get sick of reading preseason magazine predictions.
