The Film Guy_The Alabama Offense

[arthurdawg]

We need to make a changes and play some younger guys.

I think Dewberry and Vandermark just aren't quality SEC starters.

Formby might be a good guard, too slow for tackle in the SEC.

Proctor is just way to heavy. Something that hasn't been addressed. They are not replacing him though and we will just have to hope he slowly loses some pounds and picks up performance wise.


Right side of the line:

I do think Roberts is solid and given his frame, probably not too heavy, we need him healthy and playing.

Would give Carroll the nod at right tackle and just make the switch. Freshman mistakes will trend down quickly and he has the athleticism we need at the position.

Left side of the line:

Not much to do here unless they want to give Alinen a look over Dewberry, and I don't see that happening.

We have some promising young guys, need to really look at them and decide if they are the answer. And we need a new OL and DL coach pronto.

 

[Tidewater]

"In my opinion, other than Parker Brailsford, the other four offensive linemen are over weight"

"Kayden has some great reps, but there are also five to six plays a game that it is so clear and obvious, he's playing over weight"

In the video you'll see we do some good things, but there are problems with our offensive line, one being weight and as you watch, the other being a lot of bad technique.

That dude really likes to hear himself talk.
"Brevity," it would seem, is not in his lexicon.

 

[Tideflyer]

Since hes making his assessment of their weight by watching film. "Theyre overweight " is probably coming from him seeing how slow to the point of contact they many times are and how DL'men frequently beat them off the snap. But if you watch the video its obvious they are slow and get beat a lot. Call it "overweight" or whatever, but the end result is the same. Its bad Oline play.

Doesn’t bode well for this weekend and several others. The skill guys get the headlines ….. but you win or lose according to what happens ( or doesn’t )up front.

 

[RollTide_HTTR]

I don't know enough about strength and conditioning to have a strong opinion. But I've seen people elsewhere start to question if we need to take a look at our strength coach since we've been weaker on the lines since Scott Cochran left.

Curious if anyone here has thoughts on that? I do not really and am not suggesting a change just curious what everyone else things.

 

[Cruloc]

Our OL outside of Brailsford just isn't good. Watching this and him breaking down the OL technique....was disheartening. Proctor just can not move fast enough, the other guys look like high schoolers too many times. This hurts the entire offense.

He mentioned the WR's not running crisp routes too, particularly Williams. And too many guys blocking that look like they are avoiding real contact. That's not great at all either.

One thing of note that was good.....he kept saying how you can see how the coaches trust Ty and that Ty's eyes and reads are usually very good.

 

[colbysullivan]

He focused a lot on the FSU game where we clearly didn’t show up ready to play. Yes, the next two games were against weaker teams, but you can’t deny we have stepped up our intensity. We are going to be mostly healthy against UGA, and we still have the mental edge against them. Basically everyone is picking UGA in this game, so maybe we will use that as motivation.

 

[AlexanderFan]

I don't know enough about strength and conditioning to have a strong opinion. But I've seen people elsewhere start to question if we need to take a look at our strength coach since we've been weaker on the lines since Scott Cochran left.

Curious if anyone here has thoughts on that? I do not really and am not suggesting a change just curious what everyone else things.

With all the talk of bad technique it might be hard to judge strength.

This current bunch of linemen don’t like contact and they don’t like initiating contact and punishing the opposition. That’s not very conducive to success in the trenches.

 

[Cruloc]

I don't know enough about strength and conditioning to have a strong opinion. But I've seen people elsewhere start to question if we need to take a look at our strength coach since we've been weaker on the lines since Scott Cochran left.

Curious if anyone here has thoughts on that? I do not really and am not suggesting a change just curious what everyone else things.

Maybe we've gone too far into the numbers and analytics.....and maybe less into just plain strength and conditioning.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I don't know enough about strength and conditioning to have a strong opinion. But I've seen people elsewhere start to question if we need to take a look at our strength coach since we've been weaker on the lines since Scott Cochran left.

Curious if anyone here has thoughts on that? I do not really and am not suggesting a change just curious what everyone else things.

I think it's at least worth the conversation. When get people like the Film Guy's videos and you can see the game slowed down and you actually can isolate and watch the OL. You see we get physically beat A LOT on the line, which isn't a good sign.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

That dude really likes to hear himself talk.
"Brevity," it would seem, is not in his lexicon.

He does, but for the layman folks like myself, he does a great job of giving me a better understanding of what's going on with the offense from a technical side of it. For instance, after the Wisconsin game we all thought the reason we couldn't run the ball was because they were stacking the box the entire game. But the Film Guy rightfully points out, that wasn't the case. They were routinely playing 7 back with only 4 on the LOS and still stuffing our run.

 

[colbysullivan]

He does, but for the layman folks like myself, he does a great job of giving me a better understanding of what's going on with the offense from a technical side of it. For instance, after the Wisconsin game we all thought the reason we couldn't run the ball was because they were stacking the box the entire game. But the Film Guy rightfully points out, that wasn't the case. They were routinely playing 7 back with only 4 on the LOS and still stuffing our run.

He suggested we shouldn’t be using a Duo run scheme. I can only hope our coaching staff has been “trying stuff” just to see if any of it works until Jam comes back. We used a lot more outside/stretch runs against UGA last year, and we had not shown much of that up until that point. I know we can beat UGA, but I’m worried their DL is going to eat our lunch. If we give Ty time, I think he can carve up their secondary though.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

He suggested we shouldn’t be using a Duo run scheme. I can only hope our coaching staff has been “trying stuff” just to see if any of it works until Jam comes back. We used a lot more outside/stretch runs against UGA last year, and we had not shown much of that up until that point. I know we can beat UGA, but I’m worried their DL is going to eat our lunch. If we give Ty time, I think he can carve up their secondary though.

I know we CAN beat UGA as well "IF"......."IF"

1. Our offensive and defensive lines are competitive

If we do that we can easily beat them. Our passing game is hard to defend when Ty has time and also, Ty is a major threat to run and run for chunk yardage. But none of that means a hill of beans if the OL can't sustain blocks.

 

[Tidewater]

I don't know enough about strength and conditioning to have a strong opinion. But I've seen people elsewhere start to question if we need to take a look at our strength coach since we've been weaker on the lines since Scott Cochran left.

Curious if anyone here has thoughts on that? I do not really and am not suggesting a change just curious what everyone else things.

Good point. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. On-the-field performance seems to have declined over the past few years.

 

[Tidewater]

He does, but for the layman folks like myself, he does a great job of giving me a better understanding of what's going on with the offense from a technical side of it. For instance, after the Wisconsin game we all thought the reason we couldn't run the ball was because they were stacking the box the entire game. But the Film Guy rightfully points out, that wasn't the case. They were routinely playing 7 back with only 4 on the LOS and still stuffing our run.

Yeah, I do not disagree with what he says, but less verbiage would be better.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Maybe we've gone too far into the numbers and analytics.....and maybe less into just plain strength and conditioning.

A lot of facets of sports have done this, baseball is the main culprit.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

With all the talk of bad technique it might be hard to judge strength.

This current bunch of linemen don’t like contact and they don’t like initiating contact and punishing the opposition. That’s not very conducive to success in the trenches.

If this is the case then it is a mindset/culture problem. Look at Brent Key's team Ga Tech. He's got them in the Dan Campbell "We'll bite you knee cap off" mentality. Key has his team in a tough, "we'll kick your butt" mentality. He's also 7-1 against ranked teams. If this doesn't work out with Deboer, Brent Key is the first person I'm calling. I think he's ready for a big time coaching gig.

 

[KrAzY3]

We have bad problems on the offensive line right now. We are borderline horrible at running the ball and most of it because our OL is bad at run blocking and opening holes. The video just shows how bad we are at it.

Alabama hasn't had a thousand yard rusher since 2021, they've gotten away from a power running game and it's not necessarily a switch you can flip on when you want. It takes dedication and focus to address these issues. The way to get better is practice/repetition. However, in the DeBoer offense the running backs only get the ball about 35% of the time.

When the offensive line isn't doing a good job at run blocking or opening holes as you noted, I would hope for "we're going to practice this until you get better". To fix the problem it takes prioritizing it. I also do not view it merely as a personnel issue, Justice Haynes is just an example, he averaged 5.7 last year but was used sparingly.

I'm not sure how a team that doesn't emphasize the running game can dramatically improve in run blocking. A good running game requires a commitment and without that I see no way out. Good running backs will continue to transfer out, and the line likely continues to struggle at run blocking because of the lack of emphasis.

Let me put it another way:
2014 Easterh Michigan 100 in rushing
2015 Eastern Michigan 80 in rushing
2016 Eastern Michigan 85 in rushing
2017 Fresno St. 77 in rushing
2018 Fresno St. 87 in rushing
2019 Indiana 106 in rushing
2020 Fresno St. 108 in rushing
2021 Fresno St. 91 in rushing
2022 Washington 69 in rushing
2023 Washington 106 in rushing
2024 Alabama 47 in rushing
2025 Alabama 103 in rushing

That's DeBoer's entire FBS career, head coach and offensive coordinator. The only year he had an above average rushing offense was mostly attributable to a running quarterback. This is not a small sample size so this is what we should expect. As to the importance, only one team in the past 20 years has won a championship with an offense outside the top 60 in rushing (Clemson in 2016 ranked 70th).

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Alabama hasn't had a thousand yard rusher since 2021, they've gotten away from a power running game and it's not necessarily a switch you can flip on when you want. It takes dedication and focus to address these issues. The way to get better is practice/repetition. However, in the DeBoer offense the running backs only get the ball about 35% of the time.

When the offensive line isn't doing a good job at run blocking or opening holes as you noted, I would hope for "we're going to practice this until you get better". To fix the problem it takes prioritizing it. I also do not view it merely as a personnel issue, Justice Haynes is just an example, he averaged 5.7 last year but was used sparingly.

I'm not sure how a team that doesn't emphasize the running game can dramatically improve in run blocking. A good running game requires a commitment and without that I see no way out. Good running backs will continue to transfer out, and the line likely continues to struggle at run blocking because of the lack of emphasis.

Let me put it another way:
2014 Easterh Michigan 100 in rushing
2015 Eastern Michigan 80 in rushing
2016 Eastern Michigan 85 in rushing
2017 Fresno St. 77 in rushing
2018 Fresno St. 87 in rushing
2019 Indiana 106 in rushing
2020 Fresno St. 108 in rushing
2021 Fresno St. 91 in rushing
2022 Washington 69 in rushing
2023 Washington 106 in rushing
2024 Alabama 47 in rushing
2025 Alabama 103 in rushing

That's DeBoer's entire FBS career, head coach and offensive coordinator. The only year he had an above average rushing offense was mostly attributable to a running quarterback. This is not a small sample size so this is what we should expect. As to the importance, only one team in the past 20 years has won a championship with an offense outside the top 60 in rushing (Clemson in 2016 ranked 70th).

I literally agree with everything you've posted. But let me play some devil's advocate. I've listened to several former player's podcast the last few weeks and there are some who have witnessed a change in DeBoer's style of coaching the players. He is more "in their face" and "hard" compared to earlier in the year and all of last year. There is a thought coming out of the program that he is starting to figure out that he cannot coach SEC players (specifically this program) with anything other than an iron fist.
If this is true I wonder what other revelations he is starting to have or will have about coaching in the SEC? He's won every where's he's gone and he's apparently adapted enough at each place to win at a high level. Is he starting to do the same here? I hope that is the case, but if not, like I said above. The first person I'm calling is Brent Key's agent and telling him to "come home".

 

[AlexanderFan]

If this is the case then it is a mindset/culture problem. Look at Brent Key's team Ga Tech. He's got them in the Dan Campbell "We'll bite you knee cap off" mentality. Key has his team in a tough, "we'll kick your butt" mentality. He's also 7-1 against ranked teams. If this doesn't work out with Deboer, Brent Key is the first person I'm calling. I think he's ready for a big time coaching gig.

We can have a whole entertaining conversation about the types of coaches needed in the NIL era depending on your pecking order in the salary range.

 

[squib]

I keep talking to friends who think Bama's passing will make up for what they see as a running game that just "hasn't gotten going yet." My own thoughts are that the running issue is much deeper and that it likely won't "get going" due to issues in personnel and coaching. Wisconsin couldn't but most of the SEC can keep our running game completely in check just using the down linemen. That leaves everyone else free to drop into various levels of coverage. I expect to see lots of third and long where then we get the D shedding blocks and into the backfield negating Ty's ability to let plays develop.

I am afraid we are going to see on Saturday what the rest of our SEC opponents already know. WIthout a threat of any real running ability, Bama's O can be kept in first gear if not neutral. Georgia has the toolkit to make it happen--but so do a bunch of the ranked teams left to play.