This week was a game changer for die-hard college football fans as both Athlon Sports and Lindy’s Sports have released their 2017 college football preview magazines. The arrival of the preseason magazines are great for multiple reasons, not only are they fantastic reads to enjoy, they help pass the time before fall arrives while also signaling the countdown to the college football season.

Both magazines can be found at major bookstore chains as well as the online stores of both Athlon Sports and Lindy’s Sports. In addition to the traditional national college football editions, both outlets now provide exclusive Southeastern Conference editions filled with even more content for SEC fans to enjoy.

One particularly interesting section of each SEC magazine features thoughts and viewpoints from anonymous opposing coaches. Here’s a sampling of some of the more interesting nuggets opposing coaches see when evaluating Alabama.

Opposing coaches views on Alabama via Athlon Sports’ 2017 SEC preview magazine:

“Until someone beats them, I’d say they’re the team to beat. They get whoever they want in recruiting — like, really, anybody they want. You’d love to see somebody else step up and do it, but what they do year-in and year-out is really remarkable in terms of reloading, resetting the mindset and continuing to win. Now, how do they transition it with a new offensive coordinator?… Bo Scarbrough is a monster, and they can keep it pretty simple and play more ball control, but Hurts has to grow as a passer and be more precise getting the ball outside… They played well enough offensively to beat Clemson last year, but they just wore down defensively toward the end of it, so you know Nick won’t let that happen again.”

Opposing coaches views on Alabama via Lindy’s Sports’ 2017 SEC preview magazine:

“Hell yeah their defensive line is great again. But they don’t have as much depth. When I look at the number of great players lost over the last three years, it’s hard for anyone to lose that many. What cost Alabama in the national championship game is when (graduate transfer defensive back) Maurice Smith transferred to Georgia. When Bama had some injuries, they had to play Tony Brown and Hootie Jones in the secondary against Clemson, and they gave up a lot of big plays. That combination killed them.”

It’s interesting to think the loss of one player could have ultimately been the difference between Alabama finishing the regular season with a perfect record and another national title and losing to Clemson, but given the 35 points surrendered to the Tigers, it could be a valid argument. While much of the fan base has pointed toward Jalen Hurts and the offense’s failures for losing the title game, the viewpoints of the coaches seem to put the loss squarely on Alabama’s defense.