bluesailmesa

Sheridan is a tool in this interview. Gus has had how many losing seasons in over 25 years of coaching at all levels? Exactly ZERO. You fire coaches for losing seasons, not winning ones, as Georgia is beginning to find out. And it won't be an issue this year anyway; the last couple of seasons have been true anomalies for Gus because Auburn hasn't had really good QB play. This has been Gus' calling card his entire career: his ability to find and coach good QB play everywhere he has been is the hallmark of his teams. This year AU returns to the mean with the kid from Baylor and, especially with the recruited talent, returning experience, and stellar kicking game, wins 10 games or more.

Really? Alabama has been dominant - that's what 5+ years of nationally no 1 (or 2 depending on recruiting service) recruiting classes will do. Bama's coaching staff with Lane Kiffin (and now sans Kirby Smart) is better than Rodney Gardner? Kevin Steele? Brett Lashlee? ... Really? That's why TT is a better place to go? The kid just stepped in big time doo doo ....

Yeah, this more disciplined player you refer to got flagged for unsportsmanlike penalty for his actions unrelated to anything Coach Bielema did, this from the SEC and the official in question. And secondly, you're wrong about two things - first, no one is complaining about Bielema 'pushing' a player, which he did not do, there complaining about his supposed 'flop' which he also did not do; second, coaches get between and separate players who are about to get into a fight all the time in DI football, I've seen it dozens of times with HCs, assistant coaches - players are jawing on the sideline and coaches move in the middle and separate them. If you can do it AND draw an unsportsman like penalty on the opposition - all the better. What Bielema did is no different than other DI coaches have done for years. This video is the biggest nonissue made into a story this year.

Please - you're using Nick Saban as the man to build moral fiber? Really. Talk to the folks in Miami where he lied through his teeth about staying while he was negotiating his departure with Bama. Talk to the multiple former assistants who characterize him as the 'devil incarnate' and 'an absolute tyrant', 'the worst man I ever worked for' and worse. Most importantly, talk about the kids who don't do as well on the field as he thought when they were recruited and are 'processed out' of the program. This means their scholarship is revoked in the middle of their education and they're kicked out of school if they cannot afford to pay. This is something Bielema NEVER does - he believes a scholarship is a two way commitment - if the student athlete plays by the rules and does what he is supposed to he will never have a scholarship revoked by Bret Bielema because he turned out not to be as good on the field - the young man will get the education because he lived up to his end of the bargain by going to class, doing his best, following the rules, etc. With Saban it isn't a two way street - a kid can do all those things and if he isn't good enough on the field, Saban yanks the scholarship when he was the one who made the mistake giving it to the kid in the first place, and gives it to another unproven, incoming kid. He does this as much or more than any other major college coach and it is, as much as anything, what exposes your statement above about Saban's 'moral fiber' for the sack of sh*t that it is.

Yeah, your dislike was particularly strong at halftime last Saturday's game after getting your ass kicked ...

No, what's bad is the Commish contacts Bielema about something EVERY SINGLE SEC AND NATIONAL DI HC DOES - namely - attempting to get the zebra to throw a flag on the opposition regardless of whether it is an accurate call or not. Hell, half the flags they throw are inaccurate to begin with and there are another 50% that should be thrown that aren't - which is why coaches feel justified in getting calls to go their way even when inaccurate. But I digress ... What is really shameful is when a coach does something that is truly disgraceful such as, for example, Kliff Kingsbury bragging that his team just kicked the losing team's ass at the post game presser, something I've never heard a DI HC or any HC at any level do at a public press conference in over 40 years of watching football. NO ONE, including the conference commissioner, SDS, media or anyone, calls him on it and says he should apologize. Winning coaches don't publicly brag about kicking the ass of their opponents after a win - talk about setting a bad example for how to win to your players, 10x worse than anything Bielema did. Yet not a word from the Commish when that happened, but he calls Bielema to discuss something that, in essence, every coach in the league does every weekend trying to get calls to go their way even when the call they are advocating for is clearly wrong. Ludicrous.

Wrong. Coaches every single weekend of every season since the game began pull these kinds of stunts to get calls to go their way or against the opposition. EVERY SINGLE DI HC has done this -- Saban, Urban, Woody, Joe Pa, Bo, and yes, even your precious Coach Pinkel. Just last weekend I saw coaches inaccurately arguing for no possession on a legitimate catch; player out of bounds when he caught the ball and clearly dragged his foot in bounds; targeting by a defender when there was nothing close to a targeting foul; arguing a reception was not a reception because the ball hit the ground first, when it clearly did not. Coaches argue, prance up and down the field, throw their visor on the ground, gesticulate in all manner, and yes, dance if needed, to get a call to go their way, which often involves going AGAINST the opposition - whether a foul was committed or not. ALL COACHES DO THIS. This backlash against Bielema is such a non-issue it's ridiculous. When all coaches stop trying to get refs to blow whistles that benefit their team, even when knowingly inaccurate, then people can begin to criticize Bret for his actions on Saturday. Until then, STFU ....

And your point is? Having your opponents like your HC is not necessarily a good thing: as the ol' ball coach once said, 'Usually your opposition only likes you when they're regularly beatin' you.' News flash here Mythic - most around the league don't like hardly any of their opposition's coaches. Most don't like Saban, who even his supporters will admit is a tyrant. Most don't care that much for Malzahn, the nerd, or even your own Butch Jones, whose scowl and overall demeanor suggests that he has a perpetual hemorrhoid. It's not the coaches job to be liked by the opposition; it's his job to win games, which Bret will be the first to admit he hasn't done enough of his first three season. But he inherited a colossal mess and has turned the ship around to where it is at least headed in the right direction. Very few teams relish the thought of playing Arkansas right now; a big, physical team that beats you up and, unless you play really well, beats you on the scoreboard. No one in Razorback country loses a minute of sleep over a Volunteer fan - or any other opposing fan for that matter - not liking Bielema, that I can assure you of.

"...I’m a firm believer in the defending national champion remaining in the top spot the following season until another team disrupts the throne..." Oh really? Even after last season. If that's the case then you're beyond hope. Florida State was undefeated and defending national champion, yet they were placed in the playoff over a more deserving one-loss TCU team despite the fact they were, while undefeated, lackluster in victory, squeaking by .500 teams by one score - week after week - late in the season, while TCU was destroying power 5 conference teams by 4-5 TDs or more. Anyone with eyeballs could see TCU was the better team, end of year. And what happened when FSU finally faced a great team? 5 TD loss, not even close. Past year's undefeated champion means NOTHING. How you are playing at the end of the year means EVERYTHING when picking who goes to the playoff among similarly 'ranked' teams.... That's why we have a Committee - to make that judgment when you have many more deserving teams than there are spots. They screwed it up last year - hopesully they learned from yhat embarrassment. Undefeated means nothing if you suck by unranked teams week after week in November like FSU did ....

Would have responded 11 months ago if I had seen, Murf. Events since have transpired to expose the fact you were totally wrong re: Bo Wallace. Faults include incredible slow footspeed (my grandmother is more elusive, and she's dead), slow read progression & delivery to secondary receivers, mediocre arm strength/velocity on mid to long range balls, tendancy to get rattled when the pocket breaks down, tendency to lock on to primary and deliver ball late, and into traffic, zero elusiveness (did I mention already? sorry ..), erratic temperament leading to diminished confidence among teammates (noted repeatedly by Hugh Freeze in addition to being apparent on the field). NFL scouts apparently noticed as well. Despite holding a number of Ole Miss records, they took a pass. So would I. So would anyone with an ounce of QB football knowledge. :)

I hope my take wasn't perceived as a knock on Saban. Recruiting is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the equation for a coach like him, is my point. Yes he does everything well, but when he doesn't have elite recruiting, he doesn't win championships, plain and simple. Look at his Michigan State tenure. It's why he places such emphasis and works so tirelessly works at it. He knows he isn't going to 'outcoach' on the field or 'out gameplan' most of his adversaries. He plays to his strengths is all I was trying to say - recruiting and beating teams by doing everything with more, better players - obviously with results that speak for themselves...

No. Wrong again. Williams' and Collins' production/overall stats are virtual mirrors of one another. Williams may be the preferred pick for CBB for this particular offense (if you can call it that considering they have gotten roughly equal carries & equal production for two seasons and will almost certainly repeat this year unless injured), or perhaps to send a message for Collins' supposed off-the-field (and apparently quite minor) transgressions, but to say he is the more complete player is absolute fallacy for the reasons I described. Collins' is the overall better back - ask the 13 other SEC HCs which, if they could only have one, would they prefer to have on their roster, JW or Collins - 13 or very close to that will say Collins. It is why he is listed by all the publications ahead of JW, and why he will go will go significantly higher in any draft you want to watch, barring injury. That I absolutely guarantee and you heard it here first. The article's central point of a 'disturbing trend' is so utterly dwarfed by the OMISSION of the superior qualities as a back I outlined, particularly at the next level, compared to the relatively unimportant and completely uncompelling argument regarding late-season production, is what made and continues to make this an article pointless, aimless, feckless, worthless, and desperate ... :)

Biggest key difference: Alabama has had the consensus number 1 or 2 recruiting class in the country in EACH of the last 5 recruiting years. Not top 5; not top 10; top 1 or 2. Not even USC under Carroll had such dominance in recruiting. Look, Saban does not 'outcoach' other coaches in terms of schemes, game management, clock management, or playcalling. He basically has a fantastic DC put together brilliant plans for each opponent; and lines up and beats teams with basic offenses and defenses executed with superior players in numbers. You can do that when you have three or four No. 1 recruiting class in a row and thus elite NFL caliber talent two and three deep across roster. Virtually no team they play has that level of players in those numbers. Expect the same. Even with a new 'unproven' QB. He doesn't have to be proven. He has to not lose games. The Tide's significant talent gap, coupled with OUTSTANDING strength and conditioning and position coaching means they will do as they have done: line up and beat you. And it will work to the tune of 11 victories, possibly more. They will have issues, though, when they play an Ohio State, or other of perhaps a couple of teams nationally that they cannot beat simply by have greater numbers of superior players.

I think defensively Auburn's run defense will resemble 2013 a lot more in that it will surrender some yards in the middle of the field but will be very tough to run on in the red zone. The fact that Auburn has good depth still with talented, though somewhat less experienced players, in the trenches bodes well in this regard. Hopefully the liberal substitutions Coach Gardner employs will allow the team to be really tough to run on as the game progresses and, again, when it counts (RZ). AU really has to hope the back end stays healthy; they are talented but thin on experience. Muschamp's staff will have them well coached - I do not expect an inordinate number of blown assignments, interference penalties, or burns - UNLESS multiple injuries to starters forcing extreme youth to perform too many plays. Agree with the take they don't have to be stellar; Malzahn's offense will average close to 40 ppg as it always does, they only need to hold SEC teams to under 28 and AU wins many more games than it loses.

This is an intelligent reply to an article desperately trying to manufacture a point of view. What the article completely fails to acknowledge, but what will make Alex Collins, (should he not sustain serious injury) fully one round and probably TWO rounds higher as a draft selection over Jonathan Williams is the fact that, aside from top end speed, which he excels over Williams, Collins' ability that very few backs who play the game have: the ability to cut and significantly change direction WITHOUT ANY LOSS OF SPEED. Extremely few backs have this. Reggie Bush has it. Barry Sanders had it. Bo Jackson had it. Alex Collins has it. Jonathan Williams does not - Williams' makes the cut but, like all other normal backs, loses a step. Collins' extraordinary ability in this regard is only manifested relatively rarely in games because of the somewhat limited touches Collins' has with defenses keying on Razorbacks' RBs in the knowledge that the hogs aren't going to beat them throwing the ball (at least up until this year). But it is a trait that is absolutely COVETED in the NFL, because it can cause game breaking plays against teams with elite back end speed who's DBs normally are not outrun. Collins' ability to make radical cuts without losing speed coupled with elite top end speed make him an extraordinarily valuable commodity in the NFL. Regardless of Bert's use of him in his system in college, he will go higher than anyone on this board expects or dreams. Possibly 1st or high 2nd round after combine, which he will wow with his combination of size and speed.