CFB analyst Dave Bartoo explains why Alabama could be vulnerable in 2018
Published:
Nick Saban is no stranger to turnover on his Alabama coaching staff but there’s an interesting argument that could be made this year that it will finally start to catch up to the Crimson Tide in 2018.
Despite winning yet another national championship, Saban shook up a portion of his staff and added several young coaches with an eye towards recruiting. That decision appears to have paid off already, as the Tide currently have the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class with 12 prospects rated as four-stars or higher committed in the 2019 recruiting cycle.
Those moves were in addition to the voluntary departures from ‘Bama’s staff, both coordinators from last year left the program — Jeremy Pruitt for Tennessee, Brian Daboll returned to the NFL, while position coaches Derrick Ansley and Karl Dunbar also left for NFL jobs.
In a recent appearance on Jackson, Mississippi-based ESPN 105.9 FM radio show Out of Bounds, hosted by Bo Bounds, Dave Bartoo of CFB Matrix offered up his thoughts on Saban’s staff entering 2018. If you are unfamiliar with Bartoo’s work, he analyses how successful not only head coaches but coordinators are for every major college football program simply by studying the numbers.
Bartoo describes this Alabama staff as having Saban’s “worst offensive-defensive coordinator pairing” in his career heading into the 2018 season. Bartoo grades Mike Locksley as a career D- offensive coordinator grade and essentially gives Tosh Lupoi an incomplete grade.
“I think this year is one of those windows of opportunities for someone in the SEC West,” Bartoo said. “Maybe it’s Mississippi State, maybe it’s Mississippi, maybe A&M, but there’s an opportunity in 2018 that is not within the numbers because of everything that has happened for someone to rise up to surprise and be that team that a lot of people aren’t expecting.”
Is 2018 the year someone in the #SEC finally dethrones Nick Saban and the #RollTide empire?@CFBMatrix says the stars are aligned for an #SECWest foe to take down the most dominant dynasty in college football #Hailstate #HottyToddy #WarEagle #GigEm #Tigers #WooPig #OOBShow pic.twitter.com/HovF5nLafG
— Out of Bounds ?☠️ (@bobounds) May 10, 2018
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
