I Hate You, John Crist: Readers don't mind homer-centric coverage, within reason

Alabama coach Nick Saban went on another one of his trademark rants this week. Of course, the media was targeted liberally.

Apparently, he doesn’t like the fact that some outlets think he’ll be employing more of a ball-control offense this coming season since coordinators Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian have left the program.

They were replaced by Brian Daboll, who has worked almost exclusively in the NFL for the last two decades — although he was once a GA under Saban at Michigan State — and doesn’t have much of a connection to the Crimson Tide’s version of the spread-option scheme. He’s primarily been with pocket passers in the pros.

Personally, I didn’t find it to be much of a leap to suggest that the Crimson Tide might dial the scheme back a bit in order to give their dastardly defense more time to rest. But Saban has to be Saban. This we know.

Here are some of my favorite comments from this past week. Quality subjects are hard to find these days. I feel your offseason pain.

Back when I covered the Chicago Bears, I heard a story once from a media-relations staffer working for the New York Jets.

A decade ago, it was unusual for teams to credential internet-only publications. Traditional media rarely had trouble getting access, but websites — especially independent ones — were oftentimes left out in the cold.

The owner of a Jets blog had been hounding this media-relations guy for credentials on and off for years, and eventually the organization caved and granted him press-box access for a preseason game. The blogger entered wearing a Chad Pennington jersey. Needless to say, he was asked to leave and laughed out of the room.

While I’m yet to see a media member show up to a game in face paint, the “no cheering in the press box” maxim does get challenged at the collegiate level. At Ole Miss-Florida State, some Rebels reporters were repeatedly warned.

As you suggest, a lot of college fans want a homer angle with their coverage. That particular style just doesn’t vibe with me, though.

Since I advocated for him to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, not Myles Garrett, it’s clear that I love Jonathan Allen.

To me, he was the premier defensive player in the country this past season. I watched every Alabama game and covered several down the stretch, and it’s difficult to remember a single series when his presence wasn’t felt.

Numbers-wise, he recorded 69 tackles — 16.0 of which were behind the line of scrimmage. He had 10.5 sacks and was credited with 15 hurries. Additionally, he recovered 3 fumbles, broke up 2 passes and even blocked a kick, not to mention the fact that he scored a pair of touchdowns on fumble returns.

Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Allen was dominant, no question about it. But was he statistically dominant? It’s tough to make that case. He didn’t lead the SEC in any category, and when it comes to measuring historical greatness, we tends to lean on stats.

On top of that, his season only ended 2 1/2 months ago. As I discussed earlier in the March Madness bracket, “recency bias” is alive and well.

That sort of makes sense. To be honest, I had to read it several times before I comprehended what you were trying to say.

While I don’t think South Carolina is anywhere near ready to compete for any sort of title, I’m certainly high on its offense coming into 2017. At the skill positions in particular, there’s a lot to like.

Jake Bentley was impressive at the game’s most important position, both with the way he threw the ball and the way he carried himself on the field. Rico Dowdle, Deebo Samuel and Hayden Hurst are all firmly atop the depth chart at running back, wide receiver and tight end, respectively, and each has All-SEC potential.

As is usually the case — and never gets discussed enough — the Gamecocks need the big uglies on the offensive line to catch up with the pretty boys. The good news is that left tackle Mason Zandi is the only defection from the two-deep.

Compared to this past year, when it was all about Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, the East appears to be more open heading into this season.

Getting back to my time covering the Bears, then-coach Lovie Smith made a mistake when he tried to turn Devin Hester into a No. 1 receiver.

Despite being ridiculous as a rookie in the return game — he later retired as the best return man in NFL history, bar none — Hester was lost at cornerback. Switching him to the offensive side of the football made all the sense in the world.

The right move would’ve been to make him a change-of-pace weapon. A toss sweep here. An end around there. A go route once per quarter or so. Find a way to get him periodic touches offensively each week, plus Hester could double as a terrifying decoy. But don’t use him too much because you want him as fresh as possible for returns.

Instead, Smith had him on the field for 50-60 snaps per game. Once it was time for special teams, Hester was exhausted. He scored 12 return TDs his first two years in the league but had zero the next two, when he was a starting wideout.

The role I see for John Franklin III is the one Chicago should’ve used for Hester. Return man. Toss sweep. End around. Go route. Decoy. Less is more.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.