Simple is as simple does.

For all the talk of balance you hear from offensive minds, whether it’s the Mike Bobo or Mike Leach flavor, this is what I’d prefer to hear about the guy calling plays for my team’s offense.

McElroy, who led Alabama to the 2009 national title, said he believes Saban “very much respects” what Malzahn does, adding that Malzahn’s genius is his simplicity, which allows the Tigers to play fast.

“The looks and things change from week to week but they’re not necessarily doing different schemes, different plays,” McElroy said. “You can often almost overanalyze it. Watching the film, it’s like: They just ran that; it was just a little bit different formation. They just ran the exact same play four times out of the last seven. It’s amazing to see him being able to do that. Once he finds something that works against a defense, he definitely exploits it and credit to him for being able to do that.”

Don’t get cute. Don’t overthink.  If you can run something the other guy can’t stop, why worry about balance?  Plus, it’s demoralizing as hell for the defense.  At least until it adapts.

How will Saban and Alabama adjust?  “I assume that Nick Saban will probably have some simplified calls in his defense this upcoming season in order to better prepare…”

Advertisement

Gettin’ to know you.

SOD took care of getting Tennessee players acquainted with personal hygiene.  Now Butch Jones is addressing another pesky problem.

The Knoxville Police Department opened the doors of the Phil Keith Training Facility to the Tennessee football family this past weekend and opened the eyes of the student-athletes to the day-to-day challenges officers face.

Through a variety of training and experience exercises, the Volunteers found many similarities between their preparation and reliance on teammates on the gridiron, and what the officers experience in the field.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get out here and see what these guys do day-in and day-out,” senior quarterback Justin Worley said. “They preach some of the same things we do in terms of being a team and a family.”

Beyond the shared philosophies, the event helps foster a positive relationship between the team and the officers by building relationships between players and officers.

“It’s an opportunity for our staff, their staff, the officers and the players to get together and break down the barriers,” Knoxville Chief of Police David Rausch said of the third-annual event. “That’s the key to this whole thing, to help the players understand what we do in law enforcement and also to help our officers to interact with the players so they can see we’re all the same.”

It’s always better to be arrested by a friendly face after a bar fight, I say.

(h/t rp)

Somebody ask Herbstreit.

I guaran-damn-tee you this is a headline you’ll never see written about Georgia football.

Sunday morning buffet

Have some football.

• Herschel Walker thinks the college football playoff format should be bigger than four teams to accommodate the SEC.
• I heard a lot of talk from some of the NCAA’s witnesses at O’Bannon that paying players could harm the integration between them and the rest of the student body.  I wonder how they feel about this.
• The arrests of seven athletes over a three-month span at Missouri led the athletic director to the conclusion that he doesn’t believe the spate of arrests was indicative of a cultural problem.  Isn’t that what they always think?
• More academic speculation on what the Northwestern unionization effort might lead to.  Nobody knows, really.
• Statistical comfort for Auburn:  Allowing big passing numbers is no indicator of a team’s success.  Except when it is:  “Four of the top five teams in the country in passing yardage — Florida State, Florida Atlantic, Michigan State and Louisville — held the top four spots in opponents’ passer rating, and they were the only four teams to hold teams under a 100 rating.”
• If you’re interested in some inside ball, Shakin the Southland, which has been an excellent Clemson blog, has lost two of its major contributors.  Their story is here.
• Auburn wants to do something about limiting opponents’ explosive plays, although if the problem really goes back to Tuberville’s time, I’m not sure why that really matters now.