Let’s see how that “Stick a fork in Nick Saban, he’s done” narrative did yesterday.
Oh, right. Bama finished with the No. 1 class, getting back to a perch it occupied seven years in a row before slipping slightly in 2018. The Tide lost two blue-chip commitments on Wednesday, and it didn’t come close to taking them out of the No. 1 ranking.
In particular, take a look at the defensive line class Alabama signed for 2019. It’s outrageously good. Overall, the Tide signed 27 kids and only one of them, a kicker, had fewer than three four stars from the recruiting services.
All this in the face of a second straight year of enormous staff turnover. And it didn’t matter. Yeah, he’s really done.
Get The Picture 
But yet, Clemson didn’t have the talent that Bama did…if you believe in rankings. If you do, maybe it is his coaching skills are eroding.
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No question he got outcoached by Dabo. But considering he outcoached Kirby and Riley in the two previous games, I’m not sure I’d go with eroding yet.
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He beat Kirby, but I wouldn’t say he outcoached Kirby … other than the idiotic fake kick.
He actually benefited from injury luck in reverse. He didn’t pull Tua for ineffectiveness as he did Hurts in the championship game. He pulled Tua due to injury and Hurts made him look like a genius.
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Generational players like Lawrence and Ross can make your program. Also, doesn’t hurt that most of Clemson’s d line will be gone by the end of the first day of the draft. I’d say Bama has more overall talent, but at the top Clemson’s best players proved to be far more elite.
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Saban uses failure really well.
2008 losses to UF and Utah —> 2009 undefeated season.
2010’s 3 Ls —> back to back in ‘11 and ‘12
2013 losses to AU and OU —> offensive redesign, 5 straight playoff appearances, 4 title game appearances and 2 more titles.
I am really curious to see how Georgia and Alabama respond to the way their seasons ended next season.
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Senator, the only player Bama signed who had less than four ( not three) stars was the kicker. ( Ranked the best kicker in the nation).
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Thanks for catching my brain fart.
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How stupid is rating the “best kicker in the nation” a 3 star performer? The only real hole in any Bama team the past several years is the kicker. And how many games are impacted, if not decided, by a kicker/punter, for any team? It is absurd to denigrate their role in football as we know it now. Except for confidence issues, both punters and kickers can more easily be “projected” as to how they will transition from HS to college, there is no level of competition to their performance to factor in.
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We certainly saw how the difference in the punting game for us from 17 to 18 wtih us. In 17 you waited to see what kind of rabbit he would pull out of his hat, be it a booming punt or one he dropped OOB at the 1 inch line. Last year (even though he has tons of talent) you held your breath, knowing the shank was going to come at the worst possible time.
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I agree with your basic premise but, my theory is that the ratings systems are based on the ability to project players to the NFL and that is much harder to do with kickers and punters. I think kickers tend to vary more through the college career (kinda like a good horse race) verses other positions where physical attributes create a more reliable projection model.
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https://n.rivals.com/team_rankings/2019/all-teams/football
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They’re my new favorite ranking system.
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It’s the only I’ve ever looked at, I had no idea there were 42 different rankings.
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Jealous of the Dlines they put together. I know we’re supposed to get a great tackle next year but sure would have liked one this year
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The question for saban is what does he do to get thier identity back and how quickly they can do it with an all new staff?
The amazing thing about Bama’s run is their ability to stay hungry.
They got soft and undisciplined last year and it cost them, but only once.
I have no doubt that saban is going to put the screws to those guys and that he’s going to try to get back to pounding the rock.
How will the roster respond? How will Tua play when he’s looking at positioning himself for the draft? Do they have the OL to bully people like they used to? Does he go all 2007 and say, I don’t care what the record is, we’re getting back to playing mean and punishing people even if we’ve got to “burn down the barn to kill the rats?”
It’ll be interesting.
On the one hand it’s great to have an all world quarterback, on the other when all you ask of him is to protect the ball, everyone else steps up, because they have to. Like for us in 2017. When everyone stands around and watches the qb throw it all over the yard, your roster can get complacent. Like us in 2008.
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Thanks for that dose of shitty news this morning. ☹
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Red elephant club will not stand for 2nd place
The UGA version needs to up our game…
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Considering that Saban (67) had a 24 year head start that Kirby (43) has all but erased, I’m optimistic about our future.
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UCF’s #1 Recruiting Class disagrees
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