Alabama had a helluva 2018 season, running the table until being blasted in the national title game. Since then, Saban’s had significant staff turnover, with seven new assistant coaches on board.
Greg McElroy thinks that’s fine.
“I think in most years I would be concerned, but in this year in a lot of ways it might be addition by subtraction,” McElroy told Sporting News. “Not to discredit the previous coaching staff, but when you have so many new voices there can be some mixed messaging within the coaching staff.
“When you’re new to the staff and you don’t know how the program is run that can lead to some miscommunication,” he said. “That’s kind of what transpired this year, and that showed at the end.”
Alabama won fourteen straight games, including the SECCG and the CFP semifinal game, but somehow there was miscommunication that was a problem. But now, that’s fixed, according to McElroy.
“He’s going back to the familiar coaches that know him, that know his system. All these guys are veteran coaches. He’s going to go back to something he’s familiar with.”
But I thought Saban was the plug and play head coach, that the Process was so well organized any assistant coach could be slotted into place without a hiccup. Not to mention that both of his coordinators last season were products of the program, not brand new guys flown in last year.
So, did Saban screw up last season, or is McElroy just BSing here?
They just got beat by a better team, but I am sure some there will never admit it.
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No one promotes the party line better than Greg McElroy. I’ve never once heard him criticize either the process or Saban. If he wants to be a serious analyst/media personality he should follow David Pollock’s lead. David loves UGA but is honest and objective enough to tell it like it is.
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Agree totally, difficult to listen to his Sirius show and take his analysis on anything as objective. It is mostly his story and you should accept his position because he once played QB. Makes you really appreciate Todd Blackledge even more, a smarter, more talented QB who understands his role today, and doesn’t sell out to his ego.
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McElroy is a homer through and through and an awfully smug one at that.
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McElroy has a national title, and Matt Stafford and Aaron Murray don’t.
This sport continually rewards the shittiest people possible.
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I just hope we figure out how to finish off Alabama sooner than later.
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Soon…soon…and when it happens…it will be spectacular.
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Saban has stockpiled overwhelming talent for years and that allows him to play a conservative system that squeezes the life out of the other team. Kirby has Georgia close to Bama following the same system. But when you run into a team with nearly equal talent, coaching (including the assistants) pays off. That’s where I think the turnover hurts. The young recruitniks are great until they have to actually scheme against a good coach.
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They didn’t really play conservative this year. They saw lots of trouble against us and (obviously) Clemson when the golden boy kept trying to throw 80 yard TDs on every single play. Hardly the old conservative philosophy (you correctly identified) they had most of the Saban era.
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McElroy was a pretty reasonable guy, but he has become an insufferable Bama homer over the last couple of years.
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I hope this is the year that we hear….
Hey Bama, we just beat the hell out of you!
Ramma Jamma yellow hammer,
Go to hell Alabamer!
Round the bowl, down the hole,
roll tide roll!!
Then McElroy and Pawwwwl will shut up!!
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Saban is the best at replacing guys, but I am sure he wishes he could have less turnover.
And to be fair to McElroy, if every single season of Saban’s run at Bama you said that everyone they lost was being replaced by someone better and the team would be better than last year, you would have been right more than wrong.
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“…is McElroy just BSing here?”
Were his lips moving?
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