Athlon still misses Tommy Tuberville’s back stabbing, but there are a few decent quotes from coaches regarding SEC programs this season. A sample:
Florida
“Defensively they seemed to be all over the place.”
“Believe it or not, they weren’t as exotic on third down as they have been in previous seasons. My guess is that the personnel couldn’t handle it all. It was surprising, they would struggle against lesser teams and then go out and play world-beater.”
“It’s no secret in the industry that Dan is hard to work for and [Todd] Grantham is stubborn, so watching that relationship maintain sure has been weird.”
Tennessee
“They never became what they said they were going to be. [Jeremy] Pruitt fell into that same trap as so many other [Nick] Saban assistants where he tried to be Nick and not himself. He’s not Nick. You got the feeling he didn’t know how to let go from being a coordinator.”
“Offensively, they were a Jim Chaney offense. Pull film from any of his team, the stuff was the same. Defensively they tried to do way too much. Culturally they lost the kids, we heard that from transfers and gossip but it’s also on the tape. They didn’t want to play, they didn’t want to work for each other.”
Auburn
“So far we hear that it is a total culture change. He’s (new head coach Bryan Harsin) a grinder. Detail-oriented, first-year stuff where he thinks everything should change. Wants to kill off any of that image that Gus’ [Malzahn] teams had and make it about running the ball and blue-collar and all that. But does he have a clue about recruiting? That’s the single biggest question right now in the league.”
“They’re going to try and put a physical culture in. One-on-ones, WRs against DBs in practice. Get mean, that kind of stuff. This was an outside zone run team that’s gonna throw everything into the inside run game. Harsin sold them on being a blue-collar team, being Pat Dye.”
LSU
“This team is hard to understand from the outside.”
“The quote from Ed [Orgeron] about not interviewing his coordinators before he hired them, man you could really tell that’s the truth if you look at last season.”
Most of that runs from the obvious to the obviously amusing, but the Auburn observations intrigue me. Harsin wants to play manball in a league where the best teams have abandoned that approach on offense? Bold strategy, Cotton.
Get The Picture 
The eye-opening quote there is that Sideshow Dan the Clown is tough to work for, and that’s somehow not a secret?
You wouldn’t know it by how his coaches recruit, that’s for sure!
LikeLike
The comment about Bryan Harsin wanting to go to an inside run game really stood out to me too. Wonder if he’s going to turn out to be the perfect hire for 1993.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Hey, it was the shiznit in the Mountain West. What could go wrong in the SEC?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nothing, that a one way ticket back to blue turf can’t cure…(smelling another hc buyout)…
LikeLike
Auburn’s not man enough to play manball.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Doug,
I’m right there with you. That was the interesting take. I’ll assume he watched Auburn play last year. Trust Bo or Da Tank to get it done.
Maybe by years end myself and Tank have something in common. We both think he should have choose the Red & Black.
LikeLike
Manball for Auburn is gonna get them 9-3 or 10-2 most years. In some years, they’ll shorten the game and have a chance to knock off us and or Bama.
Is that enough for their crazy boosters? Nope. That’s why it’s gonna be so much fun to watch!
LikeLike
That’s the thing, though, man ball in Athens was enough to get us tantalizingly close to a national title in 2017 and it was enough to put us in the top tier of college football the following year. A few bounces here and there…
… I’m glad that we’ve opened up the playbook in Athens and I suspect that Auburn will as well if they manage to recruit the skill position talent that we have and Alabama, Clemson, etc. have. But I don’t know that I’m going to laugh off a running team in Auburn coordinated by Mike Bobo until after they’re in our rear view mirror.
LikeLike
The sad thing is that I remember some last year touting Tenn for having a good OL, capable RBs and a defensive-minded coach so they could play physical football and out-muscle teams for the wins. They weren’t claiming an SEC East title, but it dumbfounded me that people thought that was a successful strategy, when in the next breath they dumped on Kirby for not evolving.
LikeLike
I think it’s more of a deal where it looks like a solid strategy given what you’ve got. With the riches we’ve got in Athens, leaving your big guns in the holster makes a lot less sense. Who was going to throw the ball for UT last year and who was going to catch it? Same for Auburn this year.
LikeLike
It may not seem like the best strategy but I always thought that Auburn makes a mistake when they follow the trends and shiny objects. When Terry was down there they did great with Dye’s players, but he wanted to recruit like his dad in Tallahassee. You’re not going to do that at Auburn. And the results trended downward as a result. Tubs came in and played traditional hard nosed football and succeeded. Auburns best bet is to woo the kids that UGA and UA aren’t showing enough love to and have a chip on their shoulder over it. Frankly I’d rather hear Auburn was going the way of Brad Scott or Mike Leach than Dye or Tubs.
LikeLike
I liked these UGA comments:
“They need to let [offensive coordinator Todd] Monken go for it, the kid can do it.”
“This is a roster better than anyone in the country except for Alabama and maybe Clemson.”
“They’re turning over most of their secondary and will probably be fine, that’s the consistency in personnel they have.”
“They just have to embrace the future with their offense and they could win it all.”
Maybe they got their info from Tony Barnhart?😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
I thought the quotes about our defense were pretty interesting. That said, a salty defense that melts under pressure from championship offenses is only worth so much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The interesting thing to me about Auburn is the choice for OC & DC. He has hired Bobo and we know that Bobo likes to work the pass off of the run. The problem Gus had was that his shitty offense didn’t give their defense much to practice against.
LikeLike
Georgia vs Clemson on SEC network now for anyone interested. You can guess at the year Hudson Mason just handed off to true freshman Nick Chubb. Chubb inflicting pain even after his helmet was ripped off.
Like Herschel you can count on them. Either won’t stop fighting as long as they can draw a breath. Congratulations to 27 for his new contract.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Man, do I love me some Nick Chubb. So glad he’s excelling in the pros.
LikeLiked by 1 person
RE: LSU
That last quote on Coach O and a few other comments that dumbass has said, really has me shaking my head or the luck that piece of $h!t fell into. What a moron!
LikeLike
Nothing shocking about those quotes. He’s more than likely 100% correct. People nowadays just can’t handle brutal honesty.
LikeLike
I wonder what odds one could get on Coach O being fired after this year?
LikeLike