Erik Evans recalibrates.

You may have thought whether we’ve reached the end of the ‘Bama dynasty run is something of a here and now question, but Mr. Evans is here to tell us that particular horse left the barn a few seasons ago.

… Alabama is a very good team, occasionally even piecing together dominant teams, dominant games, and — in one memorable 2020 — an entire dominant season.

But the time of figuring on winning the Big Game are over.

Alabama required an SECCG game of their life to even advance to the playoffs 2021 — and then lost a rematch; it did not do so in 2022; defensive collapses and injuries cost ‘Bama a chance in 2019 and a title 2016; in 2018 team-wide coaching dysfunction slayed them…Two titles in seven years is modest by “dynasty” standards, and yet, in three of those playoffs, Georgia has taken two of them. Clemson has pocketed two more.

Alabama is “just” another elite team. The dynasty occurred in 2009-2015.

Gee, I wonder what happened after 2015.

Anyway, he’s certainly lowered his expectations for the coming season.

We can begin by adjusting them this year — I am. I think clinching the West will be a good year; winning the SEC and/or making the playoffs will be wildly exceeding expectations; and anything beyond that is deranged optimism and taking Saban into COTY territory.

Somebody got a Kleenex they can pass him?  Sounds like he needs one.

Not where his head was at

As Carson Beck tells it, he didn’t take the news that Stetson Bennett was going to start the 2021 UAB game, despite Beck having the higher spot on the depth chart going in.

“I was just not ready,” Beck said, looking back on the UAB game of the 2021 season. “The whole week and the whole situation, I don’t really want to talk about it too much.

“I got the chance to play in the game, but I was not in the right headspace mentally, and I was not locked in on the game at all,” he said. “When I went in, I was not confident at all. When I went in, I felt like I didn’t know how to play quarterback just based on everything that had happened, and that’s when I knew I totally just missed that opportunity.”

Beck’s state of emotions likely explains why he didn’t chase after the UAB defender who intercepted his pass and returned it for a touchdown, providing the Blazers their only score in a 56-7 game.

While the former doesn’t really excuse the latter, it sounds like Beck has learned from the experience.  And grown up a little, too.

“As much as I thought I was ready, I was so mad — like so, so mad,” Beck said. “I think any player would be in that situation. But looking back on it now, and understanding what happened, he (Bennett) had the experienced part that I didn’t have, and he’s talented enough to get it done ….

“Looking back on it now, I’m glad I wasn’t shoved into that moment, because if I was, who knows what would have came out of it?”

How he reacts to adversity this season — and, unlikely as it may seem, based on the schedule, it will come — will be something of interest to watch.

The next big thing sounds a lot like the last one.

Tell me if this sounds familiar ($$):

What Rees created at Notre Dame is what most coaches refer to as “position-less football.” It’s a phrase coined when the tight ends are versatile enough to handle the same responsibilities in the passing game as receivers, making them interchangeable. It provides an offense with the ability to use spread formations in bigger personnel groupings and presents two challenges to the defense:

• Since the offense doesn’t need to sub-personnel groupings, the defense won’t be able to either. That creates mismatches with tight ends on more undersized nickel linebackers, cornerbacks or safeties in coverage.

• That forces defenders to defend specific plays, not personnel groupings, which allows Rees to be more multiple in his play calls.

Most defensive coordinators rely on intel-like signboards to indicate which offensive personnel groupings are on the field. That generates tendencies as to what concepts offenses prefer based on the grouping. Typically speaking, heavier personnel groupings — those with more tight ends — produce downhill runs and play-action passes.

So, Rees brings his old quarterback over from Notre Dame hoping for some Stetson Bennett action and runs an offense similar to what Todd Monken was running at Georgia.  According to the linked piece, ‘Bama has 13 tight ends on the roster.  How many of them play like Bowers and Washington?

Maybe it’s time to start referring to Tuscaloosa as Athens West.

So, who you like in the West this season?

Over at The Athletic, David Ubben is picking LSU to top Alabama again ($$).  As he puts it, “… Brian Kelly already won the West in Year 1. The idea the Tide should be favored to unseat them doesn’t make a ton of sense.”

I’d still say the overall talent advantage lies with the Tide, but there’s no denying that LSU enjoys superiority at the quarterback position.  Bigly.  LSU also has continuity at both coordinator positions, which ain’t the story at ‘Bama.  The two do face off in Tuscaloosa this year.

Maybe it’s force of habit, but I still lean towards Alabama winning the West in 2023.  If they don’t, though, and Saban falls behind two SEC programs, I can’t imagine what their offseason will be like.