Right now, aiight?

I know it’s Nick Saban, which means it doesn’t mean a whole helluva lot over the long haul, but you can’t tell me he’s enjoying this.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban made his annual visit to a Senior Bowl practice Tuesday, and he did so knowing that Lane Kiffin was still his offensive coordinator.

How much longer that’s the case is not known. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that Kiffin was a “front-runner” for the offensive coordinator job with the San Francisco 49ers, and Saban could not say for certain if the former Tennessee head coach would be back for a second season in Tuscaloosa.

“I can’t say that right now,” Saban told reporters in the Mobile suburb of Fairhope. “I know Lane is committed to us right now, and he’s doing the best he can to help recruit and do the things we need to do to have a better team next year. We’re hopeful that will continue.”

Nick Saban doesn’t do that hope thing real well.  I bet it’s a lot of fun for him to try to sell that to recruits.  Right now, that is.

Nice legacy you got there, kid.

Three weeks ago, Altee Tenpenny was telling the world that Alabama was “… where I plan on making my legacy.”

Yesterday, he announced via Twitter he was leaving Alabama “to start a new chapter.”

You can’t defeat roster management, son.  You can only hope to contain it.

Friday morning buffet

Hungry?  The chafing dishes have plenty of recruiting stuff.

• Man, a 2015 SEC Power Poll already?
• “It is a lovely class, one of the best that Georgia has had in years.”
• Brian Fremeau lists 10-year winning percentages for FBS schools here.  Georgia is about where you’d expect.
• And here’s an early look at this year’s toughest and easiest SEC schedules.
• Mike Slive had a 69 percent increase in pay in 2013.  SEC payouts increased by about 1% that year.
• Another day, another no-confidence vote for UAB’s president.
• Chad Simmons talks Georgia recruiting with Weiszer and Page.
• Georgia could sign eight players in the Scout 100.  Before you brush that off, consider that in the two years Georgia signed seven such recruits, a decent number from those classes wound up being NFL draftees.
• The Saban abides, man.

Fleeing Tuscaloosa

Wow, the hits just keep on coming for Nick Saban.

The off-season coaching attrition continues at the University of Alabama has BOL has learned that outside linebackers’ coach Lance Thompson will accept a job offer from Auburn coach Gus Malzahn as part of new Tigers’ defensive coordinator Will Muschamp’s defensive staff.

Dude is another helluva recruiter who’s gone.  And to Auburn?  Whoa.

Nick Saban doesn’t have time for that shit, but he’ll have to make some now.

And this last month before signing day just got very interesting indeed.

Saban, gettin’ schooled by Corch

Chris Brown, as usual, has an excellent piece on how Ohio State’s offense has evolved away from what Urban Meyer was doing at Florida.  The part in there that really caught my eye was how Meyer and his offensive coordinator, Tom Herman, schooled Saban and Smart in the national semi-final match.

The one defense that shut the Buckeyes down this season was Virginia Tech’s.  Here’s what Bud Foster did.

… in Week 2, when Virginia Tech employed a “Bear” or “Double Eagle” front, in which the defensive line pinches down and lines up with a nose tackle over the center and defensive linemen over each of the offensive guards. This strategy effectively shut down Ohio State’s inside zone running game, as the Buckeyes managed just 108 yards rushing on 40 attempts, with 70 of those yards coming from quarterback J.T. Barrett, who’d taken over in the preseason for the injured Miller, and who’s since given the reins to Cardale Jones after suffering a season-ending injury of his own. Thiswasn’t the first time a “Bear” front had proven successful against a Meyer offense, and Ohio State’s coaches knew they would need to find answers to adjust.

Guess what happened when Alabama went to a similar alignment.

The sweep is a perfect complement to OSU’s inside zone because as soon as the defense begins pinching down, Herman can call this play to get the ball to the perimeter of the defense, with several athletic linemen out in front. It’s worked: When Alabama shifted its defensive linemen down into a type of Bear front in an effort to stop OSU’s inside runs in the Sugar Bowl, Herman called for a version of the Oregon sweep, and the play went for an 85-yard Elliott touchdown — the biggest score of the game, and maybe of the Buckeyes’ season.

Sounds like somebody was better prepared that day than somebody else was.

 

“Separating the athletes from the alleged crimes is impossible.”

Early reviews on Alabama signing Jonathan Taylor aren’t favorable.  And I think this is right:

While Saban’s eagerness to help troubled athletes is admirable, maybe there should be a limit to that generosity. A year after accepting Pettway back into the fold, we’ve already reached the point where Alabama is sitting on a potential PR nightmare. Because if you think no one will ever put two and two together and point out when Pettway and Taylor are on the field at the same time, you’re fooling yourself.

Nick Saban is not a humanitarian.  If he were, Alabama’s roster management wouldn’t be the subject of criticism.  And that’s fine.  Saban isn’t paid to be a humanitarian; he’s paid to coach football.  I have no doubt he’ll turn a haughty eye towards those in the media who try to broach the subject with him.

The school won’t be so lucky, though, no matter how carefully Bill Battle claims it vetted Taylor before deciding to admit him.  That’s already apparent in the tone of the reaction to the signing, compared to, say, the mockery Auburn is subjected to with its second chance signings.

Then again, that may be because even Auburn has its limits.

Re: Jonathan Taylor. I'm told Gus Malzahn stepped in, would not allow him to visit Auburn. Falls in line with this: http://t.co/6qT82nPJkM

— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) January 7, 2015

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UPDATE:  This is interesting to follow.

It’s not exactly counting the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin, but…

Admittedly, this is a tough philosophical matter to ponder.

Lane Kiffin said he and Nick Saban have wondered how it was possible Kiffin was "higher on the most hated" coaches list.

— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) December 29, 2014

I’m amused they could take time out of their busy days to discuss it, though.