As Alabama’s QB Battle Continues, In Saban We Trust

Nick Saban makes $7,000,000 a year, which comes out to about $583,333 per game. Coach Saban has taken Alabama to three national championships during his tenure here at The Capstone, and while every team must rebuild, Saban shows no signs of slowing down.

He has repeatedly told the Crimson Tide fan base that he plans on settling in Tuscaloosa and making Alabama his final coaching job; the one job that will define him long after he is gone. So can someone explain to me why a man who is getting paid more per game than I will make in the next 20 years and has more of an ego than can fit into one room, would pick the wrong quarterback?

Alabama fans have become polarized about the quarterback race here at Alabama, but there was a time when these two players were practicing next to one another without controversy. It was not until reputable local shows began hinting towards Blake Sims starting over Jake Coker that the pot began to simmer, and once these hints confirmed against West Virginia, the pot boiled over.

People began criticizing Sims within the first few plays of his first offensive drive as a starter – and would not let up until Alabama won the game several hours later. As another article on this site pointed out, Blake Sims’ stats revealed his first start was just as good, if not better, than his two predecessors who both have at least one national championship ring.

People argue that Sims should be better because he is a fifth year senior. Okay, great. He is a fifth year senior who had not started a game and played this many minutes his entire time at Alabama.

People argue that because Sims is a fifth year senior he should have already seen playing time if he was good enough to be Alabama’s starting quarterback. Let’s remember that two people helped Sims get infinitely better than the quarterback we saw in previous season(s) and during the Spring game: Lane Kiffin and Jake Coker.

Lane Kiffin brought in a new style of offense that is quick, short-pass friendly, and a new attitude to the team. Jake Coker brought in competition for the starting quarterback position. The presence of these two people helped push Sims to work harder and do drills the entire summer which has clearly paid off. And who brought in Lane Kiffin? Who led the charge to recruit Jake Coker away from Florida State? Nick Saban.

With less than two minutes remaining against West Virginia, Coker entered the game and you would have thought from the uproar in the Georgia Dome and reaction on social media it was the second coming.

We had the opportunity to see a lot more of Coker this weekend inside Bryant-Denny, and he shows a lot of promise. However, like every young quarterback attempting to learn a new system, we did see some errors.

First, Coker has a problem with timing. Can Coker throw that ball a long way? Yes. But he doesn’t have enough experience in the system and with his receivers to get the timing aspect down. I believe this is not an accuracy issue with Coker, but merely a timing issue. And timing can only be fixed through repetition, which is something we cannot afford to waste against SEC teams.

We also saw Coker have one explosive run yesterday, and it was great! However, most of the game Coker sat in the pocket and looked almost too poised. He held onto the ball for too long and, on at least two occasions, attempted to throw the ball too far down field instead of picking the open receiver running across the middle.

At one point, Coker was also hit a little late out-of-bounds and he reacted by pushing the player. A lot of people seemed really excited by his reaction, but let me reframe this situation for you: What if Coker had pushed this player in a big-time game, received a personal foul, and his inability to stay cool under pressure resulted in three points instead of six? This season Alabama will need every point we can squeeze out of our offense, so Coker’s lack of maturity is inexcusable.

Blake Sims needs to work on the long ball. Jake Coker needs to work on his timing and watch how he handles himself on the field. The fans need to work on how they react in the stands and on social media outlets.

Remember that when you express your opinion, positive or negative, you are representing The University of Alabama. There is a small, but vocal, group of people who are very much against Blake Sims as the starting quarterback. Every time I ask one of these vocal fans why Coker should start over Sims, they tell me because he can throw the long ball. Did you see him yesterday? Was he throwing that long ball with a blindfold on? He had two long passes that were eerily similar to Sims’ passes in the first game. Yet, people gave words of encouragement to Coker while continuing to beat Sims down.

I chalk this controversy up to a couple of things. First, we all remember how Coker came to join the Alabama roster. After weeks of speculation and hard work by the Alabama coaching staff, Jacob Coker arrived in Tuscaloosa and became “Jake.” With practices being closed, and most statistics not being reported, many fans probably assumed the backup to Crab Legs McGee would be just as good right out of the gate. Well, that is why we call assuming – assumicide.

A smart part of our fan base got their hopes up so high on Coker that they were crushed when Blake Sims started for the Crimson Tide. A second, even smaller group, is painting the fan base like a bunch of racists. Every major fan base is going to have a diverse group of people and Alabama is no different. Sadly, a small, vocal group of fans are crying for Coker because they do not want a black man to lead the Tide to victory each week.

For the smart group which assumed Coker would start, there is still hope that he may start by season’s end. For the other group who are blinded by hate: find another team. For every other Alabama fan who simply wants a quarterback that can win another championship: Trust in Saban.