Morning Kickoff: Crimson Tide News 12/11

Get your day started with the Morning Kickoff. All your Crimson Tide news in one place.

Alabama receiver recruit Daylon Charlot ‘definitely undecided’ between Crimson Tide, LSU

"Daylon Charlot has been committed to Alabama for 10 months, but the 4-star receiver from Patterson, La., is “definitely undecided” now, according to Patterson coach Chad Blanchard.“He’s being pulled in a lot of different directions,” Blanchard said. “It can be pretty tough on (kids), especially a small-town kid who wants to get into college and get himself some pretty good opportunities.”Charlot officially visited LSU last weekend, and the Tigers have put the pressure on the star receiver to change his pledge. Since then, the story has gone several different directions.Charlot told NOLA.com on Sunday that he was planning to decommit from Alabama. He told BamaOnline Monday that he was still solid to Alabama. He told Scout.com on Tuesday that he was no longer committed to Alabama, but could still end up there."

It’s tough on these kids when folks are pulling them in all different directions. Sometimes the home state people pressure them to stay home. All you can hope for is the young man makes the decision that is best for him and not what others outside his family are telling him.

2014 Alabama Team Is Nick Saban’s Crowning Achievement

"It’s Alabama, so I shouldn’t be surprised the Crimson Tide are a final-four team. Well, I am surprised. I’m actually a little bit stunned, even with the SEC being down this season.I mean, these guys need two wins to snatch a national championship with a squad that should have gone 9-3.This is Nick Saban and his staff’s best work at Alabama in the eight seasons he has been there. It really is.The quarterback is 6’0″. He was a scout-team quarterback. The coaching staff tried to put him at wide receiver, then running back. There were all kinds of reasons not to hand the job to Blake Sims. Saban was ready to give it to transfer Jake Coker the morning of the August 16 scrimmage, a team source said, but decided on Sims. Now look at Sims. MVP of the SEC Championship Game."

Can’t argue this at all. We had too many questions this year and wasn’t expected to have a great season. A great season for Alabama nowadays is winning championships. Dropping a few games gets folks testy, as bad as that is. And yet, here we are.

Evolution of Alabama’s offense pushes Tide

"In the waning moments of Alabama’s 42-13 win against Missouri in the SEC championship game, quarterback Blake Sims beelined toward the man in white.Rocking that patented visor and his light, white Alabama jacket, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin embraced his signal-caller, swaying back and forth, as if they were the only people inside the Georgia Dome.It was a sign of victory and raw elation. It was also a sign of the times, something many familiar with Alabama’s program didn’t see coming the day Kiffin, essentially a runoff head coach, was hired by Nick Saban to guide his offense."

The offense is clicking this year and the team seems to be clicking as well at just the right time. Bowl season is here and it’s time to shine.

Constant motion keeps Alabama’s Amari Cooper one step ahead

"Amari Cooper is busy this week, but then again he generally has everything except free time on his hands. Alabama’s lead wide receiver began the week with five final exams between Monday and Tuesday. He flew to Florida on Wednesday to take part in the college football awards extravaganza Thursday night. Then it will be on to New York City and two days of tourism and feting as one of three Heisman Trophy finalists, the fourth Crimson Tide player to get the invite since 2009.Consider the whirlwind week emblematic of how the 6-foot-1 junior has gotten to this point, becoming most prolific single-season pass-catcher in SEC history: constant movement, shifting locations, and a dose of intense star treatment following him wherever he wound up.“One of the things that we try to do to counteract (defensive attention) is move him around a lot,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said before a win over Missouri in the SEC championship game propelled the Crimson Tide to the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. “People really don’t sort of understand and maybe respect how difficult that is for him, to be able to make the adaptations and adjustments to play different positions, even though it’s all receiver.”"

Hard to cover Cooper when you never know where he is going to be. Kiffin is great at creating mismatches and it would help a lot in the postseason.