We’ve added a member to the AG team. Moggy is an old friend and third-generation Alabama alum living in Tuscaloosa. Soon as I figure out how to add him to the official posters, he’ll post as himself. Until then, it’s my byline. Folks, leave a comment and let him know he’s welcome. —Tony
I’ve been thinking about Alabama these past two weeks. I guess we all have, in between our collective sighs of relief. It occurred to me after the Vandy win that Alabama has been accused for twenty-plus years of trying to replace Bear Bryant. Move on, the critics said. Let the Bear go. Go outside the family. Stop looking back and dwelling on your past.
That sort of thinking has yielded a lot of angst in the Crimson Tide community. And it’s led to some pretty bad karma for this program. But I now think the ‘replace Bear’ philosophy may have been right all along.
You see, Alabama isn’t like other football programs. In fact, I’ll argue all day long that in terms of tradition, expectations and pressure, Alabama is totally unique in all of college football. No matter how good a coach is, you can’t simply insert him onto Alabama’s sidelines and expect success there. It’s like forcing a round peg into a square hole. There are too many intangibles at work here. Sneer at us if you like. Call us outdated, tell us to dig Bear up and put him on the sidelines… whatever. You’re missing the point. The answer was there all along, staring all of us Alabama fans in the face: We weren’t looking just a football coach. We were looking for someone special. Someone who fits. I believe that Alabama found only its second perfectly matched coach since Bear Bryant died when Nick Saban was hired.
Most programs expect a coach to come in and make a team his own. And that works fine for many schools. But, as I said, Alabama is different. Its football program is a living, breathing thing with its own personality. You can be a Bill Curry or a Fran and come in here and put your stamp on things — but the stamp will only be skin deep at best.
Take the tower down? Sure, Ray. Football classes for women? A weekly website update? Why not, Fran? A co-head coach? Uh… Okay, Mike.
That’s all superficial stuff. Winning the Alabama way is the only thing that matters.
It’s not all bad for a mis-matched coach. The nature of the beast is such that you’ll get a 10-win season or two damn near automatically. And you’ll always be able to stick your chest out on national TV and talk “knowingly” about “what it takes to win at Alabama” — but in the long run, you’re not a good match and the pressure forces you to cave. And you’ll sit in your anchor chair on the post-show TV set and allude to the “unrealistic expectations in Tuscaloosa.”
I guess all along, we all knew deep down inside we needed someone special. Someone that fit this program. So, for a long time, Alabama fans put an emphasis on finding someone “in the family.” Of course, we completely forgot that Frank Thomas and Wallace Wade weren’t “family” when they came to Alabama. But both men fit. They matched the character and the culture. They excelled. They became part of the family. Very important members, in fact.
But we found out the hard way that being a member of the family doesn’t automatically mean you’re a good match as a head coach. Oh, you might be a good assistant coach. But head coach — no. That takes something extra. Something intangible. Perkins wasn’t a good match. Shula inherited an absolute mess — but he wasn’t a good match. Dubose — about as “family” as you can get. And we all know how that turned out.
When the family route didn’t work out, we caved to the critics and went outside the family: Curry, Fran, Price… All decent football coaches. All a horrible match for the Crimson Tide.
Stallings was a good match. Saban is a good match. Both share a coaching style that is highly reminiscent of Bryant’s — an emphasis on recruiting, discipline, cunning, intuitive game plans and aggressive, physical play, to put it in a nutshell.
There’s an intangible here that I’m trying to articulate, but we all know what it is. You know Alabama football when you see it. You get a glimpse of it every now and then with a mis-matched coach — Shula’s trouncing of Florida springs to mind as an example.
But now, you’re seeing it every week, every play, regardless of the opponent, the score or how much time is left on the clock. You saw it when Gene Stallings was coach. Alabama looks like, well, Alabama.
And that’s a sentiment Alabama fans have been expressing one way or another for the past two weeks. No, we’re not expecting a national championship this year. But the team plays with purpose and poise. They look like they know what they’re supposed to be doing and when they’re supposed to be doing it. The play-calling is top notch. Clock management is top notch. And the coaches are actually coaching players and making adjustments during the game. Opposing team helmets fly off during tackles. Opposing quarterbacks are taken out. Players hit hard, block hard and are still standing tall when the fourth quarter begins.
That’s not to say anything is carved in stone. Alabama has a long way to go this season with many highly ranked and motivated opponents. But taken as a whole, the Alabama sideline and players are performing like a well-oiled machine. The fans love it because they’ve seen it before. The Tide today evokes memories of teams that played when Gene Stallings or Bear Bryant stalked the sidelines. It’s familiar to us. It’s comforting. It’s what we’ve longed for and been vilified nationally for refusing to give up. At long last, it’s Alabama football the way it’s supposed to look and supposed to be played. And all because — finally — we’ve found a coach that matches our program.
As for Auburn — They’re a mess. And they have no legitimate reason in the world to be. They’ve been riding high ever since Alabama got into NCCAA trouble. They ought to be at the height of their power now — loaded with recruits, tons of depth at every position, experience out the wazoo, a focused coaching staff.
But it’s not there. The glass ain’t even half empty… it’s bone dry,teetering on the edge of the table and about to crash onto the concrete floor.
The most amazing thing about Auburn so far this year is how freakin’ clueless they are. They lucked out and won against unranked K-State. The Tigers were flat-out handed that game in the fourth quarter — and they learned absolutely nothing in the process.
Cue the cheering Orange-clad crowds and Auburn players waving their “We’re number 1” fingers in the air for the ESPN camera crews. Grab the toilet paper and head for Toomer’s Corner. Auburn wins again! Hooray!
The Tigers went into the locker room and congratulated themselves for pulling out a victory over a tough K-State team — a team they were sneering at mere hours before as being unworthy of their time and best effort.
Oh, I’m sure Tubbs got on them a little bit for the sloppy play. But then what? It’s obvious Auburn players and coaches ignored all the warning signs — both internal and external — they should have taken away from the K-State game. But no. It was business as usual on The Plains. South Florida? Mississippi State? New Mexico? Hell, everybody knows Auburn’s football season doesn’t really start until the Tigers automatically upset Florida on Sept. 29th.
And that’s Auburn’s problem. They look ahead. Usually they start the season looking ahead to the Iron Bowl. This year it was Florida. No matter. The end result is the same. Nobody told K-State they would be playing a preseason game. And USF took one look at the game film and knew they could beat the mighty Tigers.
And so, Auburn, over-confident as usual, ignored all of it: They learned nothing from the K-State game film. They dismissed the writers and pundits who predicted another Michigan-style upset. It was all unthinkable. After all, anyone who really knew Auburn football, who understood how special it was, knew that an upset was out of the question.
Tuberville’s pre-game pep talk, broadcast by ESPN, was typical: “That’s a dern good football team out there,” Tubs told his boys. “But we’re a pretty dern good football team ourselves!”
Huh?
Well… surprise, surprise! As Gomer would say. An upset was exactly what they got. Embarrassed on national TV by a program that is all of ten years old.
I’m not taking anything away from USF — they’re a highly talented team and may be the next FSU-style program looking to make a leap into the big time. The Bulls played hard and earned every second of the adulation they’re now getting in the national press.
But if you’re Auburn, with five years of success behind your program, a loss like this is inexcusable. USF should’ve been a tough, but winnable game — a good warmup for the tough
road ahead.
So now what? Where does Auburn go from here?
Two possible things may happen. One: The embarrassment factor (and the Tubs panic factor) may kick in and a pissed-off Auburn may win out.
That’s unlikely, based on the two games I’ve seen. These guys are playing the way all the nay-sayers said Alabama would this season. They’re not aggressive. They’re can’t protect their QB, who’s flinching every time an opposing player comes near him. They make stupid mistakes both on the field and on the sidelines. They look confused and frustrated. They need massive improvement in so many different areas I would be utterly alarmed as an Auburn fan.
Now, knowing the typical AU mentality, they’re thinking they’ve got two weeks to make those adjustments. Which means they’re overlooking MSU. And I don’t blame them. The ‘Dogs are pretty bad this year. But I’ll bet you Sly Croom ain’t overlooking Auburn. I’m not saying I’d
expect another upset this weekend — but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Croom throws everything including the kitchen sink at Cox and goes for broke. Why the hell not? Croom is part of the Alabama family, after all. And he sure as hell doesn’t have anything to lose by going for broke.
But, hey, none of that matters, Auburn thinking goes. Why, State stunk it up against LSU. so there’s no reason to expect anything different when we play them, right? Easy win! Let’s go buy some more toilet paper now so we won’t have to Friday night!
Auburn WILL beat New Mexico. We all know that. But what then? The only sure bet I’d give them is Tenn Tech — and Ole Miss, I guess.
But let’s face facts here, friends. The Vandy I watched play Alabama Saturday afternoon would’ve wiped the floor with Auburn last weekend. So that’s one game that’s no longer the sure thing Auburn fans would like us to all believe. Who’s left? Georgia? Arkansas? Florida?
Alabama?
Is there anyone out there who — right here, right now — would lay money down in Vegas for a definite Auburn win over any of those programs? I didn’t think so.
Again, nothing is carved in stone. South Florida could serve as a badly needed wake-up call for the Tigers. On the other hand, this could just as easily be a five-loss season for Auburn.
Does Tubbs survive that?