The A-Day Game on Saturday is the only dress rehearsal for Alabama football and its expected 2017 blockbuster, Saban-Daboll Offense. What kind of show can Tide fans expect?
We are dispensing with our standard opening, regaling the following of Alabama football in a simpler time. No doubt to the relief of most readers. Today, we also discard our usual summary in favor a bit of commentary.
The Daily Insider: April 20
On Saturday, April 22, Nick Saban unveils his new show on an old stage. The unveiling will be a glimpse, snippets from the full release on September 2.
The new show is as yet, untitled. The platform is the spring inter-squad scrimmage. Fans will flock to Tuscaloosa to admire, analyze and agonize over every clue to the new Saban-Daboll repertoire.
The 2017 defense may uncustomarily be relegated to bit players. If there was an admission, it would be the offense fans would be paying to see.
Alabama Crimson Tide Football
What will we see in the Saban approved snippets? Based on the ten previous Saban spring affairs, we will not see much. As it should be. For what we see on Saturday will be scrutinized by FSU for months.
Let’s consider what offensive reveals may be available for our consumption. After the second spring scrimmage, a knowledgeable observer compared the Daboll offense to a Homer Smith offense.
Any comparison to Homer Smith is the most compelling tease the new Saban-Daboll show could ever receive.
Homer Smith was one the greatest offensive minds in football of the last fifty years. Some would argue he was THE greatest offensive mind in the modern game of college football.
Smith had a coaching career from 1958 until 1997. He made a lot of stops as an assistant and head coach: Stanford, UCLA, Army, Arizona (and others), plus two stints as Crimson Tide offensive coordinator.
Smith was a highly intelligent man. He had a business degree from Princeton, a MBA from Stanford and a Divinity degree from Harvard. More than anything he was a teacher.
Speaking about his love for teaching football, as reported by Sports Illustrated in 1980,
"“It is a fierce kind of joy I have in teaching. Seeing a skill I’ve helped develop taken into a fight, seeing it used with courage, that’s addicting. You crave more of it.”"
In Smith’s time as Alabama offensive coordinator for Bill Curry and Gene Stallings, he developed David Smith, Gary Hollingsworth and Jay Barker. Neither Smith or Hollingsworth were physically gifted athletes but guided by Homer, they played great football.
In 1989, Alabama was playing Ole Miss in Jackson, MS. In the first quarter, Ole Miss took a 21-0 lead. The Tide response was to score 62 unanswered points, 41 of those points in the second quarter. The explosion came from a Homer Smith offense directed by a spindly Gary Hollingsworth.
Here are some highlights after the Tide trailed 21-0.
Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News interviewed Smith after the game tidesports.com. Hurt asked:
"“Coach, what did you think when your team was scoring 62 straight points?”“Two words,” he (Smith) answered. “Deo Gratias.”"
Unlike Cecil, most of us need help with the Latin translation. “Deo Gratias” means “Thanks be to God.” Given the calamity that would have befallen head coach Bill Curry, had the Tide not survived that trip to Jackson – a simple prayer was the consummate response.
Homer Smith ran precision offensive attacks. His schemes were complex and his players were taught to have intimate knowledge of their offensive roles.
Alabama fans can only hope – and if so inclined, pray – that Brian Daboll earns a comparison to Homer Smith.
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