Alabama Football: On agendas getting in the way of championships

For Alabama football, a whole lot went wrong against Clemson. Not surprisingly, Nick Saban believes he knows what it was.

Never make the mistake of presuming Alabama football coach Nick Saban is not a nuanced thinker. A not uncommon flaw of those with laser-like singleness of purpose is a narrow field of perception. Nick Saban does not suffer such an affliction.

Saban, in his own way, values insights other than his own. He is open to learning from anyone who knows something he doesn’t. Just one example of that is Lane Kiffin.

What Nick Saban abhors and guards against obsessively is deviant behavior. Behavior that does not strictly adhere to Nick Saban’s plan. Apparently, at points during the 2018 season, Nick Saban had to confront such harmful behavior.

Was the impact of the deviant behavior why Alabama football performed in such an un-championship-like manner against Clemson? Did it cost Alabama football a national championship?

Those of us not inside the program cannot answer the questions. We can only search for clues and Nick Saban offered a big one this week. Listen carefully to the answer when asked what went wrong against Clemson.

Nick Saban specifically spoke about players. Players who apparently put their “own agendas ahead of the team.” Of course, all of us want to know what players. How many Alabama football players was Nick speaking about and for how long was the problem evident? Was it a post-season problem or had it existed throughout the season? When did Nick Saban “address” the problems? Was it after the season, and if so, did it motivate any player departures?

Since we do not have those answers, we are left with conjecture. It is tempting to point at a player or a few players. There have been a few rumors. They have been so sketchy, we will not repeat them here.

Instead, we’ll ask another question. Could it be putting agendas “ahead of the team” was not confined to player actions. Were some assistant coaches likewise guilty? Again we don’t know.

We are left to surmise that whatever transpired by whom has been handled by Nick Saban. Handled, as in stopped, finito, not going to happen again.

Dissension inside groups of people is common. No team is immune from it. No fan should expect otherwise. But when it is so eventful Nick Saban not only talks about it, but sends a message in the process, pay attention.

It is unfair to think of a 14-1 season as a failure. No other program in college football would do so. But the Alabama Crimson Tide has long been measured by the standard of national championships and losing one only fuels more fire for the next one.