Alabama Football: The State of the Crimson Tide Part 1

Enough is going to be discussed and parsed through concerning Alabama football over the next four months. Here’s what Bama Hammer thinks about the Tide’s chances exiting the spring.

Alabama football is fine. Seriously. It’s all good.

The world came tumbling down for those of us looking to celebrate a sixth national championship in the last ten seasons. It was not in the cards. Clemson came down hard on the Tide in January. Unless you were a Tiger fan (or every other college football fan on the planet) it was a horrific sight to behold.

Oh, and don’t you worry: once SEC Media Days officially kicks off the 2019 college football preseason, there will be plenty of around-the-clock coverage of how truly morbid Alabama football’s loss was that evening.

Take heart, though, Bama Nation: they ain’t dead. They’re not six feet under. Let the rest of ’em write off the aging, haunch-challenged recipient of six national title rings. Dude still has plenty left in the tank.

(If you coach cornerbacks at 67, some pelvic issues may arise. Consult your doctor.)

That being said, you don’t lose three potential first-rounders and a host of other talent and not feel the effect. Gone is Alabama football’s top overall defender, along with two each of the defense’s starting linebackers and defensive backs. Offensively, they lose two of their top three running backs, their top two tight ends and their All-American left tackle and center.

Technically speaking, these are not personnel losses from which you just “reload.”

Much goes into the juggernaut that has been Alabama football over the last decade-plus. Recruiting multiple elite players at the same position is number one, of course; Saban knows he needs a very specific type of player who can not only compete at a high level at his position, but one who understands everything else going on around him.

On top of this, you have yet another season of coaching turnover that saw the Tide lose seven of its ten assistants from the 2018 staff. (Dabo still has all of his.)

It’s okay, though. Assistants at Alabama are a little like maitre d’s: fun to look at, but rarely functional in the overall experience.

There are five factors to what makes Alabama Football (2007-current) what it is:

1. Nick Saban (do you really think if Dabo Swinney lost 5-7 of his assistants every year his teams would go 15-0?)
2. Scott Cochran (the Strength & Conditioning Coach sees the players more than almost anyone else in the program)
3. Jeff Allen (the Head Trainer picks up the broken pieces left from Cochran’s grueling “4th Quarter Program”)
4. Amy Bragg (the Team Nutritionist makes sure these players eat healthy and well and there’s not a better one in the biz)
5. The Players (duh)

The players returning in 2019 are pretty good, too. Offensively, there’s Jedrick Wills and Alex Leatherwood on the line, Najee Harris at running back, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs III, Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle at receiver and, of course, Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback.

Defensively, you have Raekwon Davis on the line, Dylan Moses, Anfernee Jennings and Terrell Lewis at linebacker and Xavier McKinney, Shyheim Carter, Jared Mayden, Trevon Diggs and Patrick Surtain, Jr. all returning at defensive back.

This isn’t taking into account the fellas who are expected to take a step forward this upcoming season: Chris Allen and Eyabi Anoma (OLB), LaBryan Ray and Phidarian Mathis (DL), Josh Jobe (CB), Brian Robinson (RB), Chris Owens and Emil Ekiyor (OL) and Miller Forristall (TE).

And what about those precocious early enrollees who just graduated from high school? Defensive tackle, DJ Dale, was repping with the first team defensive line by A-Day. Shane Lee (ILB) and Evan Neal (OL) worked their way from the back of the pack at the beginning of spring ball to possible starters in 2019. John Metchie (WR) has a ways to go to supplant Jeudy, Ruggs, Smith and Waddle, but winning A Day MVP honors is a start.

However, this is all putting the cart before the horse, because team chemistry is a must. Enough has been reported following the title game about assistants and players, alike, being out for themselves. However true these reports are, it does give one pause: Has the “old man” lost control of his program?

(For what it’s worth, typing that last sentence made me chuckle.)

Prognosticating something specific about the 2019 Alabama football team before fall camp is tricky. One can surmise, though, based off previous Nick Saban teams failing to reach the top of the summit (especially failing to do so in the manner in which they did in 2018), the returning players should be able to re-engage and play with purpose this season.

That all remains to be seen, of course, but I have a feeling that, with a relatively easy schedule (containing a possible slip-up along the way), we’ll probably be seeing the Tide back in position for its sixth College Football Playoff appearance in as many years. I don’t bet against Alabama football until I’m given a reason to do so.

Haven’t had a reason since January 4, 2007.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of posts on the same theme by different writers. Please come back for more analysis from the Bama Hammer staff over the next several days.