Alabama Football: Bill O’Brien may be a kind of shape shifter

Calling Alabama Football, Offensive Coordinator, Bill O’Brien a kind of shape-shifter has nothing to do with mythical or sinister powers. He is not as Merriam-Webster defines it, a being “able to change form or identity at will.” But that is exactly what Bill O’Brien did to the Alabama football offense against Ole Miss.

The 2020 Alabama Football offense was either the best in college football history – or one of the two-best. The ’20 National Champions had flaws, as do all teams. But the flaws were almost all on defense. Steve Sarkisian’s contribution to the Alabama Crimson Tide program was immense. Sark’s work continues to pay off in Tuscaloosa. No Sark, ever, as Crimson Tide OC, would have meant no Bryce Young to Alabama.

Lane Kiffin gets most of the rep as being an astute play-caller. Kiffin may well be a guy that will never be as good as a head coach, as he is as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Certainly, no current college coach sees openings in an opposing defense more quickly than Kiffin.

Kiffin just can’t help from placing himself center-stage. When his team hits the homerun, Lane wildly celebrates on the sideline and gladly draws attention to himself. Steve Sarkisian as Crimson Tide OC, was very different. Sark was more like the assassin the victim never sees; constantly calculating and probing while waiting for the precise moment for the kill shot. The game Sarkisian called against Ohio State was as close to perfect as an OC can ever achieve.

Bill O’Brien is entirely different. He is quietly tough, doggedly determined and has little need for attention. From a personality standpoint, he is a complementary fit with Nick Saban. O’Brien also knows offensive football as well as anyone.

It is early in their Crimson Tide careers, but O’Brien and Bryce Young appear to be a perfect fit. Both are patient and calculating and also decisive. Much chatter after Saturday has been the Tide went back to ‘ground and pound.’ That is not wrong, though more precisely it was still a twist on the Tide’s earlier power football offenses.

The Ole Miss plan was to take what the defense gave the Tide and punish them with it. Fifty rushing plays compared to 26 passes does not appear to be balanced. The offense was though, gaining 227 yards on the ground and 241 yards through the air.

Ole Miss was going to lose anyway, but when they chose a three-man front, with eight dropping to negate explosive plays – the game was over. O’Brien had the perfect mix of B-Rob running over and through defenders and Bryce Young picking them apart with precise throws.

It wasn’t flashy football but it was lethal. O’Brien brings such a depth of offensive systems. future defenses, adjusting to stop the Tide’s Ole Miss offense, will see something different. They will be attacked in other ways, using other O’Brien tools. Nick Saban has not gone back to 2012. Many of those ‘other’ ways will result in plenty of sizzle.

Saban has given O’Brien an Alabama offense that can be many things. For a tactician like O’Brien to use, the Tide’s combination of system and talent affords more alternatives and derivatives than any defense can scheme against.

Alabama Football Offense Will Improve

The Alabama Football offense is not a fully developed product. O’Brien is far from finished in crafting the 2021 version. Opposing defenses may exploit weaknesses but they will always be guessing. Opposing DCs best never think they see the Tide’s full offensive picture. In a blink, what they think they see, could be something entirely different. That’s what qualifies Bill O’Brien as a kind of shape-shifter.

So far, this Alabama Crimson Tide does not have a ‘Shootout’ offense. With an improved defense and O’Brien’s bevy of schemes, the Tide may not need one.