Alabama Football: On quarterback decisions, Nick Saban and Finebaum drivel

On Wednesday, Nick Saban was asked about a two-QB system for Alabama Football to use against Ole Miss. His response was that doing so had not been considered. That is pretty significant news leading up to Saturday’s game. However, if Alabama has a contingency plan to use two quarterbacks on Saturday, it would be foolish to talk about it in advance.

Ole Miss must prepare for two quarterbacks anyway, based on the likelihood the Alabama football offense would adjust to the strengths of either Jalen Milroe or Ty Simpson if both play in the game.

As a fan hoping for a strong offensive performance, whatever Nick Saban and Tommy Rees decide is fine with me. I like the idea of planning to use Milroe and Simpson, but that would require the coaching staff and the Crimson Tide offensive players to have comparable confidence in each one. If they don’t, then Milroe is the only choice.

What I have no appetite for are those who have gladly written off Saban and the Crimson Tide three games into the season. Writing for FanSided  Josh Wilson stated,

"Paul Finebaum perfectly articulates how cooked Nick Saban is as Alabama head coach"

Wilson’s title is catchy. No doubt it plays well with the legions of college football fans who have longed for Saban’s demise for many years. Wilson went on to say 100% correctly that “all is not well’ in the Alabama football program.

Let me be clear, Wilson and Finebaum are entitled to their opinions. But I’m not quoting Finebaum and his criticism of Saban’s latest Milroe decision. Instead, I am using Wilson’s words to disagree. To me Finebaum has not “perfectly articulated” anything about Nick Saban in many years. Why would anyone expect him to be doing so now?

Winning Alabama Football Games

Decades ago, Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant snapped at a reporter who asked why Bryant had made a certain decision in a game. He barked an answer that he was trying to win the game. Without the barking that is what Nick Saban is doing now – trying to win the game.

After Milroe’s miscues against Texas, Saban and Tommy Rees needed to see how two other Tide quarterbacks would do in a game well-suited to test them. Ty Buchner did not pass his test. Ty Simpson showed promise and a need for improvement.

Of course, Alabama has gone back to Milroe as the best option. And also of course, rather than saying that in two games (Texas and USF) three Alabama football quarterbacks were not good enough, Saban wove a more positive story.

Finebaum knows full disclosure by coaches is a form of malpractice. He also knows in trying to win games, coaches use spin. Finebaum’s uber-successful brand is built on making sports a soap opera. In no way is that “perfect articulation.”

The Ole Miss game is huge for Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. A loss would be devastating. Without a hard-to-imagine transformation by Alabama, Ole Miss could be the better team. Whatever the game’s outcome, it will have nothing to do with what Nick Saban said about his quarterbacks between game three and game four.