Missouri defensive end Sheldon Richardson pointed out the wrong team when he said Georgia played “old man football.”
Or, maybe just the wrong head coach.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said on his Wednesday teleconference that he isn’t a fan of speed -- as in up-tempo offenses -- because of the risk it puts on player safety. Here’s a portion of what Saban had to say:“I think that the way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time, we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety. The team gets in the same formation group, you can’t substitute defensive players, you go on a 14-, 16-, 18-play drive and they’re snapping the ball as fast as you can go and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can’t even get lined up. That’s when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt when they’re not ready to play.
“I think that’s something that can be looked at. It’s obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points and we’re averaging 49.5 points a game. With people that do those kinds of things. More and more people are going to do it.
“I just think there’s got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking is this what we want football to be?”
In other words, get off Saban’s lawn, Dana Holgorsen.
As a defensive-minded coach, Saban understandably takes issue with something that favors the offensive side of the ball; much of what is and isn’t allowed in football does. In this situation, it’s the defense that has to adapt personnel-wise to the style of offense the opponent is running.
But you can also say that it doesn’t matter what tempo the offense uses in getting to the line of scrimmage if someone gets their clocked cleaned or tears an ACL. The game itself is faster. Players are bigger, faster and hit harder. Secondly, trends ebb and flow, but winning football games can always come down to a pair of basic principles: having the right personnel and execution. A no-huddle offense is just like any other offense in that it isn’t effective if it goes three-and-out more often than not.
And it’s not like Saban’s struggling for talent, either.
That’s just one hack’s opinion, though. Thoughts on Saban’s remarks?
(Quotes courtesy of al.com)