Saban’s coaching philosophy makes ‘Bama great

Former USC head coach John Robinson posed a question on this week’s conference call:

“It’s the coaching part of the game that I’d be curious about. Like why Alabama is different from everybody else. They’re more physical and tougher, and it seems like a year or two ago, it was the fast quick, not so physical teams that were good. And here Alabama looks like a throwback to the era when we all coached.“

Why do these teams have certain things going for them?

Pat Dye: I think Alabama can play the way they’re playing because they have better people than anybody else in the conference except Florida and maybe LSU. That’s Saban’s style of coaching: He’s going to get better people and they’re going to line up and he’s going to be as simple as he can be. They’re not too simple on defense, but they impose their will upon you on offense. They make you defend the run game, and then they go with the play action pass.

Robinson: It’s good to hear that still works!

John Cooper: Nick Saban, I’ve coached against him and Bill Mallory has in this league, and he’s a damn good football coach. He’s a tough, hardnosed, no-nonsense type guy. He coaches probably the same way as us when we thought we were pretty good.

Dye: Auburn can’t line up against Alabama and be conventional and beat them. There’s no way. They have to do something that’s going to give them problems with getting in the right place on defense and keeping up with where the ball’s going. I think that’s what you’re seeing across the country —with the Houstons and the Boise States and their offenses — is creating problems for defenses until you get to somebody like Alabama where their people are better than your people.

RC Slocum: I hear people talk right now, saying that nobody even plays defense anymore. I think you need to look at that. Back in the day, when both sides of the ball were running a wishbone or a conventional run-type offense and were getting 50-55 plays on offense and both teams were doing that, defenses weren’t giving up as many points. But they weren’t getting exposed. Now when teams are getting 90 snaps against you — with the way they’re managing the clock and the no-huddle offense — a defense can play pretty well and still give up some points. If you get exposed that many times, you’re probably going to give up some points.

Frank Kush: Some teams — like Oregon State — are very consistent. They’re not the most talented, but I’ve been impressed with them fundamentally. In contrast, there are some teams that commit a lot of penalties, make a heck of a lot of mental mistakes and are inconsistent. I think coaching is so significant. That’s why the likes of the Paternos and some of these guys continue to win — they’re getting the maximum amount out of their players and get them prepared mentally.

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