Obviously, 2024 features a new horizon for Alabama football with Nick Saban gone, and there’s one college football coach who believes the Crimson Tide will take a step back in one crucial area on the field.
Saban was a multi-faceted diamond as a football coach. He recruited incredibly well, for starters, but always fielded elite defenses and eventually pivoted to a more pass-centric offensive attack in the late 2010s and early 2020s to win his final championships.
But it’s his savant-level understanding of defensive schematics that will be most missed, according to one anonymous college football coach who spoke with Lindy Sports for their preseason magazine.
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“The biggest change people don’t understand is Alabama, since 2007, has had maybe the best defensive mind in the history of college football,” the coach said in reference to Saban. He went on to add that Saban was always one step ahead.
“Occasionally somebody might get him, but he was so far ahead of taking away what people did best on offense on a weekly basis and was willing to tweak things to stop what you do best.”
It’s that special trait that this coach believes is impossible to replace, no matter who took over the job.
“When that walks out the door, it’s arguably not replaceable. They’ve still got talent, but there’s a major change defensively, and how that transpires remains to be seen.”
Another coach said he’s not counting out Kalen DeBoer and was complimentary towards the new leader in Tuscaloosa, believing he can replicate that dynamic offense he had at Washington.
“I think Kalen DeBoer, with his record at three places, is an established top-level football coach. I don’t think there’s any question about that. And in this day and age, it’s easier to implement offensive football systems because there’s so much similarity within systems.”
However, Alabama’s true ceiling could be decided by how much they drop off — or if they do at all — from Saban’s defensive dynasty.
This offseason, Nick Saban ended a 17-year career with Alabama that included six of his record seven national championships, 16 straight 10-win seasons after going 7-6 in Year 1 in Tuscaloosa, and numerous other New Year’s Six Bowl victories and College Football Playoff appearances. Even this past season, Saban’s final Crimson Tide team fell in overtime vs. eventual national champ Michigan in the CFP semis.
Now, it’s onward with the DeBoer era at ‘Bama.
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