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Bateman and Barnett on their reason for transferring from bama
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:15 am
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:15 am
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They're no longer at Alabama, but former Crimson Tide quarterbacks Blake Barnett and Cooper Bateman are in familiar positions as they compete to earn the starting jobs at Arizona State and Utah, respectively. This time, however, both players hope the competitions end and, perhaps more importantly, are handled differently.
To be clear, both Barnett and Bateman have a lot of respect for Alabama coach Nick Saban as a football coach, but neither was happy with the communication they received last year related to their individual situations. When true freshman Jalen Hurts received the bulk of the playing time in Alabama's season-opening 52-6 win against USC, it caught both players off guard.
"Long story short, I was just as surprised as everyone else," Bateman said. "It wasn't really how it was told to me it was going to be."
Heading into the game, Barnett said he was under the impression the job was his and Bateman believed he would split time with Barnett, which is what Saban said publicly would be the case the week of the game.
That, of course, isn't how it played out. Hurts replaced Barnett after two series against USC and didn't give way to Barnett again until he helped guide the Tide to a 38-3 lead. Looking back, Barnett said he believes the plan was to play Hurts all along. The mop-up duty he and Bateman received did little to quell their frustration, and almost immediately both players thought about transferring.
"How things were communicated, there was a lack of communication," Bateman said. "I knew I didn't want to be involved with that anymore, but fortunately that was the first game of the season -- 12, 13 more to go. I put my head down and battled through it. I knew after that first game that I didn't really want to be a part of it anymore."
Before the game, Barnett, a former five-star recruit and the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2015, said Saban told him there would be some zone read packages for Hurts, but he shouldn't worry about it.
"According to him, I was their guy," Barnett said. "Once Jalen went in, I was expecting it. But then he went out on the next series, the next series and the next series. I don't know if everything was communicated correctly."
At first, Barnett thought he would finish the season with Alabama and then transfer. He assumed he would have to sit out the 2017 season and then have two years of eligibility remaining, but after his father did some research they learned he could be eligible a calendar year after withdrawing from classes. Leaving the team early in the season wasn't ideal, but by doing so it would potentially maximize his eligibility at a new school. After four games, Barnett finally made the decision to leave the program.
And that decision didn't sit well with Saban, who on his radio show voiced his displeasure with the unconventional transfer.
"It's one of those things where I think the culture has changed a little bit," Saban said. "I think there's a certain pride people have in competition. There's certain things that I was taught growing up about not quitting and seeing things through. I think if I would have come home and told my dad that I was going to quit the team, I think he would have kicked me out of the house. I don't think I'd have a place to stay."
That Saban was upset didn't surprise Barnett. He knew he would be, but he didn't expect him to be so public about it.
"Obviously, I didn't expect them to be happy in any way. Them being upset and holding a grudge -- that was expected to me," Barnett said. "The only thing I took offense to is that Saban goes out to media and tried to diminish my reputation for a decision I made that was best for my career individually. It was kind offensive that he would go out and bash a 20-year-old."
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:17 am to sicboy
Long story short, if either of them were better, they'd still be at Alabama.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:18 am to sicboy
quote:soft
Saban goes out to media and tried to diminish my reputation for a decision I made that was best for my career individually. It was kind offensive that he would go out and bash a 20-year-old
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:18 am to sicboy
They were beat out by the SEC Offensive Player of the Year. They had ample time in Fall practice to separate themselves.
Bateman is currently 3rd string at Utah and Barnett seems like a drama queen.
Seems like the right decision was made.
Bateman is currently 3rd string at Utah and Barnett seems like a drama queen.
Seems like the right decision was made.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:19 am to sicboy
"We were both beat out by a true freshman so we transferred"
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:20 am to sicboy
One got moved to WR because he wasn't good enough to play QB at Utah.
One started against USC, looked scared and was replaced and out performed by a true freshman. It also didn't help that he got into it with Kiffin on the sideline the very next game.
Both had chances over the last couple of years and didn't look comfortable. Meanwhile, Hurts and Coker won the team over and have gone a combined 28-1 as starters. While I'm sure Saban could've handled it differently, I find it funny they're crying to the media about being mistreated when they had a chance and couldn't do anything with it.
One started against USC, looked scared and was replaced and out performed by a true freshman. It also didn't help that he got into it with Kiffin on the sideline the very next game.
Both had chances over the last couple of years and didn't look comfortable. Meanwhile, Hurts and Coker won the team over and have gone a combined 28-1 as starters. While I'm sure Saban could've handled it differently, I find it funny they're crying to the media about being mistreated when they had a chance and couldn't do anything with it.
This post was edited on 8/8/17 at 9:24 am
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:21 am to sicboy
I get what Nick was trying to do here. Kiffin liked Hurts running his show but with Hurts being a RB-like QB at times the chance for injury is really high so you want to keep a guy like Barnett or Bateman around for those times he gets knocked out of a game.
Both of them said F-it and Bama still winds up with Tua, so it's still like Bama won in the end. Who cares if you lose those 2 and land another 5-star.
The question is how will Hurts deal with getting benched for Tua.
Both of them said F-it and Bama still winds up with Tua, so it's still like Bama won in the end. Who cares if you lose those 2 and land another 5-star.
The question is how will Hurts deal with getting benched for Tua.
This post was edited on 8/8/17 at 9:21 am
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:21 am to secuniversity
quote:
Seems like the right decision was made.
I don't think that's in question. What they're saying is it wasn't communicated with them that Hurts was going to get the bulk of the snaps. They went in thinking it was their job and poof.
Maybe it was a case of them just assuming they would have the job regardless of what was playing out during practice.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:22 am to sicboy
Is this thread intended to make bama look bad? It succeeded at making both of those young men look like cowards.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:23 am to AHM21
Hell, Bateman could have won the job in 2015 but was too afraid to take a hit.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:23 am to sicboy
:Inb4Germans: since I heard it on the radio this morning and was just too damn lazy to post first.
Hard to argue with Saban's choice of the OPTY,FOY and QB who led the go ahead but couldn't hang on to lead TD drive in the BCS.
Hard to argue with Saban's choice of the OPTY,FOY and QB who led the go ahead but couldn't hang on to lead TD drive in the BCS.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:23 am to Tigerman97
quote:
Is this thread intended to make bama look bad?
It was intended to show there was an article about an SEC team and it had words in it.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:23 am to sicboy
What took so long for an LSU fan to post this?
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:24 am to sicboy
I don't get why kids catch so much flack for transferring to another school to get more playing time. Why would someone stay at a school to compete at practice for 4 years, when they can transfer to a school where they will get to play.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:24 am to sicboy
sounds like bama is better off without them.
This post was edited on 8/8/17 at 9:25 am
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:24 am to sicboy
quote:You prepare to have your number called. When it is, you perform. Thinking a job is yours is completely anti-process. We wish them luck and success. Roll damn Tide
What they're saying is it wasn't communicated with them that Hurts was going to get the bulk of the snaps. They went in thinking it was their job and poof.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:25 am to Dizz
quote:
I don't get why kids catch so much flack for transferring to another school to get more playing time. Why would someone stay at a school to compete at practice for 4 years, when they can transfer to a school where they will get to play.
I don't have a problem with it.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:25 am to sicboy
Wish them both the absolute best. You could tell after that first bull rush from USC that Barnett couldn't deal with it. That and our O-line not blocking well, especially early in the season, necessitated a mobile QB for Bama to have success. Hurts was the best path to success. The rest is 2016 season history.
Posted on 8/8/17 at 9:25 am to secuniversity
Was it more on Saban or Kiffin?
Two disgruntled QB's not given a fair shot, they may not even beat out the QB's they are competing with at their new schools.
Hurts obviously was the correct choice and Saban is not known to play fr QB's right away.
Two disgruntled QB's not given a fair shot, they may not even beat out the QB's they are competing with at their new schools.
Hurts obviously was the correct choice and Saban is not known to play fr QB's right away.
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