5th year seniors

Just a few random thoughts.

Some have said that Saban tends to play favorites with veterans when perhaps younger guys deserve to play more. Some look at the same situation and praise loyalty shown to veteran players.

I am not at all close to any players on the team, so I don't know. But my impression of B. Sims is that he's been a very positive, supportive, hard working teammate for the past four years. He may have doubted at times if he would ever get his chance, given commentary over the years about possibly moving him to WR, watching Bama sign one 4 star QB after another, etc.

I look at Sims and Coker, and it's hard for me to believe that the gap between them is greater than what existed between McCarron and P. Sims going into 2011. But the reality seems to be that Sims is the guy until Coker clearly passes him.

As a coach, you want to have 5th year seniors, don't you? The maturity, the leadership they can bring. So at the same time, don't you have to give them an opportunity if they've proven that they deserve it? Unless they've been clearly beaten out, obviously.

Team chemistry is also an elusive thing. A coach knows it when he sees it, and he knows when it's bad, and how it can negatively affect a team. If a guy, especially a QB, is respected by his teammates, how much of that may play into Saban's decision to play him...and is that necessarily a bad thing? Players want to win...so if the other guy gives them the better chance to win, I'm sure that's what they would want. But we're not talking about an OT. How much of that leadership that a QB has to exhibit has to be built upon relationships that take some time to develop? If Coker was starting his second or third year with us, might he have been the starter?

Like I said...random thoughts. I guess I'm just saying that I actually find it a positive, not a negative, if Saban is loyal to a 5th year senior like that. I think it's a good thing for the big picture of the overall program. If you agree to come to Alabama, work your tail off, and do everything that's asked of you, you'll be rewarded.

So if part of the reason Sims is the starter at this point is because he's a veteran leader on the team and his teammates respond to him...even though he may be less talented...I'm good with that.

Until he gets us beat. Hopefully that won't happen!