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re: Bama Football Tidings
Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:53 pm to TidalSurge1
Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:53 pm to TidalSurge1
quote:
The accumulation of talent isn’t the only thing preparing Bryce for the next level. While he is unable to train with his new Alabama teammates, the freshman quarterback has been able to further familiarize himself with the Crimson Tide’s offensive attack. Flores, who shares a relationship with Sarkisian from his time at the University of Southern California, is familiar with the offensive coordinator’s schemes and has implemented them into Bryce’s daily workouts.
“We know the playbook and are able to simulate that playbook,” Flores said. “Then, the biggest part of it is we’re actually running his offense. He has to come out, call the play and then line up everybody where he wants them, give them the routes he wants and then really running it and simulating all of it. It’s kind like a crash course into this offense.”
Along with his on-field training, Bryce also speaks with Sarkisian daily as the offensive coordinator calls to check on his well being and answer any questions he might have. As of Monday, SEC teams are allowed to hold two hours of video conferencing per week where they can break down film.
Those digital meetings will prove invaluable to Bryce as he looks to further inundate himself with the Crimson Tide’s tendencies and terminology. From there, the verbiage can be incorporated into his daily routine until it becomes second nature.
“That’s one of his strengths, to take what he’s learned the week before and apply it into practice,” said Taylor Kelly, who served as Bryce’s quarterback coach at Mater Dei High School and still trains with him today. “He has the ability to pick up on that as well as a kid who has been there for three years.”
Bryce demonstrated a high football IQ at Mater Dei where he was entrusted to call out protections and line shifts as well as checks and hot routes. The reigning Gatorade Football Player of the Year in California is coming off a senior season in which he completed 72.6 percent of his passes for 4,528 yards and 58 touchdowns with six interceptions while adding another 357 yards and 10 more scores on the ground.
“He’s very elite with his mental preparation and his understanding of the game,” Kelly said. “He was lightyears ahead of defensive coordinators that we played against.
“He would see something and call it and change it, roll with it. He did a great job of understanding the game and spent a lot of time watching tape, learning defenses and finding a way to pick apart their weaknesses.”
Understanding football concepts is one thing, but Bryce will still need to pair that with reps on the field. That’s become a bit harder this week as Pasadena has closed down its football fields in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
As of now, Flores said he is still able to train with groups of three to six people and has Bryce scheduled to throw with Smith-Schuster again in the coming days. Both Flores and Taylor are also able to meet the quarterback for one-on-one workouts.
The other obstacle in Bryce’s regimen is maintaining his weight despite not having access to Alabama’s training facility. While the university is not allowed to monitor players’ workouts, new strength and conditioning coaches David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea have sent along the team’s weight program which provides athletes with a structured workout to follow if they choose. Players have also been provided with Apple Watches which help track workouts and monitor heart rate and sleep patterns in order to aid in recovery.
This post was edited on 4/3/20 at 8:59 pm
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Posted on 4/3/20 at 8:55 pm to TidalSurge1
quote:
In addition, the Young family has met with team nutritionist Amy Bragg who has sent along dietary suggestions for Bryce to follow back home.
“Bryce is in such great shape. Here, the challenge has been maintaining that,” Craig said. “It’s like man, Alabama’s doing such a good job of feeding him, now we have to maintain that. So our grocery bill has gone up a bit.”
Both Flores and Taylor believe that Bryce has taken well to his new weight, noting that he has been able to generate more power on his throws while not losing any of his patented escapability in the pocket.
“The part I’ve been most excited about is it hasn’t changed his mobility and his feet,” Flores said. “That speed is his strength obviously, so to be able to maintain that while gaining the weight he’s gained is truly a testament to what Alabama does as a program.”
It’s currently unknown when Bryce will able to return to Tuscaloosa to rejoin the team. The SEC has currently postponed spring practices until April 15. Although, that date is essentially serving as a placeholder until a further decision is made as the likelihood of spring practice appears slim.
Thursday, Nick Saban suggested the possibility of a two-week summer session in which players could go through a non-contact learning period before fall camp. The head coach pointed out that such a process would be especially beneficial for young players who are still getting acclimated to the program in the absence of spring camp.
Even if Alabama is unable to make up any of its lost time, Saban indicated that freshmen will still be given an equal opportunity to compete for playing time once fall camp begins.
“We’re going to lean on the people who are the most responsible to go out and do their job and be able to create value for themselves because they’re confident and understand,” he said during a teleconference with local reporters. "That could be a freshman. We’ve played a lot of freshman around here, I think we played 19 last year and five started. I know they’re not going to have the benefit of going through spring practice, but we’ve had a lot of guys that came in the fall — Minkah (Fitzpatrick), Ronnie Harrison — we’ve had guys that weren’t here in the spring, they didn’t get here mid-year and they started as freshmen.”
With the departure of Tua Tagovailoa, Bryce will vie for the starting quarterback job alongside redshirt junior Mac Jones and sophomore Taulia Tagovailoa. After months of preparation, the five-star freshman is ready for that opportunity — whenever it finally arises.
“I don’t see his mindset ever changing about the way he competes,” Craig said. “Whatever aspect or form that takes, he competes the same. I don’t think that will ever change. He’s going in there to compete.
“The way we’ve always talked about competing is don’t worry about winning the job. What you worry about is doing every rep, getting better at every rep and giving your ultimate and competing for every single rep. At the end of the day, see where you stand.”
This post was edited on 4/3/20 at 9:00 pm
Posted on 4/3/20 at 11:32 pm to TidalSurge1
I'm so stoked to see Bryce get his chance. There will be an elite offensive line and running back corps to help him out. Should be fun to watch.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 2:46 am to bamatide07
I really don't see it happening this upcoming year. I'm stoked to see how serious he is taking preparation but not being in spring/summer camp is going to decrease his chance to win the job.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:35 am to Fells
SEC extends in-person athletic activities suspension through May (BamaOnLine)
USC has 'really good' roster heading into 2020 season (247Sports)
USC 2020 Football Depth Distribution
USC has 'really good' roster heading into 2020 season (247Sports)
quote:
USC managed to bounce back with an eight-win season in 2019, despite being down to their third-string quarterback. So, what will 2020 hold for Clay Helton and the Trojans this fall? 247Sports Director of Scouting Barton Simmons believes USC has an opportunity to, at the very least, win its division this season. On the latest episode of the Cover 3 Podcast, Simmons outlined why he likes the Trojans on paper this year... (more)
USC 2020 Football Depth Distribution
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 5:18 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 2:38 pm to TidalSurge1
The guys at Cover 3 CFB Podcast are doing their season previews division by division, starting in the Pac12. And they all agreed that USC has the pieces to be a really good football team. They weren't going so far as to say that they were a playoff team or anything, but they've got dudes everywhere. RB corp is 5 deep with starter-quality players, elite WR Corp, defense filled with guys with experience. They have options at QB, but Slovis will likely win the job. Oline is still a question mark, as it has been for years and they're replacing both Tackles. Anyway, it was an interesting listen. USC may very well put a pretty good team on the field. Maybe 10 or 11 win good. We'll see. Should be interesting.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 3:17 pm to TidalSurge1
Way-too-early look at Bama's 2020 opponents: Tennessee Vols (BamaOnLine)
Tennessee 2020 Football Depth Distribution
Tennessee 2020 Football Depth Distribution
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 5:16 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 4:29 pm to TidalSurge1
Tenn will start 4 former 5-star recruits on their Oline in 2020, one of them a starter for GA last year.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 4:30 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 5:53 pm to prevatt33b
Let’s hope they play like Tyler Love.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 7:54 pm to prevatt33b
quote:
They have options at QB, but Slovis will likely win the job. Oline is still a question mark, as it has been for years and they're replacing both Tackles. Anyway, it was an interesting listen. USC may very well put a pretty good team on the field. Maybe 10 or 11 win good. We'll see. Should be interesting.
They’ve got excellent skill position players. Probably as good as anyone we will play. Their lines are akin to Southern Miss. We should dominate them up front.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:11 pm to phil4bama
quote:
We should dominate them up front.
Phil, my good man, I do believe that our Oline should and will push them around on D. However, until Alabama puts an excellent Dline on the field, our power up front is suspect on that side of the ball. Personally, I'm having faith that our Dline recruiting, which seemed excellent at the time, will now come of age and be dominant. If we could find a one or 2 Marcel Dareuses or Jonathan Allens, I'd be over the moon. Heck, just gimme some disruptors who can get off blocks. At least we'll be better at ILb, that's for sure. That's gotta help.
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 8:13 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:13 pm to prevatt33b
I’m pretty confident in Ray, Dale, and Barmore
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:13 pm to phil4bama
Iowa's offense sliced and diced their defense in the bowl game. And Iowa didn't have the level of athletes across the board that Alabama has. Iowa literally scored every drive. Slovis is legit though. Their skill players are top level. I watched a replay of the bowl game against Iowa last night and Bama should move the ball on them. Problem is, their offense will get theirs too.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:15 pm to Crimsontide1713
Losing Ray last year was a huge blow for the front. As big as losing McMillan and Moses at linebacker. Got to get those guys back healthy.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:21 pm to bamatide07
quote:
Losing Ray last year was a huge blow for the front. As big as losing McMillan and Moses at linebacker.
It could be argued that Ray was as big a loss as any we've ever had.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 8:55 pm to prevatt33b
What's at stake for USC in the Holiday Bowl?
A lot. (247Sports)
A lot. (247Sports)
This post was edited on 4/4/20 at 8:57 pm
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:02 pm to prevatt33b
quote:
I hear ya and these are valid points, but I've learned bowl results mean less and less as time goes on. The kids frequently don't care and a whole lotta guys sit out.
Iowa can beat most any athletic yet under-coached team. Iowa, top to bottom, out-coached USC in that game and it wasn't close. Bama should play well against USC.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:10 pm to Shaft Williams
Kirk Ferentz is one of the better coaches in college football. Iowa is definitely one of the most underrated programs in the nation. They develop players as well as anyone and seem to churn out NFL offensive linemen and tight ends annually.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:33 pm to bamatide07
quote:
Kirk Ferentz is one of the better coaches in college football. Iowa is definitely one of the most underrated programs in the nation. They develop players as well as anyone and seem to churn out NFL offensive linemen and tight ends annually.
Exactly! Some of our fans need to talk to the USC fans about that Iowa game. I heard a few USC fans saying online how they were impressed with the drills Iowa's players on the sidelines would run during timeouts. And, how USC's staff has their players doing none of the sort.
Posted on 4/4/20 at 9:46 pm to Shaft Williams
Watching Iowa, it's very clear that they are very tough and disciplined. There is no way that they get the blue chip players a program like USC gets yet they kicked their butt. Maybe USC wasn't motivated to play but it was clear that Iowa viewed it as a huge opportunity and they kicked arse.
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