re: Can’t wait to see Moses leading the defense.

I think one of the weaknesses of Saban's system (and make no mistake Golding is running Saban's defense) is that it is too complex. In today's game of HUNH, fast pace offenses, calls and systems need to be streamlined and simplified. We've even had guys go to the NFL and mention that the systems there are less complex. That's nuts. I hope Saban will streamline and simply his defense moving forward so younger players can play and thrive more often.

I think Moses and Harris have the chance to be an elite duo in the middle. I think McMillon and Lee will add valuable depth and situational snaps. What was a weakness should become a strength in 2020.

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I've never heard Bama fans talk so much about the guy who calls signals for the defense as the last 2 seasons. Hells bells we watched Reuben Foster do it. All these MLBers during the Nick Saban era calling out a very complex Kirby Smart mix and match defensive scheme and it almost went off without a hitch for 11 seasons. Now, we wonder if a 4th year Moses is up for such a serious and mindblowing assignment as calling defensive signals for the front seven.

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I don't know why you want to downplay the difficulty of calling the defense, particularly in today's age of offensive football.

I'm not sure Foster called the signals at any point; he was a Will, not Mike.

To my knowledge, Mack Wilson isn't calling the defensive signals for Cleveland. Picking up the scheme is a different animal than actually calling the scheme. It's the difference between reading a book and understanding it, and actually writing the book. The mental process is not the same.

Saban's defense -- when it has been the most successful -- has had an upperclassman running it.

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That was also his senior year, which kind of makes my point and undermines yours. Dude, do you know how to debate?

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You said you were unaware that Reuben called the signals for the front 7. Dude, the bigger question, do you watch Alabama football?

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Since he was a 5th-round pick, that means every single team in the NFL (including the Browns) passed on him multiple times. Possibly because he didn't play as well when he had to make the defensive calls, vs. just fulfilling his responsibilities within the defense.

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Which brings us back to Wilson's ability at the Browns as a rookie starter. It WAS NOT talent obviously causing the struggle for either Moses or Wilson. We now have 2 years and 4 starters to complete the sample size with Golding coaching inside LBers.

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I'm not saying just because someone is a junior (or a senior) and is calling the defense means they will automatically be great, and that the defense will be great. Which is why I suggested pumping the brakes earlier on the "Moses leading the defense" excitement. He may be great at it, but we don't know yet.

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And I'm suggesting that communication breakdowns, poor alignment, poor tackling by our MLBers for the last 2 seasons are a TREND. A TREND that other position coaches have paid for with their job.

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- Saban's defense tends to be at its best when an upperclassman is leading it.
- Just because someone is an upperclassman, doesn't mean they'll automatically be good at leading the defense.

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Every defense in America tends to be better when players are older and more experienced.

If a player can't make calls why would the coaching staff put the "Mike" LBer and the team in a position to fail?

Did Shane Lee, as a true freshman and "Mike" LBer, not make the right calls? Did you hear he was struggling to communicate to the front seven? So here's a true freshman making calls and we weren't hearing anything about the same problems Wilson and Dionte Thompson were having the previous year for the defense and we still can't get lined up properly, tackle well and cover running backs, TEs and receivers over the middle out of the "Nickle." For the second year in a row.

There's only one common denominator for this defense for the last 2 years and he's our DC.

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Son, I've been watching Alabama football since 1970. I did forget that Foster played Mike in 2016; he was listed as a Will on the depth chart I saw.

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He lined up beside Reggie Ragland in 2015. All those hand gestures Reuben was making in '16' should have been the giveaway.

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I feel like we're arguing the same point. Wilson is talented, no doubt. He didn't succeed as much as might be expected when he had to make the defensive calls in 2018. Moses, without that same responsibility, flourished. What's the difference between the two guys? Golding coached both, so that can't be it. And Moses was one of five finalists for the Butkus Award in 2018, so he was obviously an elite linebacker.

The only appreciable outlier is this: One had responsibility for calling the defense, and the other didn't.

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And both Wilson and Moses struggled in pass coverage throughout the season. And in the semi vs Oklahoma and the title game vs Clemson. Not sure how you get to the idea that Moses had a banner year alongside Wilson.

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Well, SOMEBODY has to make the defensive calls. Injuries, behavioral issues and recruiting misses significantly depleted our options at Mike in 2019. Apparently the coaches -- who have a lot more information at their disposal than we do -- thought Shane Lee was the best option. Who, incidentally, made the FWAA and ESPN Freshman All-American teams, as well as being named to the Freshman All-SEC team by league coaches. That's pretty impressive for "failing."

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You haven't heard me blame Shane Lee. A true freshman that is smarter than most playing on our defense. But then I'm not blaming Wilson or Moses either. Bet you can guess where this goes from here?

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I'm not arguing for or against Golding in this thread. That's your hobby horse. I was just expressing caution about the expectation that Dylan Moses would be great at leading the defense, because we don't know that yet.

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Kind of amazing it took you this long to figure out my discontent. You aren't going to do spit in football, at any level, without good coaching. Even if your head coach is named Nick Saban.

I've never heard a DC make more excuses after a season for bad performances than this guy. It's not the kind of stuff we are used to hearing from Steel, Smart, or Pruitt.

I've never heard a DC at Alabama talk extensively about "simplifying" the defense from the previous season and then before our bowl game vs Michigan still talking about "simplifying" the defense from the coaches' perspective. Listen to this stuff?


“I think sometimes as coaches, we can think too much and think we’re too damn smart at times and then try to put them in certain situations to where they start changing their picture and we change the coverage because it’s what’s best to do. However, if you can’t execute it, it doesn’t matter the call. We’ve got to be able to execute, obviously, the call, whatever we call. But I think the big thing is obviously trying to keep it simple, however, be sound and be multiple because I think we’ve got good offensive coordinators, good quarterbacks.


It's good our coaches don't get interviewed more than they do. Golding is still fixing the same problem, 2 years in. It's your defense Golding, so exactly how many years will this "simplifying" of the defense take? Shouldn't "simplifying" by its nature actually be easier than having to teach complicated schemes?

Either this guy doesn't have the authority to "simplify" things he is constantly speaking about or he doesn't know how to do more with less against spread teams. Either way, we are in trouble.

And for what its worth, with Golding as DC, the odds are pretty good Dylan won't be the answer.