re: Spring Football News & Info

LINK ]New wrinkles in Alabama’s offense affect Tua Tagovailoa more than anyone by Christopher Walsh
Fans hoping for Alabama to return to more of a power offense might have a long wait

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It’s well past midnight on a Saturday night, when a lot of their teammates were probably either out trying to have a little fun or already in bed from the long week.

You can easily imagine the sound of a switch being flipped and the lights being turned on in an otherwise empty room where normally the offensive staff meets. For most of those people the week was long over, but [img]Tua Tagovailoa[/img] and his younger brother Taulia weren’t ready to call it a day.

This was hours after the Crimson Tide held its first spring scrimmage, the first time this team took the field together and sort of the playing debut for Taulia, the early enrollee as a true freshman. They started going over the video of from earlier in the day, play after play after play.

“He just wanted to know the things that I’m seeing out there and I got to help him with that,” the older brother said. “But just with the guys in the quarterback room, things that I see as well, or maybe if they did this, my input on it. So just little things like that.”

But the little things mean a lot.

He already learned that the hard way.

When Tagovailoa first met with reporters this spring he talked about how the offensive players felt like they could get away with things through the course of the 2018 season because they were still blowing out opponents. Things didn’t get corrected and the offense didn’t continue to progress. In the quarterback’s words, it caught up to them in the end.

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CBS Sports @CBSSports This is Tua Tagovailoa's 24th touchdown pass of the season. He still hasn't thrown an interception. That is absurd.

LINK ]New wrinkles in Alabama’s offense affect Tua Tagovailoa more than anyone...Continued... by Christopher Walsh
Fans hoping for Alabama to return to more of a power offense might have a long wait

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Alabama still won the first three, but the 44-16 loss in the National Championship Game haunts the Crimson Tide. It was the kind of drubbing that could derail a program, or take a long time to bounce back from.

But we’re talking about Nick Saban and Alabama.

Plus there’s a good chance Tagovailoa will play just one more season and be a top pick in the subsequent NFL draft.

There’s no time to dwell, and Saban hasn’t been idle.

One the things that the coach has always preferred with his coordinators is that they have NFL experience, in part so they can help prepare players to make it to the next level. That’s one of the bonuses of bringing back Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator after he was initially hired away by the Atlanta Falcons.

Part of his job this year will be to help prepare Tagovailoa succeed not only in 2019, but beyond.

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LINK ]New wrinkles in Alabama’s offense affect Tua Tagovailoa more than anyone...Continued... by Christopher Walsh
Fans hoping for Alabama to return to more of a power offense might have a long wait

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The other part of that equation, of course, is Tagovailoa. He’s already on the record about what fans should be looking for when the season starts.

“With Coach Sark, it’s really full-field progression reads,” he said. “Last year, we worked more on RPO, and we had that opportunity to perfect it. Now we’re trying to protect full-progression reads, so reading the entire field this year. I think implementing pure progression reads and RPOs is really going to be big for us this season.”

It other words, Alabama will be looking to attack anywhere and everywhere, especially downfield.

That requires practice, timing and getting the rhythm down, plus you know the old saying about the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.

It all starts on the spring and will be directly influenced by the work that’s being put in now. Even if some of it being done after midnight.

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live in ATL, but I quit watching the NFL when the political crap took over the league. But, I hear the daily bitching on the radio about the offense... the Running game was in to crapper last year, all the RB's were hurt most of the year and without the threat of running, it puts the O in a hard spot... and seems the O was still in the top 10 for the year. I dont believe that Sark was to blame for the poor showing. Seems Julio still lead the league in catches/yards and Ridley had a record setting (at least for the team) season for a rookie... just saying that with a running game and a good Oline, Bama will be a major upgrade to what he was dealing with in ATL. BUT I think the pressure will be at a higher level at Bama that it was in the league

LINK ]Tight end Miller Forristall took lessons from teammates By Ben Jones - April 3, 2019 Any tight end would have loved to be a part of Alabama’s offense in 2018.

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Irv Smith Jr. and Hale Hentges each played a major role. Smith had 710 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, both the best mark in school history for a tight end. Hentges had just four catches, but three were for touchdowns. He was a critical blocker and a team captain.

“No one could have been happier for those guys than me,” said tight end Miller Forristall. “Kind of growing up here and being with Irv (Smith) and Hale (Hentges), maturing here, and seeing the success they had, that’s fantastic; and then both getting drafted in a couple of weeks and see where they go. I couldn’t be pumped or more excited for two guys who just worked their butts off.”

Forristall was the third tight end for much of the year. He finished the season without any offensive stats, but is now the most experienced tight end on the roster. As recently as 2017, he was competing with Smith atop the depth chart before a knee injury cut his sophomore season short.

He watched what Smith and Hentges did during the fall. He envisioned a future where he might have similar opportunities.

“It works the same way with us (current players) and recruits,” Forristall said. “Recruits, say, ‘Man, I see this guy catching the ball. I want to go there.’ Or we see it and say, ‘Hey, that could be me. I get to catch a couple of balls.’ So it’s super exciting.”

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LINK ]Tight end Miller Forristall took lessons from teammates By Ben Jones - April 3, 2019...Continued... Any tight end would have loved to be a part of Alabama’s offense in 2018.

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That doesn’t mean Forristall wants to be the next edition of Smith or Hentges. Nor is he O.J. Howard or Brandon Greene. He played with all four of them. He saw the work they put in during practice and how that showed up in their production.

“I’m not going to be Irv Smith or Hale Hentges,” Forristall said. “I play a very different game than both of them, and I intend to do so. Nothing against those guys. They are both fantastic and you see where it got them. But I’m not going to try to model my game after Irv or model my game after Hale. Now, I may try to take specific things they do. Hale was fantastic in line. Great blocker. I want to take that from Hale’s game. Irv was great how he pulled, how aggressive he pulled, his routes he ran, his attention to detail. I’m going to steal that from Irv.”

The opportunity is there for Forristall or another tight end to take a much larger role in the offense than he had last fall. There’s no saying whether that player can have the impact that Smith or Hentges had. Forristall would like to have his own season that the player after him can be envious of as well.

“It’s going to hurt any team any time you lose two guys like Hale Hentges, a captain, or Irv Smith. Two great players, two great tight ends, great for the tight end room and the team. Now it’s time for new guys to kind step up and be the guy. I’m one of those guys, I need to step up and take a different role on the team than I’ve had in the past.”

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I know I have unrealistic ideas when it comes to the team; but, I would love to see the D be dominating ALL season in 2019. Don't expect to pitch shutouts every game; but, would love to see the 1's pitch shutouts and turn the game over to the 2-3's and let them get some good PT against the other team's 1's. And really would love to see the O keep the foot on the other teams necks. Sure bring in the 2's and 3's; but let them use the full playbook. Give Mac signed checks and let him cash them for anything he can get... and when the Fr come in, allow them to use their arms for something other than handing off.

Alabama pre-scrimmage report: 2 tight ends not present
Video 1:59
getting ready for scrimmage at BDS
By Matt Zenitz | mzenitz@al.com

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Alabama has the second of its three spring scrimmages this afternoon.

Here are some notes from the pre-scrimmage media viewing period:

— The only two players I didn’t see out there were tight ends Major Tennison and Kedrick James. The tight end line was led by Miller Forristall and he was followed by walk-on Giles Amos, Cameron Latu and Michael Parker.

— Dylan Moses and Josh McMillon were the first two up during inside linebacker drills. They were followed by, in order, Markail Benton, Shane Lee, Jaylen Moody and Ale Kaho.

— Terrell Lewis (knee) and Ben Davis (lower leg surgery) were off to the side and watching as the other outside linebackers went through drills.

— Defensive back Shyheim Carter (sports hernia surgery) is still in a black non-contact jersey.

— Former Alabama star Ozzie Newsome, who is still working with the Baltimore Ravens, is in attendance for practice. So are two former Crimson Tide staffers who worked with the Birmingham Iron, Joe Pendry and Alex Mortensen.

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Boz is a slacker

BamaOnLine report by Charlie Potter (VIP)
Thinking this is about the same as the AL.COM article above...

Use the link above to see what is offered outside the paywall... or if you are very curious, it's not a heavy hit to the wallet