re: Spring Football News & Info

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I worry that he was calling the plays last year and ...well, enough said.

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To my knowledge, we started the year with Tosh doing the weekly scheming (with help from the assistants and analysts) like any normal DC, but by October, it was overtly obvious he was drowning and not getting it done. And so, Saban gave the lion's share of the weekly scheming to Golding, while Tosh was tasked with calling a scheme on gameday that he didn't come up with. It was not the best recipe, but it was done to try and help Tosh.

However, we see who Saban kept and who he let go, and that should tell you all you need to know.

Additionally, it should be noted that the assistants on defense are orders of magnitude better than last year (regarding Xs and Os) and are a much more experienced bunch. I believe we have 2 former DCs on that side of the ball, as well as 2 assistants with the title of Associate Head coach. Simply put, Golding will be supported by not only a much more seasoned and experienced staff, but he'll also have one more assistant on that side of he ball as compared to last year - in 2018, the tenth assistant was the QB coach; in 2019, the 10th assistant was used to have separate, dedicated coaches for Safeties and Corners.

And lastly, don't forget that last year we lost our entire starting Nickle secondary, and were crucified by injuries at OLB and corner. All things considered, 14-1 wasn't so shabby. The defensive pieces look much better now than they did at this point last year.

In 2019, Golding should have everything he needs and more to be successful.

CECIL HURT: A few post-A-Day observations TideSports.Com - By Cecil Hurt

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This will always be remembered as the A-Day where Nick Saban placed himself on injured reserve.

As the traditional close of spring football, A-Day is always a time for taking stock of where the University of Alabama football team stands going into the summer. That season used to be a hiatus, a vacation for some players, a chance to get summer jobs for others.

Those days are gone. Football is the summer job for college football players — weight room work, 7-on-7 drills, film study. Coaches get little relief either, heading into a routine of summer camps and recruiting, days that might start at 6:30 a.m. instead of 5:30 — but perhaps with some family time, a beach vacation or some golf wedged in among the responsibilities.

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CECIL HURT: A few post-A-Day observations TideSports.Com - By Cecil Hurt

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That leads to a few traditional-style A-Day observations, taking into account the fact intrasquad games are by definition zero-sum endeavors.

Quarterbacks: Mac Jones had a good day against the second-team defense. Paul Tyson seemed to have “a lot of anxiety,” as Saban said, but that is natural for a freshman. The other freshman, Taulia Tagovailoa had what was probably the best throw of the day on his touchdown to Jalyn Waddle. Taulia’s older brother, as Saban noted earlier in the spring, is the starter and will be fine.

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Continued... since this article Layne Hatcher has entered "The Portal" and reportedly heading back to Arkansas State

CECIL HURT: A few post-A-Day observations TideSports.Com - By Cecil Hurt

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Kickers: Usually a fountain of frustration, this was actually one of the day’s positives. Will Reichard kicked well and Skyler DeLong’s punting appeared to be much improved.

Defense: Not short of talent. Not even close. Another linebacker would be nice, in the way that another billion dollars would be nice if you were Warren Buffett. Maybe Shane Lee, who was an eye-catcher, will fill that spot

Did any or all of the above make Nick Saban happy? There is no way to tell. And at this point, Alabama fans want a healthy coach, not just a happy one.

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Having watched the game in the stadium, I would agree the kicking seems to be in a better stead for the coming year; but, will not celebrate until I see how it looks when there is a different team on the other side and there is the glare of TV Lights and constant interviews about "is the kicking/punting going to be better?"

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I can't fault the Co-DC for not fixing all the problems of last year's defense after multiple balls were dropped by others.

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I'm with you on that.
This was what Zenitz reported when Lupoi Left

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After some early struggles during the season, Saban stripped Lupoi of defensive play-calling responsibilities and handed them over to co-defensive coordinator Pete Golding, according to sources. Saban had poached Golding from UT-San Antonio in the offseason in part to alleviate concerns about Lupoi’s inexperience with the secondary and as a play-caller. Still, word is Lupoi seemed overwhelmed during practices and didn’t totally grasp situational play-calling. While he was still heavily involved in the defensive game-planning, there was no question Golding taking over play-calling represented a demotion of sorts for Lupoi barely into the start of his defensive coordinator stint. Additionally, it was clear within the program how much Saban valued Golding, especially given he fended off other schools including Ole Miss in order to keep Golding at Alabama. It gave Lupoi reason enough to look for a soft landing place once Alabama’s season ended.

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SEC Championship Ring - Hereford's
Players got the rings at the Steak and Beans dinner

Alabama Football ? @AlabamaFTBL It’s Tradition. Team at the Steak and Beans dinner 0:59

Headline The Good, Bad and Ugly of the Alabama A Day Game TDA - By Larry Burton

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As in all games, practices, scrimmages and more, there are good things, bad things and just outright ugly things. Overall fans were pleased just to see football, but coaches and aficionado fans saw much more. I wanted to watch the replay a couple of times to really see certain things over again, hence the delay of this article coming out.

Let’s get the ugly out of the way so we can end on a positive note. Nick Saban wasn’t the only only that noticed some generally sloppy mistakes like dropped passes. Jerry Jeudy alone was a poster child of good, bad and ugly. Dropping passes like a walk on washout one play, streaking for a touchdown on the next and not running a clean route on another play.

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Headline The Good, Bad and Ugly of the Alabama A Day Game TDA - By Larry Burton

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And yes, Wills, the starting right tackle was out, but the offensive lines gave up 11 sacks and obviously when they weren’t giving up sacks, they weren’t blocking for running backs either.

So that was the biggest ugly and the bad for the day.

Now to end on a good note.

Didn’t the defensive line play look good? Weren’t you impressed with the play of some of these freshmen? And when the quarterbacks finally got their picks out of their system, they started looking good. And once certain receivers got the drops out their systems, they looked good too. Every year a freshman jumps out of the crowd and just shows that he’s something to be reckoned with and this year it looks like it will be John Metche(sp) who was not only the game MVP for the jaw dropper for the day by going from relative unknown to a big WOW! factor.

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