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ESPN-Absolutely clueless about Alabama and the portal
Posted on 1/14/26 at 4:25 pm
Posted on 1/14/26 at 4:25 pm
Was watching ESPN this morning and there was a segment with Damien Harris and some other dude I’ve never seen before (don’t recall the guy’s name).
They were talking about why so many guys have hit the portal from Bama. This goober (not Damien) was saying all these Bama guys who hit the portal was because CKD’s staff “isn’t developing the players”. Not chasing more money. Nope, it’s players not getting developed.
Absolutely CLUELESS take.
They were talking about why so many guys have hit the portal from Bama. This goober (not Damien) was saying all these Bama guys who hit the portal was because CKD’s staff “isn’t developing the players”. Not chasing more money. Nope, it’s players not getting developed.
Absolutely CLUELESS take.
9
Posted on 1/14/26 at 4:26 pm to Amarillo Tide
quote:
Was watching ESPN
Found the issue, right off the bat!
Posted on 1/14/26 at 5:49 pm to Amarillo Tide
quote:
“isn’t developing the players”.
I wouldn't go that far but I'm starting to think the system Womack runs is going to have trouble attracting any big time talent as far as defensive linemen are concerned. I know it's not consistently 3 man fronts but alot of times watching the D it reminds me of the 3-3-5 Rich Rod ran at West Virginia, which seemed to get gashed alot.
Posted on 1/14/26 at 5:53 pm to Amarillo Tide
While I would say…it isn’t just about development and NIL is a huge reason why transfers occur.
I also wouldn’t say we are great at development under CKD, yet?
I also wouldn’t say we are great at development under CKD, yet?
Posted on 1/14/26 at 6:34 pm to UASports23
We’ll probably never know for certain but I suspect guys hitting the portal is 90-99% about how much NIL they can get. “Development” is probably WAAAAAAAAAY down the list of reasons. NIL, playing time and maybe being closer to home are all are probably a good bit higher on that list.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 9:37 am to Amarillo Tide
quote:
They were talking about why so many guys have hit the portal from Bama.
I was under the impression that the number of players we have transferring out was just about average for a P5 program. Is that wrong?
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:04 am to Amarillo Tide
quote:
ESPN-Absolutely clueless
Umm... Heather Dinich exists.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:16 am to Amarillo Tide
quote:
Was watching ESPN this morning and there was a segment with Damien Harris and some other dude I’ve never seen before (don’t recall the guy’s name).
They were talking about why so many guys have hit the portal from Bama. This goober (not Damien) was saying all these Bama guys who hit the portal was because CKD’s staff “isn’t developing the players”. Not chasing more money. Nope, it’s players not getting developed.
Absolutely CLUELESS take.
No one really knows why any of the guys who hit the portal left. I'm sure there are some that left because of money, I'm sure there are some who left because of playing time and I'm sure there were some who left because they didn't believe in the staff. It happened last season. We had two wide receivers leave because they didn't believe in the coaching staff. It happens.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:25 am to Amarillo Tide
We've lost two defensive starters (well at least they can spin Russaw that way) and two offensive starters to the portal.
I'd argue that 2 of those 4 were losing their job this offseason and the other two are probably leaving less due to money and more due to friendships leaving the locker room (Horton was close to Ty; Smith is close to Russaw).
Also, we've lost a guy, Keeley, who would be apt to start in place of Overton at SDE.
So, it is lacking context but still a broadly valid criticism at the level of detail you're going to get from national prognostication. Tough, sucks, but it is what it is. When you get your arse beat on the big stage, the crows circle you like you are apt to become a corpse soon.
I'd argue that 2 of those 4 were losing their job this offseason and the other two are probably leaving less due to money and more due to friendships leaving the locker room (Horton was close to Ty; Smith is close to Russaw).
Also, we've lost a guy, Keeley, who would be apt to start in place of Overton at SDE.
So, it is lacking context but still a broadly valid criticism at the level of detail you're going to get from national prognostication. Tough, sucks, but it is what it is. When you get your arse beat on the big stage, the crows circle you like you are apt to become a corpse soon.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:26 am to Amarillo Tide
Harris is soft.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:52 am to Chris ALL Capps
quote:
I wouldn't go that far but I'm starting to think the system
This was the argument when Saban was here because he wanted guys to plug gaps.
Wommack wants guys to penetrate gaps and make plays which is exactly what most 5* DL/DE types want to rack up stats.
quote:
I know it's not consistently 3 man fronts but alot of times watching the D it reminds me of the 3-3-5 Rich Rod ran at West Virginia, which seemed to get gashed alot.
Some of this is true if you run it without adapting to power run schemes/12 personnel, but if you have gap discipline and aren't just running double ILB/S blitzes which means if one tackle is missed you have an explosive play.
Its playcalling as much as it is anything else.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 10:59 am to ghoast
quote:
Found the issue, right off the bat!
Yeah I don’t get it
These guys are intending to piss people off with their “hot takes”. They don’t do sports news anymore because people get their news online, so instead they say inflammatory things to get people interested and talking
And people like OP fall for it
Posted on 1/15/26 at 11:00 am to Chris ALL Capps
quote:
I wouldn't go that far but I'm starting to think the system Womack runs is going to have trouble attracting any big time talent as far as defensive linemen are concerned
Won't have anything to do with it. Elite high school defensive linemen aren't smart enough to decipher truth from bullshite when it comes to how they'll be used in a scheme.
We aren't attracting elite defensive linemen in the portal because we can't afford them. As far as HS recruiting goes, we just signed 2 top 10 defensive linemen. Bama, LSU, and USC all signed 2.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 11:12 am to Riseupfromtherubble
Yeah buying experienced high quality DL is a rich business to be in
Posted on 1/15/26 at 1:33 pm to Diego Ricardo
May be only if you’re Alabama. I’ve never heard them say that about another school. It’s been several years since I had ESPN so I don’t know in this case, but I don’t ever remember them singling out a school like that. But in all cases Alabama is the exception. It’s sickening. I don’t know if kids will be affected by that.
A guess:
Formby - money and wanted to play tackle.
Horton - money and Ty gone (Ty primarily reason he came.
Smith - money and his buddy leaving
Russaw - passed by Pierre on the depth chart
A guess:
Formby - money and wanted to play tackle.
Horton - money and Ty gone (Ty primarily reason he came.
Smith - money and his buddy leaving
Russaw - passed by Pierre on the depth chart
Posted on 1/15/26 at 2:00 pm to tattoo
It isn't fair but you're in trouble if you're waiting on the media to be fair to an established brand when they appear wounded. And really, the media not being nice does not matter. I'm more concerned with the team's response to the end of 2025 than people who are just talking like you and I but in front of a camera.
Posted on 1/15/26 at 8:06 pm to Amarillo Tide
quote:
This goober (not Damien) was saying all these Bama guys who hit the portal was because CKD’s staff “isn’t developing the players”.
While I would probably agree that these players aren’t getting developed as good as they should, I 100% can promise you that getting under developed is not the reason for their departures. That would require these players to admit that there’s flaws in their game. These players think they are Gods gift to football. There egos would never be able to admit that there’s any issues with how they play the game. They’re leaving because of the lack of digits in their paychecks
Posted on 1/15/26 at 9:54 pm to Amarillo Tide
quote:
We’ll probably never know for certain but I suspect guys hitting the portal is 90-99% about how much NIL they can get.
For a lot of those guys I think playing time is probably just as important so they can get as much film on themselves to try and position themselves for the draft.
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