quote:
Staying healthy on defense as well as developing the 2nd unit defensively are much higher priorities for me than Oline or QB. Oline looks to be one of the strengths of the team (when healthy) and Tua's plenty good enough to win a title, even if he doesn't improve a single step.

Staying healthy goes without saying. That's key at almost every position with very few exceptions, as it is for most all teams. I was actually encouraged by what I saw from much of our 2nd team defense. I think guys like Barmore, Mathis, Wynn, Alfono and E, along with the new studs like Young are going to provide us with a deeper DL rotation than we've had since 2015 or 2016. I like what I see from some young LB's like Anoma, Lee and Moody. The fact that Shy Carter is running 2nd team is also pretty impressive. I feel much better across the board about our D than I have since 2016.

As to the OL being a strength of the team, the potential for that is certainly there but that possibility certainly remains to be seen.

quote:
In additiin to the defensive stuff I mentioned above, the other areas of concern above Oline and QB would definitely include Kicking, Punting, and both new coordinators. Hell, Saban's hip is above QB on my priority list.

Kicking is always a concern if you're an Alabama fan but DeLong looked like JK Scott out there booming 50+ yarders with ease. Reichart is more than capable as a punter as well should DeLong have another mental lapse like he did last year. Reichart was also banging all of his XPs right down the middle an nailed a 43 yard FG. Those are definitely reasons to feel positive about our kicking game heading into 2019. I do agree with the coordinator thing. I think Golding is going to blossom into a star at some point (he has a bit of a Kirby Smart type feel to me) but Sark really worries me. I've just never been impressed with the guy and A-Day didn't do anything to change my opinion on him.

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Posted by RollTideNL

Member since Jan 2019

335 posts

Posted on 4/16/19 at 2:31 pm to tider04

The neverending Sark criticism continues to baffle me.

Let me take a look at the main 'arguments':
1. He screwed up the Clemson game
a) Sark was OC for one (1) WEEK and then lost the Clemson game. Conclusion: he was a full-blown disaster, a bust, a fiasco?
b) Locks was OC for one full YEAR, had an endless amount of offensive weapons, more than any OC ever had at his disposal in the Saban era (i.e. Tua, Hurts, Jeudy, Smith, Ruggs, Waddle, Irv Smith Jr. Damien Harris, Najee Harris and a possible Top 3 NFL draft pick in Josh Jacobs) and lost the Clemson game. Conclusion: great, fantastic OC, such a pity he left?
c) Sark's point total vs Clemson after 1 week of work: 31.
d) Lock's point total vs Clemson after a full season of work: 16.
Go figure.

2. The A-day game
What Saban said after the A-day game about game planning:

quote:
ON A-DAY GAME PLAN

How do you evaluate Steve Sarkisian and the game plan he put together today?
“We didn’t have a game plan today. We had the simplest offense and the simplest defense that we could possibly have

Yet Sark is considered a concern as OC, because of the A-day game...

3. He did terrible for the Falcons
He didn't. It was discussed in the coaching thread here that Sark actually did a decent job given the circumstances (key injuries at RB and O-line), with the stats and data to substantiate it. If your 1-week OC is hired by one of the best offenses in the NFL to be their OC that should be considered a positive sign.

Now do I think Sark will be a huge success as OC this season? I don't know. If the O-line stays healthy there seems to be no reason why he shouldn't.
Could he be a bust? Yep, the bar is set pretty high for him.
Am I ready to call him a bust or a risk just yet? Nope.

I say: Roll Tide.

This post was edited on 4/16/19 at 2:34 pm

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Posted by prevatt33

Member since Dec 2011

2837 posts

Posted on 4/16/19 at 2:37 pm to tider04

quote:
Sark really worries me. I've just never been impressed with the guy and A-Day didn't do anything to change my opinion on him.

Thanks for your great post.

Regarding the quoted portion above, I know that this sentiment is shared by many Bama fans, but I don't get it.

Granted, I totally get folks being apprehensive a few years ago about his drinking, but that seems to be far in his past.

Regarding his offensive coaching acumen, I don't get many Bama fans' nose-turned-up attitude toward Sark. Jim McElwain was an excellent OC for us, but his career outside of Tuscaloosa has been a dumpster fire. Nussmeier won a title at Bama, and his resume ain't that great. Lane Kiffin was a homerun OC for us (except the 2nd half of his last year) and his career had gone leprosy-level untouchable before we hired him. Locksley's career had 1 foot in the grave 4 years ago, and he did a bang up job last year.

And regarding Sark's lone game as our OC, I think he did a great job in a really tough spot. If Bo Scarborough doesn't break his leg, we win a Natty and everyone would LOVE Sark. He got criticized for not running with the other backup RBs, but if you go back and watch the film, he very much did try to run the ball the next 2 drives. We went nowhere - and one our Olinemen said postgame that Bo's injury shellshocked the Oline and they were lost for a couple series - and the film corroborates this.

In the following drives, I personally wish he hadn't gone hurry up, but the staff new that 1 TD iced the game, and sold out to get it. It backfired of course, but I'm suspicious that the command to go fast came from Saban himself, given his recent comments at the time. And if Saban had wanted Sark to eat clock instead of go fast, that's what would've happened. And so, I think regarding Sark's playcalling after Bo's injury, we need to really understand the context and understand that Saban is always calling the shots.

Simply put, both our coordinators have some proving to do, but I see no reason to be overly skeptical of Sark's offensive coaching abilities, particularly in the face of our coordinator history and how well he did overall in that championship game. Dude had 1 week to scheme and call a Natty, and had it in the bag until Bo broke his leg. That's just the truth.

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Posted by JJ27

Member since Sep 2004

60497 posts

Posted on 4/16/19 at 4:03 pm to tider04

quote:
A-Day didn't do anything to change my opinion on him.

He did something that actually did impress me personally. We were walking back to the indoor facility after the game and Sark was walking behind us. Golf cart pulled up and asked if he needed a ride while we were waiting to cross at red light. He told them no and walked all the way back with us common folk. Met him later on and he seemed genuine. I know it has nothing to do with his OC abilities, just thought it was cool.

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