Has there been a premiere quite like this in Atlanta since Clark and Vivien came south to debut “Gone With the Wind?”
Some years later, it’s Nick and Jimbo. Saban and Fisher arrive in force Saturday night, bringing their teams with them, in what is being billed as college football’s greatest opening game ever. My, my, such a ruckus.
Alabama and Florida State, Nos. 1 and 3 according to every rough preseason estimation, will give Mercedes-Benz Stadium a right proper shakedown.
One of many intrigues that night is the debut of yet another offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide, thrown directly into the deep end against a defense that potentially could be the best one on the field. Maybe he can handle the enormity. The previous game Brian Daboll coached was a Super Bowl, as one of Bill Belichick’s position coaches. That one turned out pleasing for New England, at least.
Daboll is Alabama’s sixth OC over the decade of Saban’s Alabama tenure. He replaces last year’s tag team of Lane Kiffin (off to Florida Atlantic) and Steve Sarkisian (the Falcons’ new OC). In such a plug-and-play environment, the Tide have nonetheless thrived.
Having been schooled by Saban (as a grad assistant at Michigan State) and Belichick, Daboll obviously has little trouble working for the sternest kind of bosses.
As he said during his only public exposure, at Alabama’s media day earlier this month, “They’ve been great mentors. I appreciate the way they do things. They are easy to work for. There’s a standard, you know the standard, you got to meet it every day, and if you don’t there’s consequences. I think it’s very fair. It’s demanding, but I like the work environment around those guys.”
In return, Saban looked for someone who might know what to do with an offense that has an aces-high full house of running backs and a sophomore quarterback who can be equally dynamic and erratic. That may suggest a real dependence upon the run (no shock there), with enough read-option and timing throws from the quarterback to make it all flow against FSU’s talented defense.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum took in the whole picture – including the fact that while an OC for three NFL teams, Daboll’s guys all ranked in the bottom third in total offense in the league – and declared that his hiring was “a step backwards” for Alabama.
Oddly enough, the Alabama staff did not outline the playbook or its play-calling tendencies for the media in advance of Saturday. Other than to say, as Daboll did, “You’d be foolish to take one offense you’re accustomed to running and try to adapt it to another team. Some of the plays suit, some of the plays don’t suit. Your job is to mix and match.”
For a coach who began his football life on defense – Daboll was a college safety – he quickly enough transitioned to offense, where he has coached since the early 2000s. And since that time, his experience has been all in the NFL.
Jalen Hurts is not Tom Brady. He was, however, the SEC’s offensive player of the year as a freshman. A dual-threat player, his passing efficiency did sag at season’s end against the stiffest competition. He totaled 326 passing yards in the SEC Championship game and two playoff games.
Of the one-time small-college safety, Saban said, “I think (Daboll) is a very, very good quarterback coach. I think he has helped Jalen fundamentally. I think he’s got a better understanding and confidence, especially in the passing game of what he needs to do and what’s expected of him. I see a lot of improvement from that standpoint.”
“I think we’ve jelled. I think we’ve come to a good point, we’re looking forward to really big things,” Hurts said of his relationship with the third coordinator in his young career.
It is nothing really exotic that Daboll is importing from the NFL. And when he speaks about his young quarterback, there is not a hint of any profound schematic changes that will even more fully harness Hurts’ abilities.
All comes back to that F-word that gets thrown around this game as much as any other – fundamentals.
“Whether you’re coaching a 30-year-old man or an 18-year-old young man, you still have to coach the fundamentals and make sure they do it properly. Those don’t change based on age. You show ’em how to do it and allow no excuses,” Daboll said.
Fundamentally, Hurts has “really improved his feet and his eyes and where he’s going with the football,” his new coordinator said.
“I appreciate the effort he’s put in. A great young man - very dedicated, smart, tough. We’ll keep grinding away with it.”
The debut of this quarterback-coordinator combo is a must-see. And the reviews will be instant and unblinking.
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