The early results are in: Lane Kiffin is making Alabama’s offense a little easier to understand.
That’s according to WR Amari Cooper and other players through the first few days of spring practice.
But Kiffin, the Crimson Tide’s new offensive coordinator, also has added some tricks.
"I mean, obviously (we) have new plays, new formations, stuff like that," center Ryan Kelly told AL.com.
When asked how much is changing, he said: “A lot.”
Kiffin, like new boss Nick Saban, isn’t a fan of speedy offenses, even with all the talent he worked with at Southern Cal, so he’s working well with the offensive talent at Alabama.
Saban reiterated that his team won’t be going to a spread offense that features a dual-threat or running QB.
“We really don’t want to go into the spread and have a running quarterback because the downside of that is when you lose that guy, because of the exposure he has, do you have enough guys that can go in there and play at the same level he can play?” Saban told AL.com last week.
The article provided these stats:
Auburn ran 72.4 plays in 2013, an average increase of 15 a game from 2012.
Alabama averaged 63.5 plays last season, down from 64.1 in 2012 and 66.5 in 2011.
By comparison, Texas A&M ran 73.8 and Ole Miss averaged 78.3 snaps last season.
“I think we’re a team that’s made to be maulers,” Alabama TE Brian Vogler said. “Guys are just going to be really physical with you, hit you from every aspect of the game and hit you in every direction. I just don’t know if that’s really our style of being speedy and trying to be elusive around everybody and dodge people like other schools do.”
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