Football analysis and strategy from Chris B. Brown
Nick Saban on Texas A&M and Kevin Sumlin’s “Freeze” Play
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Nick Saban on Texas A&M and Kevin Sumlin’s “Freeze” Play
But Saban isn’t content to merely have his most productive defender on Johnny Football duty. Thursday night, he pulled a page from Texas A&M’s playbook and tried to recruit a 12th Man to help eliminate one of Sumlin’s most effective schemes. “There is one aspect of this game that nobody has said anything about,” Saban…
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Nick Saban Doesn’t Teach Backpedaling?
Former Alabama and current Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick caused something of a stir when he told the media that he “never backpedaled at Alabama.” Apparently, this is something Bengals coaches value, as Kirkpatrick had to learn to backpedal. Some fairly questioned whether this was hyperbole — How do you not teach defensive backs to…
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Nick Saban on Bill Belichick’s Hybrid/Subpackage Defenders: “Star” and “Money”
Good stuff from Saban on the history of Belichick’s hybrid or subpackage defenders, “Star” and “Money”: If the video doesn’t start there automatically, jump to the 5:30 mark. Hat tip to reader Corey.
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Gus Malzahn Discusses How to Attack Nick Saban’s Alabama Defense
This is from a few months back, but is one of the best one of these such segments I’ve ever seen. Malzahn does a really good job explaining exactly what his thought process was and would be in attacking Saban (and Kirby Smart)’s great Alabama defense: (H/t RBR.)
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Grantland Blog: Evaluating Alabama’s defense
It’s up over at the Grantland Blog: … Whether pro-style, Air raid, or spread-to-run, we’re living in offense-dominated times. That is, except in the game that (rightly or wrongly) crowns the champion: LSU-Alabama. Indeed, that game features the country’s most dynamic and exciting defensive player in Tyrann Mathieu (who might end up no better than…
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Texas vs. ‘Bama: Smart Football in review
Apologies for not posting more about this game (and for lack of posting in general — factors beyond my control), but tonight’s matchup involves two teams that I’ve written much about. On the one side you have Nick Saban’s Alabama squad. On offense, the run game that propelled Mark Ingram to the Heisman trophy involves…
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Smart Notes 10/20/09
Wild thought. Here’s a question for discussion. The Dolphins this season have taken to using a very interesting personnel package for their wildcat looks: two tight-ends and four runningbacks (Ronnie Brown at the “wildcat QB” spot, Ricky Williams as a split receiver/motion back, and then a fullback next to Brown and the other flanker has…
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A premature look at the NE Patriots’ changes on D
Is Bill Belichick moving the Patriots away from the 3-4 defense? The buzz in Boston is that they are. Here’s a video clip of Richard Seymour talking about it and excerpts of a Q&A Seymour did with the Boston Globe’s Reiss’s Pieces blog: 4-3 vs. 3-4 defense “. . . .We have the versatility to play…
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