I didn’t know that, but it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.

This is what kills me about certain Michigan bloggers I could name going after Nick Saban with all of these accusations of underhandedness and skullduggery, each and every one of which is based on marrying circumstantial evidence to conspiracy theories without any substance behind any of it.

Nick Saban runs a tough, disciplined program at Alabama, as he has everywhere he’s ever coached. His teams don’t draw penalties; that means, by definition, that they’re succeeding on the field without breaking any rules.

The idea that Nick Saban is sneaky as a recruiter, rather than being tireless and effective, is based upon the premise that a man whose teams don’t stray outside the rulebook is bringing in athletes by unlawful means. You only have to express that thought aloud to watch it collapse under the weight of its own implausibility.

If he got his players to sign with him by cheating, his players would know it. Would he then be able to convince his players to obey the rules scrupulously if they knew he was violating them? Knowing human nature, particularly in an era where respect for authority figures is low, I doubt it.

Yet Coach Saban’s teams play hard, disciplined, tough, smart football with nearly no penalties. That fact speaks volumes about the probability that those who judge Coach Saban’s motives to be sinister are, in fact, pushing unspoken agendas of their own.

Believe me, after what Coach Saban’s team did to my team last Saturday night, I’d love to be able to rip into the man. The fact is, though, he’s darned good at his job and most of the criticism of him comes from people who wish he wasn’t.

Congratulations on the great win . . . and on the great coach.

was the fact that Bama’s lines on both sides of the ball did not jump offsides in such a loud and hostile environment. Seems like in years past we were guaranteed about 4 or 5 illegal procedure penalties a game. We’re finally paying attention to the snap count on offense and not being too jumpy on defense.

A sign of a well-disciplined team.

Excellent points above, btw.

to how strong/good/confident our linemen are on both sides of the ball. Sure they’re quick off the snap, but they aren’t having to search for such an advantage to get a push that they end up over-anticipating and start jumping offsides. They get off when they’re supposed to, and then just dominate the other side.