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"It's one of the things that makes the game so special," Devall said. "Because it's such a change of pace, change of speed it's getting calls in and everything's going so fast. It's just adjustments and just got to get it down pat." Devall said losing weight was a primary goal this offseason as linebackers need to be quicker on their feet to play in space against fast teams.
He's not worried about the long-term impact the speedy offenses will have on the Alabama defense. "I mean, we're just going to prepare more for fast offenses," Devall said. "We're just going to be better as a team. That's really our main goal this spring is to prepare for the fastball teams and things like that. I feel like we're going to accomplish that goal."
Bama faced four teams that ran the HUNH last year and went 2-2. With the first game against WVU, they will face another four in 2014. But this year there is no Manziel and Ole Miss returns Bo Wallace. Clint Trickett, WVU starting QB, who wasn't very good to begin with, is rehabbing a torn labrum in his shoulder will miss all of Spring practice.
My point is that outside of Auburn, the HUNH offenses that Alabama faced in 2013 won't be nearly as good in 2014. A&M will still be dangerous but without JFF, all bets are off. And Bo Wallace will still be Bo Wallace...
In a sense yea (it is strange), just because he’s a high profile guy and everybody knows who he is," Vogler said. "Seeing him over there I think is great honestly because he is a hands-on coach. He’s player friendly, and he walks you through stuff the way he envisions it, so it really helps us out a lot as players."
Junior offensive lineman Ryan Kelly has been through three offensive coordinator changes since he’s been at Alabama, and this spring is nothing new to him. "It’s my third offensive coordinator, so I guess you get used to it," Kelly said. "I haven’t known him that long, but seeing him on the field and meeting him in the meeting rooms, he brings a lot to the offense. He really connects well with the players, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the spring with him."
Kelly also mentioned he saw some changes the new coach will be bringing for the offense this fall. "I see it changing a lot," Kelly said. "Obviously we have new plays, new formations and stuff like that, but coach (Mario) Cristobal has done a really good job transferring a lot of what Kiffin brings to the table to help the offensive line understand it."
While Kelly sees the offense changing, Vogler said it won’t venture far away from Saban’s physical style of football. "You know it’s Saban, so it’s going to be the same offense," Vogler said. "Obviously there’s going to be wrinkles because every coach brings his own wrinkle to it, but it’s pretty much the same."
Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Which is it? Is Kiffin making major changes or are we going to basically see the same offense but with a few wrinkles? My guess is Vogler is right on and the offense won't change all that much. It'll be in how Kiffin uses our offensive weapons that you'll see the biggest changes.
Auburn Hires Bruce Pearl - Team Speed Kills
Pearl took Tennessee to the tournament all six years he coached there before being fired. He also took the Vols past the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history with an Elite Eight run in 2010.
Auburn's last two hires in football and basketball have been solid and if Pearl is successful at Auburn, Bill Battle will be forced to make a home run hire if and when the decision to fire Grant is made. My prayer is that Grant turns it around and Alabama doesn't have to fire him but if Alabama fails in 2015, the pressure will be on Battle to bring in a guy at least as good, if not better, than Pearl....That isn't a great position to be in.
"The ADs will not change their votes," Alleva told The Advocate. "The only hope for change is for the (SEC) presidents to realize it's not an equitable schedule. They have to have the foresight and wisdom to change it." According to the report, Alleva doesn't want a nine-game SEC schedule. "That means seven more losses for certain teams," he said.
Good grief, not this again. Look, a nine game SEC schedule fixes the "fairness" issue but I guess that still isn't good enough for Mr. Alleva. He's helping the little man after all and in no way is trying to push an agenda that really only benefits LSU....I get the current model needs to be fixed but what's good for LSU isn't necessarily good for the rest of the league.
SEC Baseball: Week Five Power Poll Results - For Whom the Cowbell Tolls
With the Tides pitching, they will be in every series, if they can get a little hitting they will be very dangerous. Fr. Will Haynie is starting to really swing it, and Sr Austen Smith is on a big roll right now. Soph SS Mikey White is for real. Turnbull,Kamplain,Keller,Eicholtz, Burrows,Castillo, Bramblett lead a deep pitching staff
The bats came alive this week against Alcorn St and if they continue to stay hot this team could make a serious run. The pitching is certainly there and the defense, especially up the middle, is there so all we need is the offense to stay consistent..
"First day in pads is always a little more challenging, a little more difficult, tests everyone's mettle a little bit," Saban said. "Obviously, makes it easy to see the guys that overcome a little adversity and continue to execute, do their job, have the discipline to pay attention to detail. Some of the other guys obviously have to mature a little bit more. "I think that immature people and immature players sort of think that life's going to give into their demands. Mature people know that I have to give into life's demands. If you really want to advance in this world, you've got to kind of do what you need to do to be successful, and most of the time that gets defined by somebody else."
When I read this the first name that popped in my head was Eddie Jackson...Man, I hope I'm wrong cause we need him to step up this year. Tony Brown was seen working with the 1's yesterday which could be a sign of his god given abilities or the continued struggles of the guys ahead of him. Again, I hope it's not the later.
Softball Wins Eighth Straight, Defeating Georgia State 3-1 - ROLLTIDE.COM
Alabama (25-4) used all three of its pitchers, as Leslie Jury (11-2) earned the win throwing 5.1 innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts. Sydney Littlejohn got the final two outs in the sixth inning and Jaclyn Traina threw in the seventh, allowing one run in her first save of the season. Haylie McCleney led the offense, going 2-3 to extend her hitting streak to 15 games in her fifth-straight game with at least two hits.This weekend, Alabama heads to Gainesville, Fla., for a three-game series against the No. 1/2 Florida Gators (28-2, 4-2 SEC). Game one is on Friday, March 21 with first pitch shortly after 5 p.m. CT, while games two and three are set for Noon CT first pitches on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23, respectively.