Jumbo Package: Christian Miller dismisses idea that coaching was the main problem vs. Clemson

Happy Monday, everyone. The softball team didn’t necessarily come out with the killer instinct you’d have expected after the seeding snub, but they ultimately got it done and move on to host Texas next weekend with a WCWS bid on the line. They will certainly need to play better against the ‘Horns, a much better team than the Arizona State squad that just gave the Tide all they could handle.

Elsewhere, Trendon Watford is set to finally announce his college decision today at 2:30 CT in the Mountain Brook High gym. Being that the signing period ended on May 15, he has likely already signed somewhere. Most believe it’s LSU, who somehow still employ a head coach who was caught on tape brokering a deal to buy a player for six figures.

As you might imagine, football news is nil. Christian Miller was asked about any coaching staff turmoil during the playoffs, and he is mum about it if there was any.

“Honestly, I felt that the defensive coordinator at Alabama normally doesn’t have the biggest role at the end of the day. I feel like because Coach Saban is there we’re going to run his defense. He’s always going to have the last word.”

That’s why Miller doesn’t think the coaching turnover was to blame for Alabama’s poor defensive performance in the national championship game against Clemson. For Miller, the defense just didn’t play up to the standard that had been set by previous units.

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t sense anything,” Miller said. “I think that all three coordinators did a heck of a job. I appreciated all three of them. They all had their slightly different styles, but at the end of the day it still was Alabama football and that Alabama defense. We were supposed to live up to that Alabama defensive standard. Sometimes we might not have. I think that’s when we had issues, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with coaching.”

Miller’s injury probably played a much bigger role, the last straw for a defense that was already thin at LB and playing without its best corner. If you watch the tape, individual execution in one-on-one situations told the story far more than defensive positioning. The majority of the guilty parties has moved on now, so we’ll see how the 2019 contingent goes about its business.

Landon Collins is now teammates with Reuben Foster, and has vowed to try and keep him straight.

“So when I heard all those things going on, I said, ‘That’s not Reuben. Not at all.’ And then he’s always going to have hatred from his background. Nobody really knows his background, and that’s his story to tell. But from that standpoint, I’m glad to be a part of that and be a part of him, be a part of his life yet again because that leadership that I bring for him and just being around him — putting my arm around him and taking him underneath my wing, that’s major, and he loves it.”

Reuben would do himself well to stay away from a particular young lady. In no way am I blaming her for his problems, but the two of them are clearly toxic for one another.

The Steelers hope they have a steal in sixth-rounder Isaiah Buggs.

But there’s no mistaking what Buggs perceives to be the difference at Alabama.

“Just the whole team buying in because they want to win,” he said. “When you get a group of guys that buy into the program and do what they’re supposed to do, the whole team will be successful.

“Not only will you be successful yourself, you’ll be successful for others.”

There may be question about Big Pooh’s athleticism, but he is a professional.

In case you forgot, Da’Shawn Hand is hilarious. Check out this quote about trying to give up red meat.

“I tried to,” Hand told reporters about his dietary goal, “and then I came across some ribs and that kind of killed that whole thing. But I’m going to try to. I’m going to slowly but surely get to it. … I lasted like two weeks, and then them ribs were calling my name.”

Hand attended the food event with other Lions players to meet fans and sign autographs. The former Alabama standout, who recalled selling hamburgers out of his dorm room in college, said he hopes organizers will let him be among the vendors next year so he can serve homemade lasagna with his “secret sauce.”

Hand said he learned to cook after his grandmother told him: “Boy, if you want to eat all this, you’ve got to learn to cook for yourself.”

Something tells me restaurants are in his future.

Alabama has a coach not named Nick Saban with an affinity for lake houses.

Nate Oats, former head coach of the University at Buffalo men’s basketball team, is putting his classic Tudor-style home on Grand Island up for sale as he departs for the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

The three-story house on West Oakfield Road, which has waterfront views, a 60-foot pool and a vintage bowling alley, drew plenty of interest when Oats bought the home in August 2018 for $999,900. He is marketing it, after significant renovations, for $1.3 million through Hunt Real Estate Corp. agent Sherry McDonald, who also handled the prior sale a year ago.

Considering his admiration for Saban, they may well be Lake Burton neighbors at some point soon.

Last, former Alabama golfer Robby Shelton won the Knoxville Open on the Web.com tour, and it’s good to see that he has kept his fashion sense.

Nope.

Well said, Sandra. Well said.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.