Alabama is Not a Championship Team
by Jesse J. Lewis, Sr.
The once almighty Alabama offense has taken a step backward during this 2014 season. The offense has been turn-over prone and has lost its ability to go vertical. The defense has holes in the secondary and is lacking a dominate pass-rusher. Things have been so bad on special teams that coordinator Bobby Williams might soon be a candidate for reassignment.
Part of the problem is Nick Saban; another part of the problem is the quarterback, Blake Sims. Nick Saban has hired offensive and defensive coordinators and, for whatever reason, he does not permit them to do their jobs. He continually interferes. This is the reason Alabama ends up with busted plays and is consistently being penalized.
What Nick Saban has to do is let the offensive and defensive coordinators do their jobs. If they can’t, Saban has to get someone else, but Saban cannot continue to interfere with the process.
Blake Sims is not a great quarterback – never has been, never will be. But he is the best quarterback presently on the Alabama roster. For the rest of 2014, we are stuck with him. You don’t need to be a football expert to know that you need a triple-threat quarterback, usually 6’3″ tall and at least 230 lbs; 250 would be better.
My four top-picks this week, as of today: No.1 Florida State; No. 2 Mississippi State, No. 3 Ole Miss and No. 4 Auburn. From week to week, those teams will change, but today I stick by these four teams.
I still contend that Jameis Winston is the best quarterback in America and, if it were not for his off-field antics, he would win the Heisman trophy again. Jameis plays football without fear. Despite an upcoming disciplinary hearing, Jameis Winston and Coach Jimbo Fisher, say they fully expect Jameis to participate in next Saturday’s game against Notre Dame. The hearing is about the alleged sexual assault in December 2012, and whether Jameis violated the university’s conduct code for which he could be charged with as many as four violations.
I cannot leave this football discussion without addressing Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. When Alabama was losing and Auburn was winning, when it was announced to the Auburn fans that Alabama lost, they cheered. I was proud of Alabama when they found out that Auburn lost, this week, very few Alabama fans cheered. As an Alabama fan, it was fun to see Auburn/Alabama exchange National Championships and I would hope this tradition would continue for many years to come.
Presently it looks as if Ole Miss and Mississippi State will be exchanging National Championships. Once you start winning and developing that tradition, five-star recruits will flock to your school. One thing for sure, all recruits like playing for a school that wins National Championships. It looks as if Ole Miss and Mississippi State are ready.
How long this will last could be many, many years to come. I still think that Alabama has a chance to go to one of the major bowl games, but the way they have played in the last two games, I have serious doubts whether they will be playing for the big prize.
