By year 2...

#152
#152
gasguy98 said:
Saban? Maybe not as bad as what we are now but they were pretty bad.
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Alabama was mediocre under Shula, save for the 2005 team that finished in the Top 10. A huge difference was the oversigning. Bamas 2008 class was 33 players with lots of impact players.
 
#153
#153
Hawkeye4588 said:
I think we were enough of a dumpster fire it will take 3-4 years at least before we are back to 8+ win seasons. At that point I think success will spawn more success and eventually we are back to getting the type of talent needed to compete for the SEC these days.
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When Johnny Majors came here, it took years to get the program on solid ground and that built the program up until its peak in 2001
Stick with Pruitt and show roster improvement, then game performance improvement and then wins
 
#155
#155
gasguy98 said:
I have heard some pundits state that by year 2 you will know if you have the "right guy (coach)." As I recall Saban had bubba in contender form in his second year. He had a mess to deal with, lack of depth etc. The barely able to speak Smart had jawja looking like Natty contenders by year 2. I am sure there are many other examples to cite across the country.

With this in mind, what should we expect next year? I for one will expect a massive leap, expect to compete in every single game and have at least 8 wins. This of course assumes Pruitt is indeed "the right guy".

Thoughts?
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This is what is wrong with college football. While I get the optimism of year two being good, Saban had not near the mess we have thrown Pruitt into, he had better talent than people thought, and he had decent depth. Kirby Smart walked into a gold mine down there. He walked into a stocked cupboard and a bunch of guys willing to buy in to him, so much in fact that they returned for their senior years and such.

What I'm getting at, I'm not saying you're wrong for expecting a better year next year, I think next year will be much better. Pruitt is getting good talent and it'll be his guys but if you're expecting Saban/Smart type results next year you're going to be disappointed and pissed off. We aren't near that level. Last Saturday was a hard realization for me, we don't have as much untapped talent as I thought we did. We are better than what we showed last Saturday but we are still a long ways off.
 
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#156
#156
ptclaus98 said:
I could absolutely believe that he would trade. Raijon was a good college back. Just go back to the run he had vs Auburn. You think any of our backs can do that against even this Auburn team? He was better than Chandler is now, and Lane was much much better than Tim Jordan is.
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Chandler and Jordan are at least comparable to Neal and Lane at this point in their respective careers -- better, really. And we didn't have anyone in Butch's first two seasons to match-up with London and Banks. So no, I don't think anyone can make a serious argument that our current RB corps is worse than what we had then.

Bringing up Neal and Lane just reminds me even more of how thin our roster really was back then. Remember in Dooley's last year, Neal was asked to play at WR, because of how thin we were at that position. No offense to Pig Howard, but when your go-to receiver is a 5'8" kick returner, you know you're in trouble. Lane had a decent career, but was eventually replaced in his senior year by a freshman.
 
#157
#157
Hacksaw said:
Chandler and Jordan are at least comparable to Neal and Lane at this point in their respective careers -- better, really. And we didn't have anyone in Butch's first two seasons to match-up with London and Banks. So no, I don't think anyone can make a serious argument that our current RB corps is worse than what we had then.

Bringing up Neal and Lane just reminds me even more of how thin our roster really was back then. Remember in Dooley's last year, Neal was asked to play at WR, because of how thin we were at that position. No offense to Pig Howard, but when your go-to receiver is a 5'8" kick returner, you know you're in trouble. Lane had a decent career, but was eventually replaced in his senior year by a freshman.
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Neal played WR in 2011 because we were thin there. We had Hunter, Patterson, Rogers, and Howard in 2012. And I'd say Alden Hill was a very similar back to Banks talent wise, but Banks has more of the it-factor. How much more is yet to be determined. And go look at Neal's senior film again. He has more burst and agility than Chandler does now, and he doesn't give up much in top end speed, either. He broke some big runs that year. He was also bigger, but more compact than Chandler at 5'10" 215 and it showed with some of the tackles he broke. Lane is absolutely better than Jordan, and freshman Hurd would be our starting TB today, so I don't know what your point is regarding him replacing Lane.
 
#158
#158
gasguy98 said:
I have heard some pundits state that by year 2 you will know if you have the "right guy (coach)." As I recall Saban had bubba in contender form in his second year. He had a mess to deal with, lack of depth etc. The barely able to speak Smart had jawja looking like Natty contenders by year 2. I am sure there are many other examples to cite across the country.

With this in mind, what should we expect next year? I for one will expect a massive leap, expect to compete in every single game and have at least 8 wins. This of course assumes Pruitt is indeed "the right guy".

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

JT will take over at starting QB and we will go 7-8 wins.
 
#159
#159
ptclaus98 said:
Neal played WR in 2011 because we were thin there. We had Hunter, Patterson, Rogers, and Howard in 2012. And I'd say Alden Hill was a very similar back to Banks talent wise, but Banks has more of the it-factor. How much more is yet to be determined. And go look at Neal's senior film again. He has more burst and agility than Chandler does now, and he doesn't give up much in top end speed, either. He broke some big runs that year. He was also bigger, but more compact than Chandler at 5'10" 215 and it showed with some of the tackles he broke. Lane is absolutely better than Jordan, and freshman Hurd would be our starting TB today, so I don't know what your point is regarding him replacing Lane.
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Neal never had more burst and agility than Chandler. You're trying too hard to defend a losing argument.
 
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#160
#160
10-2
Losses to Bama and UGA. UGA wins the east and we go to a high end bowl game. This’ll show Pruitt is a very good coach and may be around for some time.

9-3
With the additional loss to UF it shows Pruitt is capable but either needs to learn on the job or get better at recruiting (or both)

8-4
Progress was made but Pruitt is likely a transition coach. He’ll make it to year 4 or 5 and leave the program in good shape if recruiting stays up.

7-5
Hot seat time by a large portion of fans. Sunshine pumpers and other fanbasses show support for Pruitt talking about his off the field ability and intangibles.
 
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#162
#162
By my count 9 of the players who start on defense today are gone next year if Warrior and Bituli go pro. winning more than 5 next year is a very tall order, regardless of schedule.
 
#163
#163
Things change, and I’ll be a fan until I die, but I don’t see anything right now that makes me think we’ll be any better next year. I really hope Coach Pruitt and his staff price to be great coaches. Hard to tell if they are or not right now. These are players who suffered the regressive “coaching” of Butch Jones. There is no easy cure for that disease. It seems to be terminal.
 
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