All Things CW: Why Alabama's Experience in the Secondary is a Bigger Deal Than Most Realize

It seems only fitting that on Tax Day, April 15, we do our own version of the famous quote by Ben Franklin about how “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

In college football, Nick Saban has been the closest thing to a sure thing the sport has even seen, especially during the BCS and College Football Playoff eras. Alabama won the national championship in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020, and been in the title game six of the last seven seasons.

So naturally, not only have some trends developed, along with signs of looming success that the Crimson Tide is about to have a big season.

An outstanding recruiting class a year or two before is a given, and Saban has been a constant in that regard. Having some stability on the coaching staff is another, especially if the coordinators from the previous season return.

Both of those criteria certainly apply for 2022, along with something that’s the equivalent of shooting star, blazing across the sky: Experience in the secondary.

When Alabama faced Georgia for a second time last season, the depth chart looked like this in Indianapolis:

CB Jalyn Armour-Davis, Khyree Jackson
CB Josh Jobe/Kool-Aid McKinstry, Terrion Arnold
FS DeMarcco Hellams, Daniel Wright
SS Jordan Battle, Kristian Story
STAR Brian Branch, Malachi Moore

However, Armour-Davis and Jobe were both out with injuries and didn't play, leaving McKinstry and Jackson to start. That would been disastrous for most teams, yet the Crimson Tide didn’t collapse. Being without the two starting wideouts on offense turned out to be a much bigger factor in the game.

Both cornerbacks have since declared for the 2022 NFL Draft, and Wright has also moved on, but those have been the only subtractions out of that group.

Meanwhile, Alabama added Eli Ricks from LSU, an established cornerback who could make a huge difference on the back end.

Regardless of the lineup, every potential starter minus McKinstry is a junior or older. In terms of games played, the Crimson Tide could have a starting five with 137 games of experience, or 149 games with a sixth defensive back in the mix, plus a rotating player with 25 games under his belt.

One consequence is that it’s much more likely Alabama will play more dime coverage this season, in an effort to maximize to its strengths.

The last time Saban had a veteran group of defensive backs like this was 2017.

The “new” guy in the group that year was sophomore Trevon Diggs, who spent the spring not only at cornerback after moving over from wide receiver, but took reps with the first unit. However, he didn't get off to the greatest start during the season opener against Florida State in Atlanta, and was replaced by walk-on Levi Wallace.

The rest of the unit was the same from the second half of the previous season: Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ronnie Harrison at safety, Anthony Averett at cornerback, Tony Brown came in for the nickel package. Hootie Jones was the dime defensive back, called money in the scheme.

Every one of those five players was going into his junior or senior season, and combined they had played in 149 games for the Crimson Tide. Also, all but Jones went on to play in the NFL.

That 2017 team, of course, went on to win the national championship.

Here’s a listing of Alabama’s starting defensive backs during the Saban era, with the national title years bolded.

2020: CB Patrick Surtain II, CB Josh Jobe, SS Jordan Battle, FS Daniel Wright/DeMarcco Hellams, STAR Malachi Moore.
2019: CB Trevon Diggs, CB Patrick Surtain II, SS Jared Mayden, FS Xavier McKinney, STAR Shyheim Carter.
2018: CB Saivion Smith, CB Trevon Diggs/Patrick Surtain II, SS Xavier McKinney, FS Deionte Thompson, STAR Shyheim Carter
2017: CB Anthony Averett, CB Levi Wallace, SS Minkah Fitzpatrick, FS Ronnie Harrison, STAR Tony Brown
2016: CB Marlon Humphrey, CB Anthony Averett, SS Eddie Jackson/Minkah Fitzpatrick, FS Ronnie Harrison, STAR Minkah Fitzpatrick/Tony Brown
2015: CB Cyrus Jones, CB Marlon Humphrey, SS Eddie Jackson, FS Geno Matias-Smith
2014: CB Eddie Jackson, CB Cyrus Jones, SS Landon Collins, FS Nick Perry, STAR Geno Smith
2013: CB John Fulton/Eddie Jackson, CB Deion Belue, JACK Jarrick Williams, SS Vinnie Sunseri/Landon Collins, FS Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
2012: CB Dee Milliner, CB Deion Belue, SS Vinnie Sunseri/Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, FS Robert Lester
2011: CB DeQuan Menzie, CB Dre Kirkpatrick, SS Robert Lester, FS Mark Barron
2010: CB Dee Milliner, CB Dre Kirkpatrick, SS Will Lowery, FS Robert Lester
2009: LCB Javier Arenas, SS Mark Barron, FS Justin Woodall, RCB Kareem Jackson, DB Marquis Johnson
2008: LCB Javier Arenas, SS Justin Woodall, FS Rashad Johnson, RCB Kareem Jackson, DB Ali Sharrief, DB Marquis Johnson
2007: LCB Simeon Castille, SS Marcus Carter, FS Rashad Johnson, RCB Lionell Mitchell

What Baseball is Up Against This Weekend

This weekend marks the halfway point of SEC play in baseball with No. 24 Alabama riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the weekend series at No. 1 Tennessee, for what will be the team's biggest test yet.

The Volunteers are batting .316, and lead the nation in home runs with 79. They average 9.8 runs per game.

Everyone knew No. 1 Tennessee had good hitting coming into this season, but the biggest difference has been with the pitching. The staff ERA of 1.92 leads the nation. The Vols are also first in WHIP (0.86), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.59), hits allowed per nine innings (5.61) and walks allowed per nine innings (2.11), and they're third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.8).

The starting pitcher rotation of Chase Burns (6-0 1.51 ERA), Chase Dollander (6-0, 3.00) and Drew Beam (7-0, 1.14) has combined for a perfect 19-0 record and 1.88 ERA over 24 starts, with 163 strikeouts while allowing just 28 earned runs and 28 walks in 134.0 innings pitched

That's despite having to replace pitchers who accounted for 39 of the team’s 68 games started last season.

The Vols are 31-2, 12-0 in the SEC having swept South Carolina, Ole Miss (when the Rebels were No. 1), Vanderbilt (when No. 3) and Missouri.

This will be the second time this season Alabama is facing the team ranked No. 1 in the polls, as it squared off against Texas on Feb, 25-27. It played the Longhorns close, but was swept in Austin, 1-0, 2-0, and 6-1.

How much has the Crimson Tide improved since then? We're about to find out.

Seriously?

It's time for someone to call out sports teams and organizations for not having adequate WiFi at venues, as there's just no excuse any more.

The latest example was at the Target Center, which turned off fan-accessible WiFi during the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four “as a precaution to accommodate the record amount of media in attendance,” according to a spokesperson for the venue.

It's usually the other way around, media often has lousy WiFi because of the large number fans (which shouldn't happen either, but you'd be surprised at how many sports venues have lousy internet).

Neither the NCAA, which issued 848 credentials for the event, nor the Target Center commented directly on why additional resources were not deployed to accommodate both fans and media.

For the men's Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis in 2019, the stadium deployed a separate, temporary Wi-Fi network to provide service. Stadium Tech Report also reported that while the event did have its own app, a feature on the home page that advertised an ability for fans to order food and beverages via mobile devices was actually unavailable for most of the concession stands.

5 Things That Got Our Attention This Week

Still the one

Piper Sandler conducted its 43rd semiannual Taking Stock With Teens survey, giving a snapshot of what Generation Z thinks and likes, which had regional responses were 45 percent in the South, 22 percent in the West, 21 percent in the Midwest and 12 percent in the Northeast. It found the following:

• 39 percent of teens hold a part-time job, which is up from 38 percent last fall and 33 percent in spring 2021. Spending is also up, especially among females.

• Nike is the No. 1 apparel brand for teens.

• Chick-fil-a was the No. 1 restaurant, ahead of Starbucks and Chipotle.

• Teens spend 30 percent of their daily video consumption on Netflix and YouTube (both 30 percent).

• TikTok is the favorite social media platform (33 percent), over Snapchat (31 percent) and Instagram (22)

Just one change this time

Most proposals got tabled at this week's Division I Council meeting, including those being discussed by the Transformation Committee (including eliminating the number of official visits a recruit may take), but there was one exception for football. Two of the permissible eight hours/week of summer athletic activity can now be used for non-contact skill instruction and a football is the only piece of equipment that may be used during said instruction. No protective equipment is allowed.

"We reached consensus that we shouldn't move forward on legislation that may not be implemented or may be effective for a limited time due to work being done in the Transformation Committee," West Virginia athletic director and council chair Shane Lyons said in a release. "We will review the legislative slate and move forward with voting on certain proposals at our upcoming meetings."

The council did introduce legislation into the 2022-23 legislative cycle recommended by the Committee on Academics to remove the standardized test score requirement from initial-eligibility requirements (PDF). It'll be voted on at the Council's meeting in January 2023.

Stay tuned: The Council meets again in May.

Cardinals droppings

Crimson Tide fans have an eye on Louisville with talk that redshirt junior wide receiver Tyler Harrell has entered the NCAA transfer portal, and Alabama is the expected destination, according to Cardinal Authority's Jody Demling.

But Louisville has some much bigger concerns, including at the top where the president left for Penn State and athletic director Vince Tyra stepped down on the same day.

Former athletic director Tom Jurich is in the mix to return. Dr. Ricky L. Jones, a professor and chair of the Pan-African Studies department at Louisville, wrote about the possibility in his bi-weekly column in the Courier-Journal.

"Let’s face it, Louisville has made a lot of bad decisions in the last five or six years across the board. Some hires have been liars. Others have been climbers who saw the school as a quick stepping stone to what they saw as better jobs. Others were flat-out inept. It’s been a revolving door of madness that has left those of us with a history at the school sinking into the lonely sands of hopelessness.

"Full disclosure, I am a supporter of Tom Jurich and I’m not ashamed of that. Some other people I know, love, and respect aren’t Jurich fans. I respect their positions and hope they respect mine. ... I will say this, though. U of L needs someone who’ll stick around more than two or three years and actually knows what they’re doing for a change. If Tom Jurich isn’t chosen, campus powerbrokers better choose someone who’s a hell of a lot better. That might be hard to find. This will be an interesting one to watch."

Meanwhile, Denny Crum reportedly said to a group of former athletes and coaches at the latest Listening Tour stop that “if Tom Jurich is brought back to UofL, I won't be involved."

Another call for NIL oversight

UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir told Orlando Sentinel's Matt Murschel that exit discussions with the American Athletic Conference are ongoing and there should be a resolution by May.

But then check out what he said about NIL:

"The way some schools handle their business is not something I want to be a part of. I love NIL. I love it. I think it’s great. I don’t like the way some schools are applying it, and it’s not the spirit of the rule or what the legislators were intending for it to do. ... I’m concerned for the student-athletes, too, because I’m already hearing horror stories about being promised certain things and then not getting it, or they don’t start and it comes back on the coaches. I’m concerned about it."

Tide-Bits

• Saban telling The Associated Press “I don’t think what we’re doing right now is a sustainable model," should be the last warning shot the NCAA needs to make wide-sweeping changes, and quickly. When even the game's most successful coach saying (indirectly) that college athletics are broken, it's a signal that drastic change is coming one way or another.

• The most telling line from Saban's press conference Thursday: "[A-Day] may contribute to things that we wanna do in the summer to strengthen an individual or an individual position or give us an indication of where we may need to try to improve our personnel."

• The last time Alabama baseball toppled a team ranked No. 1 was at Arkansas last year on March 29, 16-1. However, it subsequently lost the next two days of the series, 9-1 and 3-1.

• Did you notice who was in the front row at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships in Texas for Thursday's semifinal? Sarah and David Patterson.

• Going back to the defensive backs, Saban has had 11 defensive backs selected in the NFL draft since 2009. Half went in the first two rounds, with eight first-round selections and four second round. For more, check out our database: All-Time Drafted Alabama Crimson Tide Players by Position

Did You Notice?

• Per Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, the NCAA will soon issue a new medical advisory recommending that schools shift from COVID re-socializing strategies to “standard precautions.“ He tweeted: "It is a return to more normal operations, where medical staffs follow CDC guidelines/use transmission-based procedures."

• Speaking of Dellenger, his latest cover story is Brian Kelly, LSU and a $100 Million Gamble

• Billy Napier says Florida will wear black jerseys, likely by 2023

• We'll wrap up with something fun, Softball America's feature: Alabama Superfan Emily Pitek Is Crimson Tide's Secret Weapon

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW appears every week on BamaCentral.