Tide Tidbits – January 9, 2009

Saban shares his philosophy of defending Florida spread
Saban, who worked with New England Patriots wizard Bill Belichick and shares many of the same philosophies, revealed as much while explaining his philosophy for defending Florida’s speedy spread option attack. Saban explained how the Tide’s defense had three different play calls on each snap, and the defensive play would be called depending on Florida’s formation and/or movement. Most often, it’s the offense that makes the pre-snap read of the defense before going into a play call. But Saban’s philosophy circumvents that offensive advantage and gives the defense an opportunity for the final say – excluding quick snaps, as the Oklahoma offense has proven it can easily do with its no-huddle.

Voters give Florida No. 1 ranking, perfect Utah is No. 2
Final AP poll
School Record Points
1. Florida 13-1 1,606
2. Utah 13-0 1,519
3. USC 12-1 1,481
4. Texas 12-1 1,478
5. Oklahoma 12-2 1,391
6. Alabama 12-2 1,264

More awards while (still) waiting on the Kevin Steele announcement …
I’ve never seen anything quite like the delay going on at Clemson right now in officially naming Alabama assistant coach Kevin Steele as the Tigers’ new defensive coordinator. I mean, Steele has been in Clemson all week. He has met with players and actually attended a basketball game Tuesday night between Clemson and ALABAMA. You could hardly call it a secret at that point. And yet, the wait continues …

Big-name coaches could ride off into the sunset in 2009
8. Alabama will win the SEC West
The Crimson Tide will lose their opener against Virginia Tech, but will recover quickly to win the SEC West. Alabama will probably have to replace its two best offensive linemen, center Antoine Caldwell and left tackle Andre Smith, along with quarterback John Parker Wilson. But as many as nine starters could come back on defense — if nose tackle Terrence Cody returns for his senior season.

Roll Tide!

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