The Year in Review: Someone Please Stop Saban

by Jacob Sexton

West

Alabama: I know it seems like at the end of every year we’re talking about how dominant the Tide are, and how Nick Saban may have just cemented himself as the greatest college coach ever. That’s because we do. The Tide  won the title again this year and for good reason. Nick Saban is a man amongst boys when it comes to college football. The Tide rolled against Clemson when no one thought they could. They made the number one team in the nation look like a high school program. It has been a few years since anyone’s made the Tigers look that sorry. I think the true sign of Saban’s brilliance, however, was in the national championship game pulling Jalen Hurts, who’s record is 25-2 as a starter, for freshman Tua Tagovailoa who had barely played all year. Now granted, Tau played brilliantly. Yet, it takes a lot to pull a proven veteran out for a freshman, and then open up the playbook for that guy against one of the best defenses in the country. I think that this game truly shines as a the moment Nick Saban and his Bama dynasty set themselves apart from the country. And things aren’t going to change next year. Sadly, we more than likely won’t see Bo Scarbrough or Calvin Ridley in crimson and white again. But in case you didn’t notice Bama’s leading passer and rusher in the National Championship game, and their second and third leading receivers of the season were all freshmen. Plus, Damien Harris has already announced he’ll be returning for his senior year. This offense is scary young, and has no where to go but up with a Nick Saban defense at their back. Although the Tide lose Da’Shawn Hand, Rashaan Evans, and all but one starter in their secondary from the number one defense in the country, Bama doesn’t rebuild it reloads. Never forget Nick Saban’s better than everyone and he proves it every year; the Tide finished on top yet again this year, and we should expect them to be right there at the top again next year.

Image from the Chicago Tribune

Auburn: The year didn’t turn out as the Tigers planned, especially after their loss to UCF. Auburn put themselves in prime position for a place to get into the playoff after beating Georgia and winning the Iron Bowl in the regular season. Regular season losses to Clemson and LSU, and Georgia’s redemption win in the SEC championship ruined their season. I know the season ended as a disappointment, but there are some really positive takeaway’s from the season. Auburn, in my eyes, proved that they are clearly the third best program in the SEC right now, and they aren’t too far behind Alabama and Georgia as things currently stand. Granted that’s a valueless win at this point. But it means that Gus Malzahn’s team is right there with the big boys, as they proved this year. Jared Stidham has already announced that he’ll be returning to Auburn next year, which is a huge win for the Tigers. Stidham showed at multiple times this year he has the ability to be a top end quarterback in the SEC. Outside of Stidham however the Tigers have a ton of spots to fill before next year. Losing Kerryon Johnson and Kamryn Pettway hurt Auburn’s running attack. While Stidham can clearly carry the passing game, the Tigers are a run heavy team thats been centered behind these two pounding backs for the last few years. Along with losing four offensive linemen, Auburn will be returning a depleted offense. Luckily, they do return Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton, their two leading receivers, so we may see a little more of a pass oriented attack from Malzahn’s offense next year. Kevin Steele’s defense will also be depleted, losing two starting linebackers and three starting defensive backs, headlined by Jeff Holland and Tray Matthews. Steele’s defenses have been incredibly successful in his career at Auburn, leading me to believe the loss of talent won’t kill their production. All in all, Auburn should bounce right back with another Top-25 season and continue to compete with Bama and Georgia.

Image from SEC Country

LSU: Ed Orgeron’s second year was full of ups and downs in Baton Rouge. On one hand, LSU looked really competitive at a few different points in the season; beating Auburn was a huge win for Orgeron and they didn’t get run out of the building by Alabama which is always good for moral. On the other hand, they lost to Troy, which is honestly the most embarrassing thing to happen to this program in years. Losing to Notre Dame in the bowl game has to be viewed as a disappointing end to the season as well. The team’s on the right track to get back to where they want to be as a program. However, it’ll just be another year or two before the Tigers are truly national contenders. They lose quarterback Danny Etling and receiver D.J. Chark. While Etling was not an elite quarterback, he kept defenses honest and allowed the Tiger offense to flow a better. Chark is a bigger loss in my eyes. He led the team in receiving yards, and without him LSU really lack weapons through the air. The glaring holes for the Tigers next year will be along the defensive line and at running back. Obviously losing Derrius Guice is huge, as he is one of the best backs in the country, but they’ll also lose Darrel Williams who totaled over 1,000 all purpose yards. On the defensive front Arden Key, a likely top-10 pick, is the biggest hit. They also lose starters Christian LaCouture and Greg Gilmore as well, which sets the team back.

Expect a step back from the Tigers next year unless they can find a way to replace all of their offensive production and their defensive front. It is time to see if Coach O can continue to build this team like it seems he is, or if he struggles to win without Les Miles’ players… By the way. the band played Neck for the first time since 2013 and if you didn’t see it you should go find it, it was amazing to say the least.

Image from USA Today

Mississippi State: The main takeaway for State this year is the loss of Dan Mullen. Mullen built the team up into a top tier program in recent years, so losing him to Florida is a big hit for the program, especially after another top-25 finish. Mullen did an immaculate job turning the program around and creating a team that’s been able to give Bama and Auburn competition the last few years. Joe Moorhead, formerly Penn State’s offensive coordinator, will take over the reigns in Starkville. This season ended with a 9-4 record for the Bulldogs, but losses to Auburn, Georgia and Alabama were all expected, although they hoped to finish better than .500 in conference. Next year should be a bright one for State, however. Moorhead did an impressive job helping form the Nittany Lions into one of the more productive offenses in the country (tip of the hat to Saquon Barkley). Returning Nick Fitzgerald and Aeris Williams as well as 6 other starters gives him some very skilled weapons to work with next year. The defense also returns 8 starters, although they will be without both of this seasons starting corners. It’ll be interesting to see what Moorhead and new defensive coordinator Bob Shoop can do with all the returning talent. Expect 10 wins from the Bulldogs in year one of the Joe Moorhead era.

Image from NBC Sports

Texas A&M: The main takeaway from this season for A&M is the same as it is for Mississippi State. A coaching change defines this season more than the games did, even though A&M’s move has to be viewed as an enormous success. Kevin Sumlin’s job has been in question for years now, and the Aggies did an incredible job in their choice of timing for the move. Hiring a national championship winning coach like Jimbo Fisher is an enormous victory. In this hiring you get a guy who you know can recruit, form a contending roster and also has an intimate knowledge of Nick Saban (not sure if that even matters since Saban loves to bully former assistants). Pairing Jimbo with the talent pool that exists in Texas gives the Aggies all kinds of advantages for recruiting in the coming years. He inherits a team with two quarterbacks and a stellar runningback in Trayveon Williams returning. He will however lose his top two receivers and replacing Christian Kirk is no small task, but there is talent to work with offensevely. It’ll be interesting to see what Fisher and new defensive coordinator Mike Elko can do with the defensive unit.

A&M may not be terrific next year but give Fisher two years of recruiting in Texas and you’ll like the results.

Image from USA Today

Arkansas: More of the same for in Arkansas as a coaching move really dominated the headlines this season. Brett Bielema is a terrific coach but he never got his ideal team to materialize. He was always going to be a run heavy guy, but its hard to be so one dimensional when your playing SEC West defenses every week. However, moving on from Bielema looks to be a wise move for the Razorbacks with the addition of Chad Morris as the schools new head coach. Morris is one of the best offensive minds in college football and a terrific recruiter. In fact, one could make a strong argument that Clemson and Dabo Swinney would not be where they are today with out him. When your playing against bruising SEC defenses for a full season having an offensive innovator as a head coach is a huge advantage. The key to Morris’ success will lie in the success of the young men he brings in around him. As brilliant as he is offensively, defense is where your bread is buttered in this conference, and he’ll need his assistants to carry the weight for him on that side of the ball.

Morris has already said recruiting is a top priority for him, give him two years and look for Arkansas to be a very competitive team.

Image from SEC Country

Ole Miss: Sorry Rebels, but Hotty Toddy, gosh almighty this has been a rough one for y’all. Hugh Freeze started the year off with a scandal for the ages. It’s seldom we see a coach get fired for breaching the morals clause of his contract. But calling an escort service repeatedly on your university issued cell phone, to the point that investigators say they found “a concerning pattern”, is legitimately the dumbest move a human being could conceive. The program took a step back with him gone which was to be expected. Matt Luke kept the team at .500 this year but it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here. He’s bringing in a solid recruiting class, but after players were given permission to talk to other schools as well as players graduating or leaving for the draft, the losses stacked up quickly as well. Shea Patterson leaving for Michigan is obviously the most notable one, and it’ll be interesting to see how the team fares without their star quarterback.

Expect a few dark years as far as Rebels football is concerned.

Image from Sports Illustrated

East

Georgia: I know it had a incredibly disappointing end, but if your a Georgia fan you have to view this year as an enormous success. No one expected this in year two of Kirby Smart’s tenure, which means things are wildly ahead of schedule. Although the majority of this years key contributors were Mark Richt’s players, Kirby is also bringing in the nations number one recruiting class. If Smart continues to move things along at this pace, Georgia could be completely even as a program with Alabama in just a few short years. Losing a national championship game hurts more than anything else, but it won’t be your only one appearance, Dawgs fans. The key for this season will be replacing what you lost. Replacing Sony Michel and Nick Chubb is a tall task, but Elijah Holyfield and D’Andre Swift were terrific in spells this year, and incoming freshman Zamir White is a monster. Jake Fromm should also take a massive step forward with Godwin, Hardman and Ridley returning out wide. The defensive side should be harder to deal with, the Bulldogs return only 5 starters on that side of the ball. They lose all three starting linebackers including superstar Roquan Smith, and two starting defensive backs. It’s a tall task, but I have a lot of faith in Kirby. What he’s done so far has been amazing, and I can’t imagine how high he can take this program.

Expect the Dawgs to be in playoff contention again next year.

Image from the Athens Banner-Herald

South Carolina: Will Muschamp’s second year in Columbia was almost as big a success as humanly conceivable. To take a team from three wins to nine in a two year span is incredible, and he should get more praise for that than he has. Even though he inherited a great deal of talent, he too, has done a terrific job of recruiting so far. Muschamp is hauling in a top-25 class as well. The talent on this team continues to improve year by year under Muschamp. The main hole for the Gamecocks this year was lack of offensive production despite the overwhelming amount of talent. Yet, things should change in that regard next year. Kurt Roper’s offense was cluttered and never found its rhythm without Deebo Samuel. Replacing him with Bryan McClendon should open things up and allow the offense to flow more. Getting Deebo back won’t hurt either as he is one of the most dynamic and talented players in the entire country, losing him in the Kentucky game was a massive setback for the season. Learning to play without him should help the team as a whole play better offensively. The amount of returning offensive talent is astounding. Jake Bentley’s a terrific quarterback when he has time in the pocket, and with an offensive line that is returning four men who started games this year, he’s sure to have that. Add in the return of the top three rushers plus all the teams starting receivers, and you have all the ingredients for a top flight offense. The problem for next years team will be the fact that only four defensive starters return from last years team. They lose Skai Moore who’s arguably the greatest defensive Gamecock player of all time, along with three key starters in the secondary and two more along the defensive line. The good news is there was a lot of depth on last years team, plus they get Bryson Allen-Williams back, which will play massively into replacing Skai’s production.

All in all, the programs on a surge with Muschamp after this season. Expect the team to be pushing for ten or eleven wins and trying to reassert itself near the top of the SEC as it did with Spurrier.

Image from Garnett and Black Attack

Kentucky: Great year for Kentucky football in my opinion, despite the losing there final three games. Anytime Kentucky’s finishing above .500 it has to be viewed as a success. Mark Stoops has done a great job in his time with the Wildcats in at least establishing a solid program. Their not quite to the point of being able to compete with heavy hitters yet, the 42-13 loss to Georgia proves that. It’s hard to take the leap in a conference where everyone wants to win nine games every year, but Stoops has pushed Kentucky to a point of competitive relevancy that many outside of their fan base never expected them to reach. It’ll be difficult to keep that that sort of success going next year with the majority of teams in the conference continuing to push forward and consistently improving. Benny Snell Jr’s success will be paramount to Kentucky’s ability to win ball games. The junior went over 1,000 yards in each of his first two years carrying the ball for the Wildcats. The main hole to fill will be replacing quarterback Stephen Johnson. Johnson had a terrific season last year and if it wasn’t going to be hard enough to replace him already, Drew Barker’s decision to transfer sets them back even more in replacing Johnson’s production. If they can find away to replace Johnson and Snell continues to play well, expect 7 wins or so again.

Image from Lexington Herald-Leader

Florida: Coaching changes again define a season more than the lackluster performance on the field did, although having a group of your players arrested for credit card fraud is a rather interesting addition to any season. It hurts when it forces you to replace two of your biggest playmakers and a few other contributors, but it certainly was an interesting story in the SEC this year. The headline though, as I previously stated, is the replacing of Jim McElwain with Dan Mullen. Other than A&M, Florida has to be viewed as the biggest winners as far as coaching changes go. Mullen if a terrific ball coach and recruiter, what he did with Mississippi State is insanely impressive. Giving him access to Florida’s deep talent pool of high school ball player’s should allow a guy like Mullen to bring in talent galore. He does get a decent amount of talent returning offensively, which should help kick start things a little bit. Lamical Perine and Malik Davis are both talented running backs, and Tyrie Cleveland and Josh Hammond would have put up much gaudier numbers had they had a legitimate quarterback throwing them the ball. That has to be the first thing that Mullen attempts to address. For starters, there’s no way Florida fans want to see another year of Feleipe Franks drilling balls at guys ankles or floating them over their heads, and I think most understand Luke Del Rio isn’t the answer. The other reason Mullen should be hunting quarterbacks from day one is Will Muschamp. Muschamp’s Florida teams were deep with talent on the defensive side of the ball, but he didn’t give himself much to work with offensively, especially at the quarterback spot.

If Mullen can find himself a quarterback, then expect to see the Florida of old in a few short years.

Image from SEC Country

Tennessee: I can’t say much about the Vol’s that I haven’t already said. I’ve been begging for Butch Jones to come down from Rocky Top, and never attempt to coach again for years. Well, Tennessee finally listened to me; you’re welcome folks. Jones’ tenure was arguably the worst in the Volunteers history, it certainly out did the failed Dooley and Kiffin experiments. The move should’ve happened sooner, theres no reason Jones should’ve out lasted Jim McElwain, but at least they finally wised up and made the move. The events that took place following that were almost as bad as Butch Jones’ tenure. The all around debacle should be an embarrassment to Tennessee fans. It all ended with the hiring of Phil Fulmer as the new AD, which I think will eventually turn out to be a terrible move, and Jeremy Pruitt as the new ball coach. Pruitt is a great defensive coach and a student of Saban, both of which are huge plusses.

The key, as it always is in the SEC, is to establish a defensive culture and find yourself a good quarterback and running back. If Pruitt can do that and Fulmer doesn’t over step his bounds he should be wildly successful.

Image from Time Free Press

Missouri: Not much to say about Missouri as a whole this year as it was just your average 7-6 season. The struggled against the conferences top end teams like Georgia, Auburn and South Carolina, but they tended to flex their offensive muscles over other teams. Drew Lock had a banner year asserting himself as one of the best passers in college football. If he has another year like he did this season, Lock could assert himself into the conversation for who should be the top quarterback taken in next years draft. Losing Josh Heupel as your OC is going to hurt things a little, but Derek Dooley isn’t a horrible replacement for the job. I think the main thing for Barry Odom’s squad going forward is establishing more of a defensive presence. I’ve harped on that a lot in this article, but you truly can’t win in this conference without a quality defense. If you look at the games they struggled in this year it was against strong defensive teams. They never really had a chance against the three top end teams I mentioned earlier because their offense couldn’t score at their normal rate, and their defense wasn’t good enough to stop them.

If they can keep Lock upright and actually stop other teams from scoring look for Missouri to push for nine or ten wins.

Image from SEC Country

Vanderbilt: Vandy’s been the punching bag of the SEC for a long time and not much has really changed. 5-7 is about what you expect of them and it’s hard to see a way where they climb out from under that rock. Derek Mason’s a fine coach and he’s done a decent job of maintaining course since James Franklin left, but he’s not gonna be the guy that turns Vandy into a ten win program. If Vandy wants to improve to that point they have to make the moves to do it, but I don’t see Mason leaving Vandy for at least another two years. In the meantime he has a hell of a quarterback in Kyle Shurmur. They’ll have to replace Ralph Webb’s production and give Shurmur a few more weapons but Vandy should have enough to make things work in a positive manner. The defense was solid and should be strong yet again next year assuming they can avoid outings like they had against Bama, Georgia and Mizzou.

If everything works out like I think it will don’t be shocked to see Vandy bowl eligible next year.

Image from SEC Country

Jacob is working towards a degree in media production but he also believes that the only degree that matters is the temperature of your takes.