The C Student

 

"I enjoy coaching this team. That's not to say they're not taking years off my life. But I'm okay with it. It's fun because they've got a good spirit about them." - Nick Saban

I know it is difficult to watch this Alabama team struggle each week to win a game and that the discomfort of watching this team can sometimes get a little too much to bare. But I think this Alabama team is one of the most special and unique teams that Nick Saban has had during his time at the Capstone. This team is showing a resilience not seen by the previous two years' teams with a better roster. 

My wife and I have not been blessed with children but I'd like to think that if we were a typical family with multiple kids, we'd have an amazingly talented child who barely needed to study to get straight As and another child that worked hard but could only pull Cs. We would be proud of both of our kids. We'd support both of our kids. But if that C student put in a ton of effort and worked hard to study for an upcoming test that resulted in a B, we'd be ridiculously happy and proud of our student. If that child kept working hard and eventually made an A in the class, we would be ecstatic. We would know that our child put in a tremendous amount of effort that allowed them to make that A.

This is what the current Alabama team is. They have possibly three first-rounders on the team right now with Dallas Turner, Kool-Aid McKinstry, and JC Latham and a lot of later round talent. Jalen Milroe is not as good a QB as the four that preceded him. None of the wide receivers are what you would consider to be elite like the amazing run Alabama had from 2017-2020. But this team just works.

The Texas loss was a setback but it was a teachable moment. Coach Saban loves to preach about not wasting a failure and this team has responded. This team has busted their butts to finish games and find ways to win. While not always a pretty victory, an ugly win tops a pretty defeat every time.

We've seen remarkable improvement from the team since the Texas game. The defense in the second half since that game has given up zero points to USF, three points to Ole Miss, seven to Mississippi State, three points to Texas A&M, 15 to Arkansas, and zero to Tennessee. The offense has scored in the second half of those games 14 against USF, 18 against Ole Miss, 9 against Mississippi State, 16 against Texas A&M, 3 against Arkansas, and 27 against Tennessee. The Arkansas game is the only outlier of the run since Texas.

This team while not perfect, is a lot of fun to watch. They're not the dominant football machine we have come to expect from Tuscaloosa, but you have to love the heart. As the fight song says, "Bama's pluck and grit have writ her name in Crimson Flame." This team is full of pluck and grit. Will they win the national championship? Probably not. Will they leave it all out on the field for us the fans every game? Without a doubt. I'm proud of this team and while they may take a few years off my life, I wouldn't ride or die with any other team.