ITK
Mike Leach is a nut job. As HUNH disciples are flocking like rats to the upper levels of a sinking ship in search of anything to cling to, one of those respites appears to be Mike Leach.

Now that’s funny.

The owner of just one championship (conference) in his entire head coaching career
The owner of just one championship (conference) in his entire head coaching career

Mike Leach is captain insane-o meets college coaching. Evidenced by his decision to lock a player, Adam James, in an equipment shed while at Texas Tech, a move that would ultimately get him fired.

Leach is a freak show. A side show of sorts. A punchline. A joke. Yet now that the NCAA Rules Committee is getting ready to make a move allowing defenses a guaranteed yet narrow window to substitute players, HUNH lovers are clinging to Leach as their Martin Luther. Problem is, Leach can’t focus long enough to come up with 95 things for his “thesis.”

Interviews of Leach are usually portrayed as comic relief, showing him sitting beside his collection of pirate gear or in a flowered shirt rambling on like Rain Man. The caricature he’s become is a clear substitute for a real ability to coach.

I know a fat girl. She’s as sweet as she can be. But this girl vocally goes against the grain on everything. Music. Movies. Restaurants. Everything. Everything that is “traditional or popular” she hates. Why? Can everybody else be wrong? No. It’s just that she knows she can’t win in the traditional arena, so her only move is to be different and forge her own way. And there is nothing wrong with that for her sake. But Leach and HUNH lovers are just like her, unable to find success through real football coaching and strategy. Only when real coaches step in…instilling logic..they poop all over themselves in a frenzy of oral diarrhea.

We’re only talking about 10 seconds, HUNH lovers. A guaranteed window for defenses to substitute. Your cheap HUNH offense isn’t being banned.

So listen to Nick Saban, the game’s greatest coach in 25 years and owner of four National Championships…the first to win it all at two different schools, or Mike Leach…or Bucky over at Ole Miss for that matter. Or Gustav Malzahn…

Now that’s a tough one.


(Follow ITK on Twitter for Bama news, commentary and smack.)

65 thoughts on “Someone please tell me why I should care what Mike Leach thinks?”

  1. Someone please tell me why Saban is so scared of Malzahn that he had to run the rules committee to get them to stop something he cant. I thought he was the greatest defensive coach in the country.

    Now he’s just Malzahns (whiney ass) bitch.

    1. That’s funny. The only ones I actually hear whining are Auburn fans.

      Why can’t Malzahn adapt? I thought he was the greatest offensive coach in the country?

      1. Exactly.

        Again, that’s the cult mentality; deflect.

        The rules will change and people will blame Nick Saban no matter how much better he does against the HUNH than the other teams that play them. Again, this came up before Malzahn, so please don’t play that card suggesting it’s because he missed five field goals and didn’t attempt a sixth on fourth and short inside the red zone.

        They will blame Saban, but they won’t blame me, the guy who actually enjoys watching the entire play, including the snap.

        They won’t blame the referees, who also like to have enough time to ready to do their job.

        They won’t blame the broadcasting networks for being able to show replays again and hopefully doing away with picture-in-picture football games altogether.

        They won’t blame the hurt players when they’re hurt instead of trying to pretend everyone’s faking it.

        They won’t blame coaches for not having any other way whatsoever to beat football teams other than a trick designed to confuse the referees just as much as their opponents.

        They’ll blame Nick Saban.

        And football will still be football, and Alabama will still be among the best every year.

        Blame me instead. I hate the HUNH, but the rules aren’t designed to stop it anyway. Then again, I like football. I like men being men instead of men being magicians who can’t compete at being men. I like LSU football. I like Stanford. I don’t need the score to look more like bowling than football to call it a “good game.”

        Besides, you don’t see it happening in the pros. I wonder why?

        1. Great point Conduit. Another point to consider that makes HUNH lovers cry…

          The refs and the rules. College refs are weekend warriors, not full-time employees like in the NFL.

          Each conference has their own refs, and just as you see in basketball, each crew runs the game at their own pace. Placing the burden on college refs’ “judgment” yields an uneven application of the existing rules.

          By making teams wait until a certain point to snap the ball each crew will work at the same pace regardless of the team or conference.

          And HUNH lovers hate it. Which makes me automatically adore it.

          1. NFL refs are not full time employees either. This comes up so often that I have to wonder if you even watch NFL football, based on your comment.

          2. No one who loves college football watches NFL football until the college season is over, and that’s only because it is the only man sport on TV at that time of year (what am I gonna watch, the NBA?).

            So, thanks Ryan for taking a legit point and coming to the complete wrong conclusion. You DO know this is a college football board, right?

          3. Pete,

            A main pillar of your point was based on an erroneous fact you laid out. I pointed it out.

            I also think it disingenuous that you attribute your wish to slow the game down as some sort of easing of the referee’s job. C’mon, I wasn’t born yesterday. Your sour grapes are showing.

            Also, plenty of “real college football fans” also watch the NFL. Your blanket statement concerning that is ridiculous. Maybe living in a state which has both has something to do with it, but you’ll notice that college football is on Friday and Saturday, and NFL is Thursday, Sunday and Monday….kinda works out that you can be a fan of both.

          4. Ryan K – #1: Many NFL refs have no other job than NFL reffing. Look it up. Some of them have another job, not all.
            #2: ALL college refs are part-time employees who do something else full-time – bankers, auto dealers, etc. NONE of them do it full-time – it doesn’t pay enough.
            #3: One of the points of the HUNH is to catch opposing defenses AND the officiating team out of position. Watching the IB alone, there were numerous plays by the Barn offense where the officials just plain missed obvious calls (not just the illegal receiver(s) downfield on the go-ahead play) at the beginning of plays. All of the setting, standing back up, re-setting, standing back up that goes on with the HUNH is designed not only to confuse defensive players, but also the refs tryingn to see what the hell is going on with the players and the ball (again, Gus is on record with this as an attribute of the HUNH – why doesn’t anyone from the Plains read his stuff?).
            Pointing out a technicality in an arguement is more of a b*tch move than pushing for rules changes that make the game safer and fairer for both sides of the line. I, like Conduit, am on the record for hating the HUNH. It’s arena football. It’s 7 on 7 football. It’s playing on the quad on Sunday afternoon football. But it’s not college football, and it’s not even NFL football.
            Maybe it’s Australian. Did Gus teach football in an Australian high school, too?

          5. @Ryan K

            “Saban could choose to run an offense like this if he desired.”

            Be careful what you wish for.

            Saban is already adapting both sides of the football, including in his recent recruiting coup. We’ve written about that here, long before the NCAA itself proposed this possible rule change.

            But if Nick Saban has to create a HUNH-style offense, what do you think the results would be? It’s not what I want, but is it really what you want?

            I love football, and call me selfish for wanting to keep it as fundamental as possible, but asking Nick Saban to adapt to the rules is beating a dead horse. Nobody adapts better.

            Regardless, again the NCAA brought it up. I don’t think it has to do with Alabama as much as it has to do with officiating.

        2. Your coach specifically asked to speak to the committee about the HUHN offense and the “dangers” it poses to player safety (which is a bunch of BS). Then they make a proposal that just happens to be about the HUHN offense and “player safety”. Your coach WANTS (and supports) this rule specifically because he’s scared of it. Thats it. The BS about player safety is just that: BS. He fears Malzahn so much that he went begging the committee to change the rules. Sad.

          1. Paul Finebaum said today on his program he was asked to be there. So whether he “specifically asked” or was “specifically asked” seems to be up for debate.

          2. Saban was called while on vacation, asked to come to this meeting and said no he was not coming, they called a second time and asked he please give his opinion and he did, what is sad is you believe your own ignorance

          3. and the committee called him while on vacation TWICE regardless if he asked to speak to them prior to this meeting,(who knows when the request was made) obviously they wanted to hear what he had say,I know its hard to comprehend

          4. You got a link or anything at all about the committee calling him? Because this is the NCAA coordinator saying Saban specifically asked to come speak to the committee, which completely contradicts your made-up account of what happened.

      2. Apparently you are not reading anything besides your own propaganda. Nearly every sports writer in America is commenting about how this is a self-serving, ridiculous rule.

        1. @AUtiger47

          “Nearly every sports writer in America…”

          This from a guy who wants hard data on injuries. Lets see you back that one up, pal.

        2. @AUTiger47

          Self-serving?

          Note first that Saban didn’t create the rules proposal or vote on it. He and Beilema are just agreeing with what the NCAA’s committe decided to talk about without them.

          Also, it hasn’t passed yet.

          Finally, Saban’s offense often runs a no-huddle. It’s not the backbone of their offense, but it’s won them football games, including games that determined championship contention. It’s not about stopping motion. It’s not about stopping misdirection. It’s not about forcing teams to huddle.

          So what’s it about? Why would the NCAA, not Nick Saban, come up with a rule proposal like this? I’ll respond after your answer, but my guess is that it has nothing to do with Alabama not winning a title every season in conspiracy with the NCAA itself.

        3. Of course they are dumbass. It’s what sports writers do. It’s what sells newspapers. It’s what gets internet hits. A fucking sports writer would film his sister getting gang raped if it would get him hits and sales. Ask me when was the last time I gave a good Goddamn fuck about what any sports writer said. I consider myself more intelligent, more experienced, better educated (I, thank God DID NOT get my Masters in fucking Journalism), and probably wealthier than any dumbass taxi chasing, sensationalizing, prejudiced, lying, homer journalist. The only ones I respect are the ones covering war on the front lines of a battle eating bullets.

    2. When Auburn fans don’t have a logical argument (most of the time) they either…

      A: Call people/fans names (i.e. “(whiney ass) bitch’).

      B: Counter with the most illogical argument you have ever heard/read (“We were the National Champs in 1983, 1993, and 2004, because we felt like we were the best! Even though we weren’t awarded in any of the RECOGNIZED major polls during the time(AP, UPI/Coaches, BCS).

      C: Try to change the subject to another fanbase/school because they have no argument…all the while claiming they do have one (see B:)

      Yet, they still like to claim everyone laugh’s at Alabama….?

      1. You’re really going to bring up Auburn possibly claiming titles retroactively???? Please continue that discussion so we can really discuss it!! How about claiming a natty for a year that bama didn’t even finish in the top 10 of the AP and was not first in the SEC?

        1. Here we go with the “1941” Auburn line…see item C:, in my post above.

          I’m perfectly comfortable in talking about our National Championships. Especially, the fact that no respectable school claims any other than AP, UPI/Coaches, or BCS title for the past 50 years…..except Auburn (Jay Jacobs) is now thinking about it (chuckle).

          Listen to Jacobs…he pretty much states the inferiority complex Auburn has to Alabama. We all know it, its just nice hearing it from the Auburn AD.

          One thing, if we counted the NC’s the way Auburn is thinking about doing…we would claim about 20…still the most.

          Auburn -> The cheap imitation that markets itself as the real thing.

    3. If Saban and Bama ran A HUNH style offense,then the masses of toothless Gumps would be screaming that it is the greatest thing ever.All this shit they are crying about,it being unfair and players are gonna get hurt and wa wa wa wa,well it would all be okay if Bama ran it,and don’t any of you even deny it,because you would all be okay with it.You would all be singing the praises of the hunh and defending it,but since Bammer don’t run it,you all gripe and bitch about.Every single one of you would defend it, if Saban was using it,don’t even try and deny it,you would all be okay with it if Little Nicky were using it

      1. @jnm

        Stop.

        I don’t love the HUNH for a lot of reasons. However, Alabama has already run no-huddle plenty of times including in games that determined championship eligibility. You weren’t happy about it then, yet Saban was already adapting.

        But make no mistake, if Alabama adopted the hurry-up-no-huddle as an offensive identity the only people who would be upset are people who hate Alabama.

        I like seeing the snap. I like seeing replay. I don’t like picture-in-picture being broadcast on a live feed. You don’t have to worry about that stuff when watching good fundamental football teams like Alabama, LSU and Stanford, even when they do hurry-up or don’t huddle such as in last year’s LSU game-winning drive.

        That’s what this rule proposal is about. Nick Saban didn’t come up with it. Frankly I’m surprised CBS and ESPN didn’t publicly support it after missing so many parts of so many plays last season alone.

        Good luck with the SAT.

  2. Except Leach is correct on this, and Saban is a b*tch. Who’s traditional here? It’s Saban who wants to make a change to the rules. Leach is just coaching within the traditional ruleset, which has ALWAYS allowed for this type of offense. You Bama fans sure follow in suit with Saban…bunch of b*tches, from what I can tell online, lol.

    1. @Ryan K

      It’s not the clock but the HUNH that’s not traditional.

      Let me ask you this then; what’s the advantage of the HUNH? What’s it designed to do explicitly? Can a clock ever really stop it?

      Gun laws were made for guns that took up to a minute to reload for a single shot. Now in the 21st century there are new laws that don’t let everyone own guns that fire one hundred bullets in less than four seconds. You can still kill people with a single bullet, believe it or not, but the rules written in the 1800’s always alloted for miniguns, or did they?

      So I say this; do something about it. Let your voice be heard. Make sure everyone knows you want teams to be able to hike the ball after just one second every down. But don’t try to pretend this is simply Saban trying to use rules to win games. If it was, nobody would listen, certainly not the rules and referee committees.

      1. I think that Saban’s own words make it clear that this is exactly what it is, but let me make this point…

        I live in Seattle, and just got to watch my beloved Seahawks win a Super Bowl. Our team, much like Saban’s, is predicated on defense and a lot of personnel swaps in between plays. For two weeks, we heard about how Denver’s hurry up offense was going to take that away from us, and we wouldn’t be able to stop them.

        See how that worked out? Just coach better, be stronger, be faster…or change the rules, I guess.

        To be clear, are you comparing technological advancements in weaponry with advancements in offensive scheming in football?

        1. You didn’t answer my question.

          And Denver just plain puked in the Super Bowl. Nevermind that they don’t run a HUNH-style offense to begin with, but a flock of blind pigeons with cholera could have beaten Denver in that game.

          I love the way the Seahawks played football this year, though. Congratulations.

          Regardless, I don’t think Saban said “exactly” what you’re saying this is about at all. It’s not, and nobody will be able to change your mind, I just hope you can live with it and still enjoy both fundamental football and the HUNH-style offense. After all, again, Saban often does “coach better, be stronger, be faster” and beats them anyway.

          Because if they don’t change the rules, what happens if Nick Saban himself adapts the HUNH? I don’t think anyone who’s complaining about this being Saban’s selfishness would like that one bit. Isn’t that the point? Saban wins more games more consistently against the more varieties of football than anyone else in the modern era—–a rule changing or not changing isn’t going to stop that, and I don’t think it would be a very good excuse if, for example, he wins another championship. “But that rule!” It just doesn’t work.

          Then again, I guess the bottom line about all of this is Saban isn’t the one who changes the rules anyway so blaming him is like blaming the weatherman when it’s raining but you want to tan.

          1. ““I think that the way people are going no-huddle right now, that at some point in time, we should look at how fast we allow the game to go in terms of player safety,” Saban said. “The team gets in the same formation group. You can’t substitute defensive players. You go on a 14-, 16- or 18-play drive and they’re snapping the ball as fast as you can go, and you look out there and all your players are walking around and can’t even get lined up. That’s when guys have a much greater chance of getting hurt … when they’re not ready to play. I think that’s something that can be looked at. It’s obviously created a tremendous advantage for the offense when teams are scoring 70 points and we’re averaging 49.5 points a game. More and more people are going to do it.”

            …I guess everyone can read this as they will…yes, I know that Saban isn’t the one who changes the rules. I just think there’s some connection here. Maybe I’m wrong.

        2. Ryan K – stay with us on this. Conduit is comparing RULES with RULES, LAWS with LAWS. Not advancements with advancements.
          In case your comprehension is not good, we don’t consider the HUNH an advancement in offensive scheming. If anything, it’s a compensatory offense for teams that don’t have good personnel overall on the field. It takes advantage of a strong defense (which no one was claiming Bama had this year, if you will look at the complete record – this was a defensive rebuilding year) by using the clock against those personnel. It uses a fast snap (again, Gus has said this all along) to take advantage of personnel mismatches, and it uses sleight of hand and misdirection to take advantage of defensive players out of position and referees out of position at the beginning of a play.
          The IB final score was not a result of the HUNH, although at times it appeared to work, especially against the refs. It was the result of some particularly bad play calling on Bama’s part, and a phenomenally bad day for Bama’s placekicker, who had been money on these kicks all season. The IB shouldn’t have even been a close game except for those two issues. Maybe that had something to do with the speed of the game, but maybe it had more to do with an officiating team being out of position form most of the second half and missing some rather obvious calls on the Barn offense.
          And Saban is on record as being against the HUNH quick snap option for much longer than Gus has been around the college game, so I don’t really think (and, I’m sure, neither do you) that this has as much to do with last season’s performance from the Tide as it does with Saban’s philosophy about the game, along with MANY more coaches than are for the quick snap. And I’d say that MOST of those coaches don’t have any pirate collectibles laying around their office, nor have locked any players in a storage shed in the August heat lately.

          1. Fair points, and to be fair, I haven’t brought up the IB at any point.

            But…

            “If anything, it’s a compensatory offense for teams that don’t have good personnel overall on the field.”

            As a University of Washington fan, I have to watch over and over us getting our dicks handed to us by Oregon. If you think it doesn’t take good personnel to run this type of offense well, then I don’t really know what to say. It’s just a scheme. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it fails…BUT, it is fair play unless the rules are changed, and frankly, I’ve seen enough rule changes in NCAA football lately. (25 yard line on touchbacks…SHM)

        3. The truth is Ryan, Denver does not run a HUNH Spread. Manning is not a Spread QB. What Seattle stopped was more along the lines of a West Coast offense. Probably most of you are too young to remember, but that has always been Denvers M.O. in Super Bowls – Get the shit beat out of you. During Elways years, Denver was in I think 5 Super Bowls. The last two before Elway retired they won – barely. The first three they got the living dog shit stomped out of them just like they did with Seattle. Watching that game was so much De Ja Vu it made me melancholy.

    2. Unfortunately, Leach is also a nutjob, and the only people who are going to listen to his opinion are other nutjobs like yourself.

      Gustav himself has described his HUNH as a method of taking inferior athletes and making them competitive on the field. It’s based on trickery and sleight of hand instead of head-to-head football basics.

      And – hell, yeah – I will follow suit with Saban. He’s the winningest coach in college football the past decade, so why wouldn’t we follow him?

      And – like 2010 – the Barner success will be a monumental flash in the pan that will go the way of all Barner success – right to a beatdown by the best team in the state for the next 5 seasons, and eventually to the next “best coach we can get” for Auburn.

      1. Wait, so the “inferior athletes” who can keep up the pace of HUNH now have an advantage over the superior ones who can’t keep up with that pace? LOL.

        Anyway, I get it….having the best draft class every year isn’t enough. Neither is scheduling a bunch of creampuffs and almost never traveling anywhere dangerous outside of the SEC.

        Sad.

        1. @Ryan K

          OK, after that last line now I know you’re not listening and you simply hate Alabama. It’s too bad.

          1. You sure claim to know a lot of things that you’re really in no place to know. That inner certainty must feel fantastic, though.

            I give a sh*t about Alabama unless they come up here and play UW, which I’m not holding my breath for.

          2. You sure claim to know a lot of things that you’re really in no place to know. That inner certainty must feel fantastic, though.

            I give a sh*t about Alabama unless they come up here and play UW, which I’m not holding my breath for.

          3. Something tells me UW wouldn’t accept Alabama’s invitation. It happens often. The ACC is trying to get SEC teams to agree to play at least one cross-conference game per season. In the meantime, Alabama tries to schedule a big non-conference off-site season opener every year. Clemson, Penn State, Michigan, VT, in places like Jerry World and the Georgia Dome.

            Come to think of it, does UW play any teams in the SEC or ACC? Seems kinda weird to complain to Alabama about it, that’s all. I remember when we beat Washington in the mid-80’s but still.

            Congrats on Petersen. Great coach, nice guy.

          4. Indeed. I think that Sark leaving was definitely a blessing. I’m excited for coach P, even though he’s definitely had to deal with some BS to start his tenure.

            BTW, we played @ LSU in week 2 of 2012, @ Nebraska week 3 of 2011, @ BYU in week 1 of 2010, @LSU in week 1 of 2009, plus an @ Notre Dame later that year. We have a pattern of playing non-conference BSC away games early in the season.

          5. So does Alabama. I wish more teams played games like that. If nothing else, I’m selfish, and I love seeing those crossover games. I like Washington a lot and I’m hoping Petersen means more prime time games. Gameday was sensational there. Off-topic, I know, but I’d take Petersen over Sarkesian any day, no offense to Sarkesian.

          6. Yeah, I guess my earlier comment was crappy. Alabama is obviously a good program and has to play tough teams. I think I was rubbed the wrong way by the blog on which we’re commenting. I’m in Washington state, and I didn’t go to either UW or WSU, so I pretty much root for both and don’t involve myself a whole lot with the inter-state rivalry.

            I actually think that Mike Leach (WSU) is a pretty good coach, and to have the grit to try and make something of yourself in Pullman, WA takes a certain kind of personality that I admire. It is HARD to recruit to Pullman. People around the country don’t realize how small and far away from everything it really is. The Cougars’ stadium only holds about 30,000, and that’s more than the population of the town. So, when I perceive that he’s turning the program back around, and I know that I wouldn’t want any of his offensive schemes limited, the stuff I read above just kinda irks me. I mean “unable to find success through real football coaching and strategy”….c’mon, that’s BS.

            The ONLY way you win at WSU is by being able to do just that. Mike Price (who I think you guys let go prematurely), once took WSU to a Rose Bowl after a 10 win season with 5 WRs who’d never played WR previous to college. 3 of them hadn’t even played organized football previous to college. I see a little of that in Leach. I guess that hearing some Bama homer writing like that just pissed me off. Sorry, everyone.

          7. And yes, I don’t know a single UW fan personally who doesn’t think that Petersen is a better situation for us.

          8. Coach P isn’t a Scientologist. There’s another prominent Scientologist with the same name. The rumor that coach was one was apparently started by some Idaho fans or something. He’s a Catholic, from what I can find.

          9. I have no beef with coach P, but he is a Scientologist, which reportedly was what was a turn off from a number of programs that have been intersted in him in recent years. Ever looked into what that group believes? Talk about whacked. Still, the guy did a bang up job at Boise, and hopefully will be able to reproduce the same results there. Regardless of his religion, I like him.

        2. Actually, though, I’m finding conflicting information on this. I mean, I guess it doesn’t matter, but it does seem to be a bit of a hard to nail down internet conspiracy thing, lol.

  3. These fricking retard whiney babies make me puke. All they want to do is blame and deflect and cry. Why? Because the dumb bastards know they can’t compete without the dippsie doo trickeroo. They are envisioning many more 49-0’s ahead. Do these dmb bastards even realize that the 10 seconds won’t affect their offense at all. All it will do is give the defense a chance to substitute – if they even need to. As for the offense, no they can’t snap the ball for 10 seconds, but they don’t have to line up for 10 seconds either. They can wait the 10 seconds then lineup fast and snap the ball. It will have the exact same effect on the defense by not knowing what formation to shift into before the snap. It’s a fucking lot of Goddamn crying about nothing. But then that’s just the Rat Shit Fambuhlee creed. The sky is falling. The sky is falling. Dumbasses. RTR!

    1. Its funny that your coach cant defend this “gimmick offense” every Alabama fan said would never work in the SEC. now that it is your coach wants the rules changed. There’s nothing “gimmicky” about the HUHN. Its just a fastpace way of running the offense. If your players are too fat and lazy to stop it that should be on your coach to fix, not whine to the NCAA to help him.

  4. Maybe you should listen to Mike Leach because he is a successful head football coach an you are an internet blogger.

    1. @Carl

      “Successful?”

      Your definition of successful and ours are apparently worlds apart.

      One conference championship in your career doesn’t make you “successful.”

    2. I listened to Mike Leach.

      I don’t agree with him, but I listened.

      Want to listen to what Nick Saban has to say about it?

      Of course you don’t. Some people won’t listen to a man who knows more about the sport than we ever could hope to simply because of his name being Nick Saban.

      If you’re curious though, here’s some quotes. Pick the ones you like and complain if it helps. I like the part where he reminds us he’ll use it if he has to. I’m afraid nobody will like the results except, of course, Alabama fans.

      Nov. 5, 2012 – Monday before Alabama faces Texas A&M

      “I think everybody misinterpreted what I said about no-huddle. I don’t mind playing against no-huddle. We don’t mind that at all. That wasn’t what I said, it’s what you all interpreted it to be.

      “I just asked the question, ‘Is this what we want the game to become?’ That’s for you to answer. But that doesn’t mean we don’t like playing against it. We don’t mind playing against it. It is what it is. Our players don’t mind playing against it. We played a little bit better against it than when the other team huddled up this past week. That’s the worst we’ve played all year on defense, by far.

      “How do you explain that? Can I ask you a question. How would you explain that? Such an insightful question that you asked me. I’m trying to get some insight in what I’m asking you. How do you explain that?”

      July 18, 2013 – SEC Media Days

      “I don’t know that there will ever be any rule changes that affect the up‑tempo teams.

      “There’s only two questions that I’ve ever had. You’ve heard me talk about this before, I’m not going to speak on it now. I don’t have the answer to these questions. Should we allow football to be a continuous game? Is that the way the game was designed to play?

      “And the second part of it is, and I don’t have the answer to this, is an increased number of plays that players play in the game, is there any safety issues in that? They play like 64 plays a game in the NFL. We play over 80 in college. The up‑tempo teams play even more than that. The cumulative effect of that is a player is playing 25, 30 more plays a game. Is there any safety issues in that?

      “I don’t know the answers. I think these are the questions that need to be asked to know whether there needs to be any rules that affect the tempo of the game.”

      Sept. 26, 2013 – “Hey Coach!” radio show

      “It takes the defensive coaches out of the game. I mean, you can’t substitute personnel, you can’t play substitution defense on third down, short yardage, goal line. You have to play with the same guys in the game all the time. So, there’s some tremendous advantages to it. The only reason we haven’t done it to this point is we’ve played pretty well without doing it and our players have played better without doing it.

      “But I think the time is coming where we’ll probably do it, too. My question is, you have to look at the big picture. Who still wins the championships relative to what they do? And can you really play good defense if you have that kind of offense. And how does it affect your overall program in terms of developing players.”

      Nov. 21, 2013 – Press conference heading into game against Chattanooga

      “Even though we don’t choose to do it as a team that much, I think we are capable to do it, if we wanted or needed to. I really do think our team responded better against those types of teams this year than what we’ve done in the past. It has been our approach, how we practice, how our offense practices against us. All those things have helped. I think our offense could go out and do that same thing.”

    1. Missed a few. I filled in the blanks.

      Nick Saban>financial independence>Mediocre head coach>Internet blogger>Malzahn>HUNH>trolling

  5. did anyone hear CNS or the Bama nation cry like a little kid who just had his milk money taken when the NCAA came up with the “Saban rule”? What was Saban’s response? See the class of 2014. I only wonder why I am suprised

  6. Looking over the 2013-14 NCAA rules on subs I’m even more confused.

    SECTION 5. Substitutions
    Substitution Procedures
    ARTICLE 1. Any number of legal substitutes for either team may enter the
    game between periods, after a score or try, or during the interval between downs
    only for the purpose of replacing a player(s) or filling a player vacancy(ies)

    While in the process of substitution or simulated substitution, Team A is
    prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage with the obvious
    attempt of creating a defensive disadvantage. If the ball is ready for play,
    the game officials will not permit the ball to be snapped until Team B has
    placed substitutes in position and replaced players have left the field of play.
    Team B must react promptly with its substitutes

    They clearly state either team may sub during the interval between downs. They clearly state an offense is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage with the obvious attempt of creating a defensive advantage. How we got to a scenario that the defense can only sub if the offense does is beyond me. It has to boil down to the referee’s loose interpretation of defensive disadvantage.

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