SIAP: Saban on troubles handling Michigan NOT being no-huddle
Saban was very respectful of Michigan players and coaches overall.
Sorry about the X link, maybe someone can post another source.
Something I haven't read here, but may have missed, is Saban saying M was the first team they played all year that huddled, and that caused them problems because it shortened the time their defense could respond to the Michigan formation. I assume he knows what he's talking about?
https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1742974274892177434
January 4th, 2024 at 4:47 PM ^
Another unfair competitive advantage? Thamel know about this?
January 4th, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
Probably discussing new ways to cheat in these "huddles".
January 4th, 2024 at 7:38 PM ^
There's probably a line in some NCAA code somewhere that can be interpreted to mean that huddling is illegal.
Once discovered, Michigan's huddling will have been discovered to be the wORsT scAndAL iN COlleGe fOOtBalL HiSTorY!
January 4th, 2024 at 4:52 PM ^
Huddlegate. It's a thing.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:15 PM ^
Player safety issue. If Michigan players all know where they’re going to be on the field, Alabama players might pull a hamstring trying to catch up.
Biggest scandal in football history
January 4th, 2024 at 5:18 PM ^
Rivals article summarizing the interview.
https://michigan.rivals.com/news/michigan-s-huddle-approach-surprised-nick-saban-in-rose-bowl-loss
January 4th, 2024 at 5:49 PM ^
Nice, but not much analysis. I would enjoy one of our MGoStaff giving me some free content telling me how geeked I should be about M going "there's no school like the old school" and huddling to win the Rose Bowl.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:36 PM ^
If Saban doesn't like it look for some new rule changes in the offseason.
NO MORE HUDDLES
THE QB GETS TO HAVE THE BALL IN HIS HANDS NO MATTER WHERE HE IS ON THE FIELD AND JUST YELL HIKE! FOR THE PLAY TO START
WHATEVER TEAM NICK SATAN IS COACHING AUTOMATICALLY GETS A PLAYOFF SPOT
January 5th, 2024 at 2:27 AM ^
To be fair Saban seemed cordial, congratulatory, and his team was in a good position to win. They beat Georgia and Georgia would still give me more of a scare than Bama or Texas. These are good teams and the coaches know how to coach up 5 stars.
January 4th, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!
January 4th, 2024 at 5:06 PM ^
or player safety!
January 4th, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
Coming 2024-25 season: huddling is now banned due to the competitive advantage. Thank Michigan for it!!
January 4th, 2024 at 4:55 PM ^
the ban will actually start immediately, and will be announced Sunday evening.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:01 PM ^
And it will be retroactive to the start of this season.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:02 PM ^
Harbaugh suspended at half-time
January 4th, 2024 at 5:05 PM ^
You misspelled 'Monday'
January 4th, 2024 at 5:07 PM ^
Double post
January 4th, 2024 at 4:53 PM ^
Has anybody noticed that the hurry up-no huddle has died down quite a bit overall?
January 4th, 2024 at 5:14 PM ^
Yes. Outside of Tennessee I don't know of another team that makes it their way of running an offense.
It makes sense NOT to run it because, even though it can throw the defense into a panic, it also forces the offense to be very basic and doesn't give the defense much rest.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:32 PM ^
In the days of Rich Rod, the no huddle offense could execute a 3 and Out in less than a minute. Then the poor damn defense had to get back on the field again….
January 4th, 2024 at 6:18 PM ^
When Dino Babers quit with the hurry up at Syracuse I knew something was amiss with the offense. He built his identity on that offense and then got away to just a generic spread. It was weird. Defenses figured it out, and then the RPO became the new hot thing. Now it seems run heavy pro offense is the hot new thing and we're full circle back to late 90s football.
January 4th, 2024 at 9:23 PM ^
Everything that is old is new again
January 5th, 2024 at 2:27 PM ^
I noticed on Alabama's second TD, they went tempo. Michigan D-line wasn't quite set.
I don't think this was the difference, but the book on Michigan's D (since at least 2021 MSU) has been that they're vulnerable to tempo. I expect to see a lot of it in different situations from Washington.
January 4th, 2024 at 4:54 PM ^
Doesn't sound very safe for the players.
January 4th, 2024 at 4:55 PM ^
Basically yes. He's saying 'Bama was no-huddle but wasn't playing fast that game, so UM's coaches had more time to signal in calls/checks based on 'Bama's formations since they showed that right away. Versus the other side, UM huddled and was then sitting in their offensive formation for less time, which means less time for 'Bama's D to make calls/checks.
Interesting that Saban is indicating that UM huddling gave a similar advantage that the hurry-up-no-huddle is supposed to give, while their own tactic of no-huddle-no-hurry actually hurt them. Will 'Bama be one of the few teams like UM to mostly go back to huddle next season?
January 4th, 2024 at 5:01 PM ^
saban will retire next year. one more season, that's it.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:03 PM ^
Sounds darn close to praise without actually mentioning it at all and just lamenting their own shortcomings. Hey Satan, it's called coaching. Lugging around bags of cash for soon to be portalled out talent is different.
January 4th, 2024 at 9:51 PM ^
You know, even if he is buying players, a lot of teams have shown that if you can’t coach them, they’ll flame out. Otherwise, Texas AM would be national champs. Saban can coach damn well. He has 20 years of a resume proving it.
January 4th, 2024 at 10:23 PM ^
That's a very recent phenomenon based on massive changes in the cfb landscape. The Bama formula at A&M would've had plenty of success in the old system.
He's one of the best at the college level ever. MSU can feel great about him leaving for a better job.
He's always made really good hires and changes when it didn't work. Impressive turnover throughout the years. Running out of steam, tho, and his last OC hire was questionable.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:05 PM ^
I assume it works both ways - by huddling before lining up, UM has less time to determine how best to attack the D. If so, the key is a good QB (McCarthy) who doesn't need as much time to read the D. I'm guessing that if Saban isn't comfortable shortening the time his QB has to read the D.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:12 PM ^
"Twas beauty that killed the beast" or huddling.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:57 PM ^
I’m sure you are right but at least Michigan has people on the sideline who can read the defense while the offense is huddling. They could probably get a check in if they needed to.
January 4th, 2024 at 6:12 PM ^
Nice way of dodging the fact that M was doing a lot of pre-snap moment and shifting to confuse the defense. But Saban wouldn't want to admit his vaunted defensive system has flaws, easier to blame the huddling.
January 4th, 2024 at 6:19 PM ^
You mean the "Go get'em or we'll repossess your car" defense? He's nothing but an ATM facilitator for semi-pro mercenaries.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:02 PM ^
I absolutely love that Michigan is a problem because they're old fashioned.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:08 PM ^
Hiking the ball from under center will be banned soon. Intent to deceive
January 4th, 2024 at 5:10 PM ^
This was the most Harbaugh thing I've ever heard. He stresses other teams because he has our team huddle to call plays
January 4th, 2024 at 5:13 PM ^
Satan, "What, they have a weight room too?".
January 4th, 2024 at 5:49 PM ^
I remember Brian arguing that we needed a guy like Richrod who was (so we thought) at the cutting edge of football philosophy to gain a competitive advantage.
Turned out we actually just needed to keep doing our thing and let the rest of the country forget how to defend it.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:31 PM ^
Wait 'til Washington sees our single-wing and wishbone packages...
January 4th, 2024 at 8:50 PM ^
And our five foot wide shoulder pads
January 5th, 2024 at 1:46 PM ^
they huddled, and then they....ran?! what ever should we do???
January 4th, 2024 at 5:02 PM ^
so we have to have s*X to SAVE the friendship...
January 4th, 2024 at 5:06 PM ^
Interesting topic that you don’t pick up on if you see Michigan play a lot. Break the huddle, shift the formation then put a man in motion.
January 4th, 2024 at 6:14 PM ^
It was called out in the broadcast, and Orlovsky drove it home in the post game analysis. Alabama's defense was forced to make 2 or 3 assignment checks in just a few seconds presnap. They couldn't keep up, resulting in conflicts and errors.
OTOH, the communication among the Michigan defensive back seven was visual and nearly instant in response to Alabama's shifts. It's really a testament to the players and the coaches to get to this level of seamless movement.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:07 PM ^
The huddle is actually an elaborate cheeseburger distribution operation
January 4th, 2024 at 6:00 PM ^
Quite the vast network.
January 4th, 2024 at 6:14 PM ^
With Stallions out of commission, M has to have a way to hide the iPhones so Bama can't see their signs getting stolen.
January 4th, 2024 at 5:27 PM ^
It’s an interesting topic.
A lot of offenses have the “get set and then check the sideline” no-huddle. The advantage of this is that you have the smart smart coaches making and adjusting the playcalls. The disadvantage is that, like Saban said, it gives the defense enough time to think about matchups, assignments, etc.
Alabama runs a complex defense, which Seth explained over the last week. They can do this because they’re really talented players and have a good coaching staff.
But they can be outsmarted. Our gameplan included a ton of motion, RB hops, etc., and at the end of it the Michigan players still needed to know what to do and where to run.* Meaning that huddling gives US the time to think and get on the same page.
I’ll bet $1 that someone figures out how to do this same thing no-huddle over the summer, and next year Alabama will face several all-motion-all-the-time offenses.
* [I’ll also bet $1 that this is why Donovan Edwards wasn’t featured as much this game. No offense to the guy, he’s a hard worker and great teammate, but even in our most vanilla offense he seemed like he had no idea what was happening in front of his face. That could have gotten JJ killed in this game.]