By the time you reach the college level, you should know how to tackle.  By the time you reach the college level, a DB should know how to cover a WR and know when to turn and look for the ball.  By the time you reach the college level and you are on scholarship, there is no way a walk on should be playing ahead of you.  I dont care if they have earned a scholly.  They should never start ahead of sophomore and junior 3* and above athletes in the same position.  

No! Be respectable speed bumps? Uh, Yeah!  Fall camp and 8 games later and we cant consistently slow down equivalently rated players with a year or two worth of experience and be serviceable.  

I dont think you can blame the play calling on DG.  I dont even really blame the fact that he is so afraid of both getting drilled and throwing an interception that he reads the play after the snap so slow he is missing windows and can't seem to hit a receiver unless he is standing alone with a 5 yard radius around him.  The OC could put him in better situations, call better plays or appeal to whatever fighting spirit DG has left by sitting him for a series or a qtr by putting Morris in the game.  Something has to get DGs fight back.  Its the OCs job is to make his players look good.  Malzahn did it at Arkansas and Auburn during both tenures.  

The D line, coached by Hoke and Mattison, cant get pressure.  The linebackers tackle inconsistently and dont drop well into pass routes.  The DBs cant anticipate and leave receivers open by 5 - 10 yards on 3rd down consistently.  Either the talent isnt there (I personally believe it is) or the coaches on both sides of the ball need a gut check or get the hell out.

No!  Unless we are preparing them to lose.

The skill players have shown at times that they can be good.  The issue is after fall camp and 8 games, why isnt the play more consistent.  That is due to the coaches.  I'm not sure if we should be getting rid of all 3 (Hoke, Borges & Mattison) or some combination of Borges, Funk and Mallory etc.  I do give Mattison some blame when its 4th and 2 and our DBs are 6 - 8 off the ball.  I also give Hoke and Mattison some blame for having a D line that cant get any penetration with 4.  By now, you should be able to have coached a skilled but raw athlete how to get some pressure on a consistent basis.  

Have you ever seen Chance Warmack, DJ Fluker, etc?

What you see of Nick Saban is not what happens when the cameras are off.  I live in Tuscaloosa and I am friends with quite a few of the players over the last 7 - 8 years.  You see calm, cool and collected.  I can tell you only what I have heard but not only does Coach Saban kick butt, he takes names and so does his staff.  

Especially in the first few years, he gave his players very little rope to hang themselves and after the mass house cleaning he did in his 1st 2 years, if you're lazy or sloppy or anything other than perfect, you pay for it.  Did he use the medical hardship to set an example?  That is speculation but it is assumed that was one of the ways he sent the message.  The other methods he used involved the S&C coach and early morning sweat sessions.  From what I've been told, he's not Bobby Knight but he's is not bashful about getting in your face either.