Sabans Thoughts On "No Huddle" offenses

[OLE MISS]

Oh hot dayum, really? Come on man. Player safety my a**.


http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/i...football-to-be


No. 1 Alabama is off this weekend, so coach Nick Saban has a little bit more time to be reflective.

And from the sound of it, he’s not a big fan of the up-tempo, no-huddle craze that seems to be engulfing college football and producing Xbox-like offensive numbers.

"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 Wednesday on the SEC teleconference. "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 just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking: Is this what we want football to be?"

[HIGHTIDES]

That GIF is hilarious.. Someone should make one that shows Lester's foot was out of bounds while he still had possession of the ball during that fumble that went Ole MIss's way.

As for Saban's comments... pretty ridiculous IMO. I guess it would interesting to see if there are more injuries during no huddle offenses but otherwise, shut up and deal with it. I personally hate no huddle offenses cause I like seeing teams set up and ready to go before the play is off as opposed to offenses trying to just get the ball off before the defense can get ready. But hey, it's legal, so go for it. I'm just talking personal taste.

[ACCFanInTraining]

I think Alabama knocked out about every starting QB they faced last year....talk about player safety

[OLE MISS]

Surely he's not referring to the Hart and White injuries. They're both offensive guys.

[IBCW]

I think Alabama knocked out about every starting QB they faced last year....talk about player safety

I miss Upshaw this season.

[CaribbeanTide]

Meh. I don't care about it as much from any actual advantage it may yield. I just think it looks like you're coaching 6 year olds. Some call it a prairie dog offense. I call it the "does this look like right daddy?" offense.

Still, can't knock the results a lot of teams are getting with it. Eventually we'll probably just have all the players (or at least captains) mic'd up. Anything to get rid of all the signs teams are using on the side of the field. Every time I see those I think of the 'welcome wagon' helicopter from Independence Day.

[HIGHTIDES]

Meh. I don't care about it as much from any actual advantage it may yield. I just think it looks like you're coaching 6 year olds. Some call it a prairie dog offense. I call it the "does this look like right daddy?" offense.

Still, can't knock the results a lot of teams are getting with it. Eventually we'll probably just have all the players (or at least captains) mic'd up. Anything to get rid of all the signs teams are using on the side of the field. Every time I see those I think of the 'welcome wagon' helicopter from Independence Day.

Usually when I see a team run the no huddle offense, it is followed by a defense that totally sucks so I'm not scared of it. If more teams start going to the no huddle we may see some substitution rule changes though.

What I don't like is the no huddle, then when the line gets set they stand up and look over to see what the play call is. It doesn't hurry the offense it just keeps the defense from being able to make substitutions. I personally would like to see that change so defensive players would be able to rush in as soon as the OL makes their movement to stand up.

[BigBamaFan]

I dont mind no huddles buti do believe some changes are needed here's some of my ideas
1 allow bump and run
2 stop allowing the whole team to look to the side line for the play which is the same as a huddle
3 stop the use of visual cards

[Friedchickenman]

I have a hard time believing that Saban is making this comment for "player safety", when the reality is the no-huddle offense takes away a lot of the things Nick Saban likes to do on defense.

[ACCFanInTraining]

I dont mind no huddles buti do believe some changes are needed here's some of my ideas
1 allow bump and run
2 stop allowing the whole team to look to the side line for the play which is the same as a huddle
3 stop the use of visual cards

1. bump and run is allowed...
2. Why? The defense does this too.
3. Why? What's the difference in that and hand signals?