quote:
And when it does, Alabama will decline. It is a cycle. Here is why:

1. Saban won't be there forever. And his successor will struggle to fill his legendary shoes just like Zook did at Florida, Solich did at Nebraska, etc. If he doesn't leave this year to take the Texas job, he will probably be retiring in the near future.

2. AJ McCarron won't be back. He has been the key to their run. He is the ultimate game manager, and his consistency is the reason they have only lost twice since he has been a starter. The next QB for Bama, regardless of the number of recruiting stars he had coming out of high school, will also have big shoes to fill.

In the 1995 season, after Nebraska blew out undefeated Florida, 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl to win their second straight title, I remember thinking that Nebraska had this dominant program that would never be dethroned. Two years later, he retired, and Nebraska's program has been on a roller coaster ever since...just like Alabama's program was after Bear Bryant retired.

Outside of the last quarter and a half of this past game, LSU has been neck and neck with Alabama...hopefully Les will go back to the drawing board and draw up a plan that beefs up our front 7 on defense, speed up our DB's, and lights a fire under our offensive line. Whether that is a strength and conditioning issue, a work ethic issue or an assistant coach issue, I don't know.

I do know that we went from being 13-1 to 10-3 and now 7-3 through 10 games of this season, with tough games still to come. That's a decline, albeit not as drastic as some chicken littles like to proclaim. But it is a decline and it is critical that Les rights the ship next season.

Question: What do you think are the 2 or 3 major changes that Les needs to make to catch up to Alabama and keep ahead of Auburn, Ole Miss and Texas A&M?

I agree but the 3 changes we need is to get new OL, TE, and DB coaches.
Possibly bring back ron cooper, bring in a OL coach the Cam recommends or get that OL coach that Bama had last year. Also, bring in a TE coach that has NFL experience.