They got the guts to pull a Saban
Nick Saban cemented his greatness long before Alabama’s wild comefrom-behind overtime national championship win against Georgia, but the sideline curmudgeon got the football world buzzing Monday night with the gutsiest move of his career.
Saban’s decision to bench two-year starting quarterback Jalen Hurts at halftime for true freshman Tua Tagovailoa will become the stuff of legend. Tagovailoa rallied the Crimson Tide from a 13-point halftime deficit to the mountaintop again.
Can you imagine if an NFL coach made that kind of quarterback switcheroo in the Super Bowl? There are obviously myriad factors to consider (coach’s job security, starter’s overall quality of play and backup’s level of competence), but it’s a fun exercise.
Here are five guys who have the stones to pull off what Saban did to win his sixth national title.
No list chronicling the cold, harsh business of football would be complete without the most compassionless successful coach of all time. Nobody understands the cut-throat business of sports better than The Hoodie, who has cut, benched and quarantined the best of the best. Belichick marginalized perennial Pro Bowler Drew Bledsoe for a sixth-round signal-caller once upon a time, for Pete’s sake. Nobody, however, is suggesting that Belichick would bench Tom Brady for Brian Hoyer at halftime of Super Bowl LII. Besides, Brady would probably just call Robert Kraft even if Belichick ever thought about making a change. There’s a rift between the coach and player, if you hadn’t heard.
The energic Seattle point man is all about competition. Compete for your spot, compete for you job, compete for your place on his team. Remember when $20 Million Man Matt Flynn was ostensibly handed the starting gig after signing his free-agent deal in 2012? The quarterback pecking order was supposed to be Flynn, Tavaris Jackson and some short third-round rookie from Wisconsin/N.C.
Tua Tagovailoa’s historic performance Monday night led to an incredible comeback for the true freshman in the national championship game, but his future at Alabama prior to the game was very much in doubt.
Florida Atlantic head coach Lane Kiffin, who was the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide from 2014-16, said on “The Dan Patrick Show” that Tagovailoa would hav transferred had events not transpired as they did.
“The funny thing is, if this second half doesn’t flip like this and Alabama’s (not) moving the ball, it doesn’t change — people that really know what’s going on would tell you that Tua was leaving,” Kiffin said Tuesday. “Because Tua felt that he should’ve been the starting quarterback and had outperformed (Jalen Hurts) in practice, and coach (Nick Saban) never gave him an opportunity.”
It’s a remarkable turn of events for the quarterback from Hawaii, who completed 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns after coming into the game in the second half. Kiffin notes that now the script may have flipped on Hurts, who may end up being the quarterback who transfers following Tagovailoa’s performance.
“Now the story’s going to flip the other way, and the story’s going to be: Is Jalen going to leave?” Kiffin said. “Now Jalen’s such a great competitor, he may not. But most guys would.” State. But Carroll kept an open mind. Russell Wilson outplayed everyone in training camp and the preseason ... and the rest is history. Would it surprise you if Carroll did something goofy in a big spot? Heck, we’ve already seen Carroll do some unconventional stuff near the goal line in the
biggest of moments.
Shanahan was Washington’s offensive coordinator when we first started to notice that Kirk Cousins might actually be better than Robert Griffin III. Mike Shanahan and his son knew early on that the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year had a lower ceiling that Cousins. They’ve obviously been proven right. Kyle likely won’t have to worry about benching his starter in a big spot anytime soon now that he’s got Jimmy Garoppolo, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the young coach would make that shrewd move if he had a lesser signal caller. The Texans coach has proven to be an All-Pro flip-flopper when it comes to his quarterbacks ... probably because he hasn’t really had a good one for most of his tenure. Remember, he benched starter Brian Hoyer for Ryan Mallett (yes, that Ryan Mallett) in the fourth quarter of Week 1 after a summer-long quarterback “competition” in 2015. Mallett was cut six weeks later. Then, O’Brien yanked starter Tom Savage for Deshaun Watson at halftime of Week 1 this past season. That actually worked out before Watson suffered a seasonending torn ACL in practice a couple months later. Translation: O’Brien has the guts to make a seismic change at the game’s most important position at any time.
We might have a great test case in the coming weeks. Case Keenum, starter of zero playoff games in his career, has lived a charmed life this season, but what if he struggles badly in the first half against the Saints this weekend? Would Zimmer turn to Teddy Bridgewater? I have a feeling that the Vikings coach might channel his inner Saban. Honolulu, Hawaii True Freshman 6-foot-1, 219 pounds Four stars, No. 57 in the Class of 2017 by ESPN Named the 2016 Elite-11 MVP and the No. 1 dual-threat QB in the Class of 2017 by ESPN Auburn, UCLA, USC, Louisville and LSU
0. Jalen Hurts started every game this season
He considers Georgia QB Jake Fromm a close friend
His younger brother Taulia, a Class of 2019 QB prospect, has a scholarship offer to Alabama, among other Power 5 schools
Back in September he made news when an Alabama fan posted on an Alabama message board his concerns about the "language barrier" he would face "transitioning to the states"... from Hawaii.