Saban’s way: Tenacious D
ATLANTA» As Alabama All-america defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick watched a Youtube video of last week’s thrilling Rose Bowl game between Georgia and Oklahoma, there was a sense of familiarity with the Bulldogs.
“We basically run the same defense. They added a couple of things just like we add some things,” Fitzpatrick said. “Even the hand signals and stuff are pretty similar. It’s pretty interesting.”
Not surprising, though. Georgia coach Kirby Smart spent eight years as defensive coordinator for Alabama coach Nick Saban. Alabama’s defenses have ranked in the top 20 nationally in yards per play every season since 2008. The Tide has been ranked in the top 10 in six of those seasons. Defense has been the backbone of four national championship teams, and both the third-ranked Bulldogs and fourth-ranked Tide bring a top-10 defense into the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night.
Saban’s defenses — and now Smart’s, too — are detail-oriented, fundamentally sound and diverse. Saban’s defensive playbook is expansive, and formations can be confounding for opposing quarterbacks to decipher before the ball is snapped. Playing defense for Saban requires not just talent — and there is so much talent — but smarts and discipline.
“He’s going to run every defense known to man or at least have the ability to do so” said Chris Brown, author of “The Essential Smart Football” and “The Art of Smart Football.”
Saban was defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns for Bill Belichick from 1991-94, and the two share similar philosophies.
The basics are this: 3-4 alignments that start with stout defensive linemen, who occupy blockers and can clog multiple gaps up front. This year’s Alabama team has 308-pound Da’ron Payne at nose tackle. Georgia has 305-pound nose tackle John Atkins.
“I think you have to be good up the middle,” Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt said. “Big guys up front.”
As college offenses have become more spread out, Saban and Smart and Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, who worked for Saban at LSU and Alabama, have adjusted. When facing offenses that line up with three or more wide receivers, the defense shifts to four-man fronts and usually five defensive backs. And with so many teams playing offense up-tempo these days, a key is having versatile players who can be cross-trained at multiple positions. The personnel does not have to change if the defense changes.
Tight, press coverage is typical on the outside and a concept called pattern matching is often used. Think of it as football’s version of basketball’s matchup zone.
“They’re playing zone until someone comes into their space and then they play man,” said SEC Network analyst and former Auburn offensive lineman Cole Cubelic. Defenders determine which receiver they are taking by reading the routes.
“They’re going to challenge receivers and not give up easy stuff, and that comes from (Saban’s) time with Belichick, where he learned a lot of sophisticated defensive coverage and concepts,” Brown said. “It’s not what Saban calls country zones, where you just drop to a spot and watch the quarterback’s eyes.”
Brown said Saban’s defensive playbook when Saban coached the Miami Dolphins was famously 1,400 pages.
• Alabama guard Lester Cotton is expected to miss the national championship game with a knee injury.
Cotton has started every game this season. J.C. Hassenauer replaced him in the Sugar Bowl against Clemson after Cotton’s injury.
Hassenauer, a senior, was the SEC offensive lineman of the week after the Mercer game.