After losing big to Clemson, Bama presses reset for 2019

If I were to tell you a week before the 2018 National Title game that Alabama would lose to Clemson 44-16, you would probably think I was dropped on my head. Well, it turns out my inclinations were spot on- Bama lost exactly 44-16 to the Clemson Tigers. How they lost is another amazing feat. Bama was outplayed, outmanned, and outcoached in that game, which is something I have never seen by an Alabama team coached by Nick Saban. The Tide gave up a total of 482 yards that night- 347 passing and 135 rushing. That’s a bit staggering if I’m an Alabama fan. On that same note, I would ask myself ” is this a sign of things to come for this team?”.  It would be easy to be pessimistic and panic after watching that game, I totally understand that. But Nick Saban didn’t forget how to coach after one game. To understand his “process”, you have to be all in.

People have a short memory about Saban’s bama teams after losing games…they bounce back, with a chip on their shoulder. If you look at the past decade of Nick’s teams, you see how his teams respond after being embarrassed. Let’s take a look:

2008- Lost to Florida and Utah at the end of the season.

2009- Won the National Title.

2010- Lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

2011- Won the National Title.

2012- Won the National Title.

2013- Lost to Auburn and Oklahoma at the end of the season.

2014- Lost to Ole Miss and Ohio St.

2015- Won the National Title

2016- Lost to Clemson at the end of the season

2017- Won the National Title.

Hopefully now you get the point. It’s not how they get beat, it’s how they punch back. The teams response to failure is praiseworthy. They don’t let it define them. They see it as a learning experience and move on. And that all comes from their CEO, Nick Saban. Coach Saban uses failures/losses as a motivating tool for his teams and as you can see, it works.

Most teams have a hard time bouncing back from such a debacle, but most teams aren’t coached by Nick Saban. I think 2019 will be another year where Alabama once again does all of it’s talking on the field, and will prove to the college football world that the dynasty is not over. A rematch with Clemson is inevitable. And let’s be honest, we all want to see it.