Coker

[mcgufcm 4,107]

That dude is far more athletic than Clint Mosley. He's fluid when he runs. That's not something I ever said about Clint.

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

I don't think there's a large enough body of work to definitively nail down whether or not he'll be any good at this point. That said, you have a guy who, as a rising junior, has never won a position battle at the collegiate level. He's never been behind center in a critical game situation at the collegiate level. He has put up relatively ho-hum numbers in mop-up duty. He has not reported to Alabama's campus and will have only fall camp to learn the offense, become the starter and develop a rapport with his receivers. Alabama returns only two starters on the offensive line. The offense has weapons to be sure, but one of them has shown a tendency to disappear (Cooper) and another has serious fumble concerns (Yeldon). Finally, the offense is being run by a guy who has an uneven (to be kind) record when it comes to play calling and running an offense. The deck isn't quite stacked in his favor from where I sit.

Additionally, I personally don't think he passed the eyeball test. While I'm certainly no expert, his highlights (if you want to call them that), to me, showed a guy who has very little pocket presence, very uneven footwork, no ability to manipulate the secondary with his eyes, questionable accuracy and decision making, and a complete inability to consistently complete intermediate and long range passes. He is athletic, yes, but no more so than say, Aaron Murray, and he demonstrably lacks Murray's skills from the pocket. He absolutely cannot anticipate the rush and folds quickly when pressured. He also seems to rely heavily on his receivers to get him out of jams and bail out bad throws. In short, he looks bad. Not average, not a work-in-progress, but flat out bad.

[80Tiger 899]

Well I did not watch all the highlight, only about half of it. What i noticed in both actual games and the spring games, it looks as if most of his passes are timing and routes and automatic throws. Not very much check downs and secondary receivers. Some but not much. The actual game footage was mop up duty and receivers running wide open, so not much from that. The spring game footage to me would be the most accurate reflection. He was going against first team D some. If that had been an AU QB I would not have felt very good for a spring game. Accuracy is average and also threw 2 picks. I also did not think there was a tremendous amount of zip on the ball, but that could have been the video. He could be great, but there is nothing there to garner all this darkhorse Heisman candidate stuff.

[keesler 5,925]

If Coker was that good, Jimbo never would have released him from his scholarship. Jimbo would not want a former star player of his possibly suiting up against his squad. I know he graduated, but had Jimbo not released him, he would have had to sit out.

Ummm... What could Jimbo have done to prevent Coker from graduating from FSU and taking his talents to another conference? The decision wasn't up to Fisher.

He could have delayed his playing immediately by not releasing him from his scholarship. Had he not released him, he would have had to sit out a year.

Not true. The sitting out a year is due to the transfer rule, which Coker's graduation negates. The release from scholarship only affects whether he can go on scholarship at his new school or has to pay his own way. I'm not sure if graduation affects that rule or not.

^^This is what I read early on about Cokers's transfer. Jimbo had zero effect on where Coker could transfer and because the kid was graduating in May NCAA rules allowed him to play immediately without sitting a year. I suppose Jimbo was generous in granting a release from the FSU scholly so that Coker could play under a scholly at his new school but Jimbo's decision one way or the other had no bearing on the kid having to sit out a year.

[Altima 200]

If Coker was that good, Jimbo never would have released him from his scholarship. Jimbo would not want a former star player of his possibly suiting up against his squad. I know he graduated, but had Jimbo not released him, he would have had to sit out.

Ummm... What could Jimbo have done to prevent Coker from graduating from FSU and taking his talents to another conference? The decision wasn't up to Fisher.

He could have delayed his playing immediately by not releasing him from his scholarship. Had he not released him, he would have had to sit out a year.

Not true. The sitting out a year is due to the transfer rule, which Coker's graduation negates. The release from scholarship only affects whether he can go on scholarship at his new school or has to pay his own way. I'm not sure if graduation affects that rule or not.

^^This is what I read early on about Cokers's transfer. Jimbo had zero effect on where Coker could transfer and because the kid was graduating in May NCAA rules allowed him to play immediately without sitting a year. I suppose Jimbo was generous in granting a release from the FSU scholly so that Coker could play under a scholly at his new school but Jimbo's decision one way or the other had no bearing on the kid having to sit out a year.

I see the point Gibby is trying to make...

IF Coker is as talented and "gifted" as Fisher and Sanders keep claiming he is, there's no way they would let him go... rules be damned!

Coker is one more 'Jamies slip up' from being the guy. He's a crab leg away from having to lead the Seminoles. So, if Coker is SO good, Fisher would be begging him to stay! For the good of his football team he would've been kissing his ass.

But that didn't happen here...

"Here Bama, take my quarterback"... "I know there is a strong possiblity we might have to play against each other in the playoff next season, so take this badass, future NFL quarterback to help your chances of kicking our ass"!!!

Yeah right, Jimbo would've never let him get off campus. And, he ESPECIALLY wouldn't be telling the media, and anyone who will listen, how great he is.

Jimbo and Sanders are just trying to soften the blow to Coker... They told Coker he would be the "future" of the Seminoles following EJ Manuel.

Truth be told, Coker wasn't NEAR as good as they were anticipating... period!

So if you believe that Coker is the next coming for the 'tahd', you're kidding yourself!

First reports out of t-town say Coker is already "struggling", he's having "accuracy issues", and he had another knee surgery... all since arriving in Tuscaloosa in May.

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

"First reports out of t-town say Coker is already "struggling", he's having "accuracy issues", and he had another knee surgery... all since arriving in Tuscaloosa in May."

If this is true....I actually feel sorry for him because the bammers will tear him apart. He's just a kid who wants to do something besides ride the pine before his college career is over, and he's getting that opportunity in turdtown. If it doesn't work out he'll wish he'd never headed to the land of the garden gnome and his updyke trailer dwellers.

[Altima 200]

"First reports out of t-town say Coker is already "struggling", he's having "accuracy issues", and he had another knee surgery... all since arriving in Tuscaloosa in May."

If this is true....I actually feel sorry for him because the bammers will tear him apart. He's just a kid who wants to do something besides ride the pine before his college career is over, and he's getting that opportunity in turdtown. If it doesn't work out he'll wish he'd never headed to the land of the garden gnome and his updyke trailer dwellers.

I agree whole heartedly... He has yet to win the job at alabama, let alone taken a single snap... and he is supposed to save the tide this season. He will be the most scrutinized player in college football. Without playing a meaningful down at the D1 level, he is on Heisman watch lists, and mock draft boards. Those are lofty expectations for any quarterback to live up to. The Bamzos will eat him alive! Hope he can deal with the pressure...?

[Johndunc 33]

"First reports out of t-town say Coker is already "struggling", he's having "accuracy issues", and he had another knee surgery... all since arriving in Tuscaloosa in May."

If this is true....I actually feel sorry for him because the bammers will tear him apart. He's just a kid who wants to do something besides ride the pine before his college career is over, and he's getting that opportunity in turdtown. If it doesn't work out he'll wish he'd never headed to the land of the garden gnome and his updyke trailer dwellers.

I agree whole heartedly... He has yet to win the job at alabama, let alone taken a single snap... and he is supposed to save the tide this season. He will be the most scrutinized player in college football. Without playing a meaningful down at the D1 level, he is on Heisman watch lists, and mock draft boards. Those are lofty expectations for any quarterback to live up to. The Bamzos will eat him alive! Hope he can deal with the pressure...?

He is a "Game Manager" the Heisman voters love that type of QB especially at Bama !

[war eagle6 0]

Yep

[meh130 1,043]

Am I wrong to want to see a complete Kiffin/Coker/Saban three-way meltdown that makes our 2008 Tubberville/Franklin meltdown look like a minor misunderstanding?

[AUenginerd 16]

Am I wrong to want to see a complete Kiffin/Coker/Saban three-way meltdown that makes our 2008 Tubberville/Franklin meltdown look like a minor misunderstanding?

I see nothing wrong with that desire.:biggrin: WDE!

[quietfan 233]

Am I wrong to want to see a complete Kiffin/Coker/Saban three-way meltdown that makes our 2008 Tubberville/Franklin meltdown look like a minor misunderstanding?

That was something I was about to bring up. Coker and Kiffin might just have the sort of system & chemistry that works out for both of them and Bama. I don't think so however. I'm not sure either is as good as some would like to believe. I'm also still not sure that Saban and Kiffin will mesh--I think they have somewhat different offensive philosophies, and two gigantic egos that will be hard to squeeze into any single team and/or town.

That, to me, is the big offensive question. Yes, Saban has stockpiled a lot of talent, and yes, in the past, their QB has only needed to be a game manager. But how will Kiffin use that talent? How well and how soon will that talent adapt to Kiffin and his way of using them? How much will Kiffin try to change their offense? And how much leeway will Saban give Kiffin? ...lots of questions we probably won't know the answers to until several games into the season.

Again, Coker and Kiffen might really compliment each other...but Coker may also get lost in any offensive feuding between Saban and Kiffin.

(I could even see a situation like Chizik and Malzahn in 2011, when I think Chizik's collapse began--and Malzahn left--because CGC tried to rein in Malzahn. The main difference being that assistants in T-Town know going in that Saban is the Dictator of Houndstoothville, so they don't expect much independence there anyway.)

[WarEagle84 0]

He is a "Game Manager" the Heisman voters love that type of QB especially at Bama !

I have to disagree with that. None of the previous Bama QBs have gotten much Heisman attention, and the ONLY reason McTat was on so many ballots was the presumption of a 3rd national title. I'm guessing the reasoning was something like, "If this guy leads his team to 3 consecutive NCs, how can he not be the best player in college football, even if his stats are not overly impressive?" Once they lost the Iron Bowl, he dropped down on almost everyone's ballot and finished a distant second.

Coker will not get much Heisman love unless he puts up Heisman-worthy stats.

[keesler 5,925]

Am I wrong to want to see a complete Kiffin/Coker/Saban three-way meltdown that makes our 2008 Tubberville/Franklin meltdown look like a minor misunderstanding?

That was something I was about to bring up. Coker and Kiffin might just have the sort of system & chemistry that works out for both of them and Bama. I don't think so however. I'm not sure either is as good as some would like to believe. I'm also still not sure that Saban and Kiffin will mesh--I think they have somewhat different offensive philosophies, and two gigantic egos that will be hard to squeeze into any single team and/or town.

That, to me, is the big offensive question. Yes, Saban has stockpiled a lot of talent, and yes, in the past, their QB has only needed to be a game manager. But how will Kiffin use that talent? How well and how soon will that talent adapt to Kiffin and his way of using them? How much will Kiffin try to change their offense? And how much leeway will Saban give Kiffin? ...lots of questions we probably won't know the answers to until several games into the season.

Again, Coker and Kiffen might really compliment each other...but Coker may also get lost in any offensive feuding between Saban and Kiffin.

(I could even see a situation like Chizik and Malzahn in 2011, when I think Chizik's collapse began--and Malzahn left--because CGC tried to rein in Malzahn. The main difference being that assistants in T-Town know going in that Saban is the Dictator of Houndstoothville, so they don't expect much independence there anyway.)

There will be no feuding on Saban's staff - Kiffin will conform, use this opportunity to revamp his coaching career, and learn from one of the most successful college coaches today.

Kiffin has been knocked down the ladder of the coaching profession. He will bascially be muzzeled by Saban which is a good thing for a guy that has diarrhea of the mouth. He will either be smart enough to adhere to the Saban "process" and make the best of it, or he will be gone in a flash.

This is kinda like a kid that screws up royally at another program and gets a "second or third chance" at a different program - they either learn from their mistakes or screw up their whole career - the choice is theirs.

[Guest WarEagleSteve]

I think Saban has too tight a grip on the program for he and Kiffin to have any major blow-ups. Kiffin is going to add a wrinkle or two here and there but the offense is probably going to look exactly the same as it has since Saban got there. The real question is whether or not Kiffin can turn Jacob Coker into a legitimate SEC-caliber starting quarterback. I think anyone who watched his highlights (such as they are) can tell that he is a project and Kiffin doesn't exactly have the best track record developing quarterbacks. He's had a standout season here and there but the quarterbacks who've done well under Kiffin also happened to be throwing to some serious talent at receiver (Marqise Lee and Robert Woods at USC) or were upperclassmen with more time at the school (Jonathon Crompton as a RS senior). He's never had a guy you can point to as the shining example of his system or abilities as a quarterback coach (a la Gus Malzahn and Cam Newton/Nick Marshall)

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

Coker will have more than enough talent to throw to. The problem will be his long ball and intermediate throwing IMO.

[meh130 1,043]

Am I wrong to want to see a complete Kiffin/Coker/Saban three-way meltdown that makes our 2008 Tubberville/Franklin meltdown look like a minor misunderstanding?

That was something I was about to bring up. Coker and Kiffin might just have the sort of system & chemistry that works out for both of them and Bama. I don't think so however. I'm not sure either is as good as some would like to believe. I'm also still not sure that Saban and Kiffin will mesh--I think they have somewhat different offensive philosophies, and two gigantic egos that will be hard to squeeze into any single team and/or town.

The thing is, Coker was not recruited by Kiffin, and has not taken even a practice snap yet--so any personality match between Kiffin and Coker is pure speculation. Blake Sims and Cooper Bateman both were more highly regarded out of high school than Coker--Bateman was very highly regarded--although Coker has the advantage of experience over Bateman.

So the possibility of Coker and Kiffin meshing is based on the assumption Coker is someone Kiffin would have recruited, who had a complementary personality, and would have fit into Kiffin's style of offense. Looking at the schools actually recruited Coker, the only major program who recruited him was FSU.

So what I could see happen is Coker get named the starting QB, but struggle early on. Kiffin is in the pressbox, and decides to relocate to the sideline to provide better game day coaching to Coker. Friction starts to develop between Saban and Kiffin, and it becomes publicly visible now that Kiffin is on the sidelines. Kiffin pulls Coker in the middle of a game due to performance or errors, and a QB controversy erupts alongside the visible friction between Kiffin and Saban. Eventually the ego of Kiffin becomes to big for him to keep in check, Saban realizes his experiment with Kiffin is failing, and the UAT QBs get lost in the mess. Meanwhile, Kiffin's wife pulls a Mrs Bielema and tweets something which further embarrasses UAT.

It could happen.

[AuburnSAE 1]

What's going to be hilarious is if the kid is buying into all of this hype around him, comes into bama expecting to walk away with the Heisman, a national championship, and a 1st round draft pick, and saban tells him that he has to play ball control. it worked with McCarron, because he was so far up saban's butt that he tasted saban's breakfast before saban did, but you get a kid coming in there who wants the limelight and he's going to give saban a huge headache. It'll be like trying to coach Johnny Football, without the over-the-top talent to make it worth the effort.

I honestly predict that he will be a bust or a thorn in saban's side.

Jacob is the most humbled player you will ever meet. Jacob is the complete opposite as AJ and Johnny Football.

[AuburnSAE 1]

So the possibility of Coker and Kiffin meshing is based on the assumption Coker is someone Kiffin would have recruited, who had a complementary personality, and would have fit into Kiffin's style of offense. Looking at the schools actually recruited Coker, the only major program who recruited him was FSU.

Auburn and Alabama both heavily recruited Jacob. He lost interest in alabama because his mom hated saban and he lost interest in Auburn because we already had KF and he knew how close KF and malzahn were.

[keesler 5,925]

Thanks for the insight AuburnSAE - looks like we know absolutely zilch about Coker personally.

[AU64 10,122]

Thanks for the insight AuburnSAE - looks like we know absolutely zilch about Coker personally.

"

True..many AU people just assume that because he is going to Bama that he's a jerk....without having heard him speak a single word. I think he is due for a tough time from many UAT fans who have raised expectations beyond reason....but I don't see any of the coaching issues/dissension that so many people on this board are predicting.

[AuburnSAE 1]

Thanks for the insight AuburnSAE - looks like we know absolutely zilch about Coker personally.

No problem, Jacob is one of my best friends so even though he is now a turd I still feel the need to stand up for him. Wont be cheering for him November 29th though.

[AuburnSAE 1]

here is an interview with Jake last spring when he was at FSU. I think it is pretty easy to tell that he is a good kid that just wants to work hard and win

[AUbritt 611]

Thanks for the insight AuburnSAE - looks like we know absolutely zilch about Coker personally.

No problem, Jacob is one of my best friends so even though he is now a turd I still feel the need to stand up for him. Wont be cheering for him November 29th though.

[AUTUmike 79]

So is Coker already in Tuscaloosa or will he not arrive until August camp starts?