Discipline Question

[AUesquire 1]

The past couple of days I have heard numerous Bama fans discussing the discipline issue and their take on the current situation at the Crapstoned and how Sabear handles it. The consensus seems to go something like this:

Saban inherited a mess from Shula and he needs time to weed all these bad apples out and get his own players in there. Then, everything will be alright.

Most fans still don't want to accept, even the remotest of possibilities, that Nick just might be the problem...and not the players. If his history since he ripped the press in Meahmi up until his most current "Charades" tirade are any indication of how he treats people, including his players, I think he may be at the root of the problem.

Let's take the rivalry and bias out of it for a second (Although it's fun to rip at every opportunity) and take a look at the theory that he needs to get "His own players" in there. We're talking about discipline here...not just getting players with more ***** beside their names. I have a good friend who has been the strength coach at a D-1 school for about 9-10 years now. He has told me something many times recently that sticks out every time I see some of these discipline problems make the headlines. Paraphrasing here:

"These are not the same kids you used to see even 10-15 years ago. The overall attitude is completely different these days and you will NOT get in their face and tell them what to do all the time. They only have a couple of things on their minds all the time and football is not at the top of that list."

Bottom line, he's saying the in-your-face Bear Bryant, Pat Dye, old school disciplinary approach is quickly becoming a thing of the distant past. I have never been to an Alabama practice and don't plan to. Never seen Nicky handle his players in person. However, I have been to numerous AU practices up close and personal and the impression I get is this:

The coaches work them hard as hell at practice and Yoxall holds them accountable for their conditioning etc. CTT oversees it all and while not taking an in-your-face approach, he sets the guidelines. Whether you are a star, back-up, bench warmer, walk-on or tackling dummy, these are the parameters. You will do A, B, C, D, E and F. You will not cross lines spelled out for you in G, H, I or J. If you color outside those lines, the consequences are as follows: K, L, M, N or O. Do you understand? Good, let's play ball

Then, you just be consistent with your own guidelines and everybody knows where they stand.

So, my question is (After all that ) is it going to make a bit of difference to get "Your own players" in place if your form of discipline is antiquated and you piss off everyone you meet anyway. Despite what we want to believe, these players that will go to Alabama in the next few years, are not any different than those that will attend Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia or Florida. It's how you handle them and what you do with them once they get there.

[quietfan 233]

Much has been said of Saban's "peer review" approach for handling discipine problems (now the story is that DJ only sat out half the game Saturday because the Peer Review group only demanded that much.) On some levels that sounds good, but what if the persons sitting on the panel have the same attitudes as the miscreants facing review? The result of letting the inmates run the asylum is anarchy.

And while "peer review" may work at Boy Scount camp or around the liberal "drum circle", can it work in football? Saban made the analogy to 9/11 & WWII, not me, but can you build an army or a football team without having a strong general making the hardnosed decisions? ...I don't think there was a lot of "peer review" in WWII.

[WAR-MATT 2]

Case in point Robert Dunn vs. DJ Hall.

Similar situations - Dunn suspended for 2 games (including LSU) DJ Hall a half against ULM.