Part of what helped make Nick Saban great was his ability to identify and adapt to changes in football before they even happened. When college offenses started to go from run heavy systems to more hurry up, no huddle, pass first groups, Nick Saban went and hired Lane Kiffin to bring that change to Alabama.
Being able to see the change coming, and adapt on the fly is critical with how rosters are built in college football. As defenses have adapted to attack what offenses are doing now, Nick Saban is predicting that the pendulum will shift back in the other direction.
Nick Saban predicts run heavy offenses return to college football
On Wednesday, Nick Saban appeared on his former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy's show "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" from the Regions Pro-Am. During his appearance, Nick Saban predicted that offenses are going to start leaning on heavier personnel.
"I think (offenses) are gonna come back to saying, ‘OK, you’re smaller, you’re faster, you’re quicker, you’re going to use this speed to pressure me and play in space — I’m gonna run downhill at you and see if you can take on blockers and defend the run, everything sort of goes through a cycle, and I think you’re going to see some of football cycle back to that."Nick Saban
Nick Saban is right in the upcoming shift, in part because the NFL is already seeing the same move by offensive coordinators. Sean McVay has been using 13 personnel more than anyone in the league, and the number of tight ends being drafted early shows that the rest of the league is moving in the same direction.
Defenses have gone from having heavier linebackers who can take on blocks to deploying much quicker players who can help in coverage. The teams that are able to exploit the weaknesses on defense will start to dominate as most teams haven't been preparing for the change on defense with their roster building.
If the change does arrive in college football this season, we're going to see significant changes in how each team is building their defense both on the recruiting trail and in the Transfer Portal.
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