Alabama went 14-1 last season, by most measures a phenomenally successful year, but not for coach Nick Saban.
That’s because the national championship game was a rare thrashing for the Crimson Tide as Clemson spanked them, 44-16.
That meant Saban was going on the defensive recently at SEC Media Days where he seemed to throw a lot of shade to former assistant coaches, who Saban said “people’s own agendas started to become more important,” after Alabama beat LSU in November.
Specific names were not offered by Saban but former assistants Mike Locksley (now the coach at Maryland), Josh Gattis (now the OC at Michigan), Dan Enos (now the OC at Miami), Tosh Lupoi (now the DL coach for the Cleveland Browns) and Brent Key (now the OL coach at Georgia Tech) all left after last season.
By every measure, Clemson dominated Alabama in that game last season from game-planning, to play-calling, to execution. The Crimson Tide had no answers and Clemson kept pouring it on.
Even after Clemson throttled Alabama in the national title game last season, a lot of the preseason magazines still have the Crimson Tide No. 1 in the preseason polls.
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if Alabama will be back on top this season or if Clemson, not Alabama, has become the best program in the country.
FARRELL'S TAKE
“We are seeing a transition here and Alabama is being replaced as the superpower in college football by Clemson. I see a shift in recruiting, where Clemson is becoming a stronger force while Alabama is maintaining its elite status, so that bridge has been gapped.
"Clemson is also in the ACC which is a much weaker conference than the SEC, paving its way to the playoffs each year. Does this mean Clemson will win four national titles in a short span? Yes. It has won two and I can see two more coming in the next three or four years. A shift in power was inevitable and it’s happening now.”
