TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– After four months of contemplating life without Lane Kiffin inside the University of Alabama football program, a beautiful thing occurred on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Coming from the Bill Belichick regime, Brian Daboll knows a lot about being professional and getting quality execution from players. The 42-year-old excited Crimson Tide fans with his play calling in his first A-Day Game, assisting quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa to a combined 616 passing yards and five touchdowns. Critics arose this offseason concerning Hurts’ accuracy on deep ball passes and his ability to stretch the field; however, both questions were answered.
Five of the sophomore’s 16 completions – 31.6 percent – went for 20 yards or more, including three in excess of 50 yards. Two of Hurts’ long bombs came on a 65-yard touchdown hook up with senior Robert Foster along the right sideline and a 37-yard strike to Calvin Ridley that tied the game late in the fourth quarter for team Crimson. As for Tagovailoa, seven of his 18 completions – 38.8 percent – went for 20 yards or more.
Two of his three touchdown strikes went to fellow five-star freshman at wide receiver, Jerry Jeudy out of Deerfield Beach, Fla. Even the tight ends were involved in Daboll’s scheme, including Irv Smith. He led the position group with three receptions for 37 yards. Sophomore Miller Forristall already loves Daboll.
“He’s a really good offensive coordinator,” Forristall said on Daboll.
“He trusts us and we trust him. When he first came in everyone was like who is this guy, but when he came in and told us what he expected from us, I said to myself ‘I really like this guy.'”
While Alabama isn’t an elite team yet according to head coach Nick Saban, having a coordinator like Daboll jump start your offense in a spring game sure makes the process look smoother.
Spring ends on a good note, but Daboll will be more so focused on winning a championship.
Stephen M. Smith is a managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @Smsmith_TDALMag.
