Fitness
Here’s Why Alabama Football Might Take a Step Back in 2021
The range of potential outcomes in an Alabama football season under Nick Saban is narrow. The Crimson Tide are almost certainly going to make the College Football Playoff, and the main question mark is whether they’ll win the whole thing or fall ever so slightly short. The Tide have only missed the Playoff once since 2014, and even then they finished 11–2 (it took a QB injury and some trickery from Auburn to keep them out of the postseason).
For the rest of college football, any inkling that Alabama might be lesser than its usual self is a breath of fresh air. The possibility always exists that the Tide will just win anyway, and articles like this one will live in infamy as examples of naysayers who doubted when they should not have. But, as my Split Zone Duo co-host Richard Johnson has recently argued, there is some reason to think 2021 Alabama will be a little bit worse than normal for the modern Tide. Let’s talk about the case for a Bama down year.
This year, almost every team has lots of talent returning—except Bama.
The pandemic-affected 2020 college football season was kind of a mess, with countless (literally—many schools didn’t release numbers) players catching the virus and at least 139 canceled games. Before the season, the NCAA decided to treat the year more or less as a wash, and it granted every player a “free” year of eligibility. The 2020 season didn’t count toward an athlete’s eligibility clock, so a senior in 2020 could be a senior again in 2021.
The predictable result is that most teams have many key players returning this fall. In a normal year, the average Football Bowl Subdivision team retains 63 percent of its statistical production from the year prior, according to ESPN’s Bill Connelly. In 2021, the average is 77 percent, and only 14 teams are below the usual average. Alabama is one of them, with just 56 percent of its production returning. The losses include six first-round NFL draft picks, among them Heisman Trophy-winning receiver DeVonta Smith. It is a major exodus of high-end talent.
The new QB might be awesome, but he’s untested.
Bama’s quarterback last year, Mac Jones, put up some of the best numbers in college football history while guiding the Tide to an undefeated national championship season. Jones plays for the New England Patriots now, and his replacement is a five-star “freshman,” Bryce Young, who was also a freshman last year. (Remember that free year of eligibility.) Young is supposed to be excellent; he was the No. 1 dual-threat QB and No. 2 overall player in the class of 2020.
But you never know until a QB actually puts it all together on the field, and Young hasn’t done that yet. He didn’t get much of a chance to do it as Jones’ backup, but then again, he wasn’t dazzling in the reps he did get in 2020. In seven appearances, generally in mop-up duty during blowout wins, Jones completed 13 of 22 passes for 7.1 yards per attempt, one touchdown, and no interceptions. He was solid, but he didn’t break the doors down and didn’t show anything in the run game. Without much time on the field, it’s hard to judge how he’ll turn out. Young might win a Heisman this year; he might be just OK.
Young and the rest of the Bama offense also lost their coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, who left to take the head coaching job at Texas. Sarkisian had the benefit of the most talented players in the country, but he did win the Broyles Award (given to the nation’s top assistant coach) and he did do a good job putting those players in a position to succeed. Now he’s gone, replaced by former Houston Texans and Penn State coach Bill O’Brien. That change could also have negative effects.
The schedule might have a few more threats than normal.
Last year, nobody in the SEC put a real scare into Bama. Only one team played the Tide relatively close—Florida in the SEC Championship Game—but that game was not as close as the 52–46 final score indicated. The Tide held the Gators at arm’s length all night.
This year’s schedule has some landmines, though. The Tide should beat Miami comfortably in Week 1, but the Hurricanes have one of the best QBs in the country in D’Eriq King. The Tide should win road games against Florida in Week 3 and Texas A&M in Week 6, but both the Gators and the Aggies should be competitive this year, and there are few easy road wins against national title contenders, which many people think A&M will be in 2021. The late season brings a meeting with LSU, which should be a better team now that it has a new defensive coordinator, and a trip to Auburn, which has beaten Bama in three of its last four tries at home.
That’s five games that don’t look like cakewalks. Bama will of course not lose all of them, but even losing two would constitute a step back for Saban’s program.
Any time we talk about Alabama “having a down year,” we take a lot of risks.
Every reason to doubt the Tide comes with a reason to think they’ll be just fine.
- They lost six first-rounders from last year’s team? Great. They lost four the year before and went undefeated anyway. It helps to always recruit the best players.
- They have five potentially difficult games on the schedule? Cool. Right now, they’re slated to be favored in each of them.
- They’ll have to swap out their starting QB, their starting running back, and their two best receivers? Fine. They do that at most every two years now, and it hasn’t bothered them much yet.
- They don’t have Sarkisian, their star offensive coordinator? Whatever. Saban’s assistants always get head coaching jobs, and he always replaces them and then beats them.
- The offense is depleted? OK. The defense isn’t, with most key talent returning alongside coordinator Pete Golding. Good luck scoring a lot of points on this team.
All of that is fair. But if you look at Alabama in the right light—or the wrong light, depending on your perspective—you can find a sliver of a reason to believe they’ll lose multiple games in 2021. That is what the Crimson Tide have reduced everyone else in college football to: a state of constantly searching high and low for the smallest glitch in the machine, hoping a little flaw might somehow unravel the entire juggernaut. That won’t happen, and the Tide will continue living in others’ heads nationwide. But in 2021, maybe they’ll have to settle for only being better than 124 or so of the 130 FBS teams. That’ll show ’em.
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The key to 360-degree muscle: 90-degree eccentric isometrics. It might seem like we’re throwing a lot of geometry at you, but the concept behind time under tension (TUT) is simple, says Joel Seedman, PhD, owner of Advanced Human Performance: “Perform the lowering phase of a movement in a slow, controlled fashion, usually 3 to 5 seconds; pause in the stretched position, typically around 90 degrees; then perform the lifting phase in a powerful yet controlled fashion.” Believe us, a time-under-tension workout can humble even seasoned lifters…Eccentric isometrics are like the pressure cooker of training.
“Rather than mindlessly performing slow-tempo reps, you’re using the increased time under tension as a means to fine-tune your body mechanics and alignment, which requires more mental engagement and focus,” Seedman adds.
If you want to forge functional muscle mass and strength while simultaneously bulletproofing the joints and connective tissue, give this 10-move, full-body eccentric isometrics workout a go.
Directions
Perform the following moves as 90-degree eccentric isometrics following the above protocol. Use heavy weight, but not at the detriment of proper form. Rest 60 to 90 seconds between sets and 2 minutes between circuits. Perform once every 2 to 4 days for optimal results.
Best Time-Under-Tension Workout for Total-Body Strength
Circuit 1
A. Barbell Back Squat
Set a squat rack up with heavy weight, then grasp bar and step under it. Squeeze shoulder blades together, then stand to unrack bar and step back with feet shoulder-width apart. Inhale, hinge at hips and slowly bend knees to 90 degrees. Pause, keeping natural arch in low back, then extend through hips to powerfully stand. 3 x 4-6 reps
B. Renegade Row
Start in the top position of a pushup with hands shoulder-width apart on moderate-to-heavy dumbbells (shown). Explosively drive right elbow back to row dumbbell toward ribs while balancing on opposite hand and feet. Pause, then slowly lower weight, stopping a few inches above floor. Switch sides after all reps are done. 3 x 5 reps each side
Circuit 2
A. Dumbbell Bentover Row
Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding two moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in front of thighs, palms facing you. Push hips back and hinge torso forward so it’s nearly parallel to floor, soft bend in knees. Dumbbells should be near shins. Drive elbows back to row weights toward ribs. Pause, then slowly lower down for 3 to 5 seconds. 3 x 4-5 reps
B. Incline Dumbbell Chest Press with Legs Raised
Set an adjustable bench to a 30- to 45-degree angle and lie back with dumbbells in either hand. Engage core and lift legs off floor, flexing feet. Press weights overhead, palms in. Slowly lower to 90 degrees, staying tight and compact. Pause, then drive weights up directly over chest. 3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 3
A. Dumbbell Bulgarian Squat
Stand lunge-length in front of a flat bench, holding heavy dumbbells in each hand by your sides, palms facing in. Rest the ball on top (shoe’s laces) of your right foot behind you on the bench. Slowly lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Pause, then drive through your heel to stand. Switch sides after all reps are complete. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
B. Single-leg Romanian Deadlift
Stand with feet hip-width apart holding dumbbells or kettlebells. Drive right leg up, foot flexed, knee aligned with hip, making a 90-degree angle. Hinge at hips as you slowly lever your torso toward floor, lowering weights and driving right leg back for counterbalance. Hold, then squeeze glutes to reverse. 2 x 3-4 reps each side
Circuit 4
A. Pullup
Hang from a pullup bar using an overhand grip with legs extended and feet flexed. Engage lats and draw shoulders down your back, then pull yourself up until chin is higher than hands. Pause at the top, then slowly lower. Pause at bottom, then reset before your next rep. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
B. Kneeling Overhead Barbell Press
Hold a bar with moderate-to-heavy load at shoulder level with forearms perpendicular to floor. Kneel at end of bench with feet flexed to grip edge for support. Inhale, engage your core and glutes, then press the bar overhead, pushing your head forward so it passes your face, exhaling at the top.
Slowly lower until elbows are at 90 degrees, then hold to maintain tension. Begin your next rep from here. 2-3 x 4-5 reps
Circuit 5
A. Dumbbell Pushup
Place hands on dumbbells (this provides greater range of motion) at shoulder width and feet wider than shoulder width with just toes touching the ground. Keep head neutral and hips high to increase tension on core, chest and tris and reduce stress on spine. Slowly lower to the floor. Stop
once elbows hit 90 degrees, pause, then push up to start. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
B. Biceps Curl
Stand with feet hip-width apart with moderate-to-heavy dumbbells in each hand hanging by sides. Engage biceps to curl the weights up, keeping upper arms still. Pause at the top, then lower slowly. Don’t let arms drop all the way down to keep greater time under tension on biceps. 1-2 x 6-8 reps
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