Nick Saban's 5 Targeted Areas for Alabama Improvement in 2023: All Things CW

Even though the Crimson Tide is months away from opening 2023 fall camp, it's already obvious that Alabama football will be better in some ways.

One of the greatest misconceptions about Nick Saban outside of Alabama is that the coach either doesn't say much or doesn't tell reporters what's really going on with his football team. 

Actually, the opposite is true, if you listen closely to what the coach says during his press conferences, or in this case read his quotes closely, just about everything you're looking for is there. He just presents it in a way that most reporters and critics want or are looking for.  

This spring was a typical example. When Saban was talking about what he was looking for from his young team, he didn't mention any statistics or specific players. 

Consider this quote after A-Day: 

“It’s really simple. It’s all about people being committed to the team, respecting what they have to do to play winning football. Which I’ve said this all spring long, you’ve gotta eliminate some of the negative plays, which would be interceptions, which would be turning the ball over, which would be dropping ball – which we had too many of today. Made some good plays, though, too. Also giving up plays on defense, making mental errors, those kinds of things are what get you beat. That’s what we wanna eliminate."

There's the blueprint for the Crimson Tide in 2023, although we'll expand on it a little in five different ways: 

Creating turnovers

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Alabama only had seven interceptions last season, one fewer than its offense had. Of the 16 fumbles by opponents, just seven were recovered by the Crimson Tide, compared to 22 and eight going the other way.

It's rare for Alabama to have a negative turnover margin, and it was tied for 80th in the nation in that statistical category. Granted, the opponents had something to say about that as they were quick to get the ball out (especially with Will Anderson Jr. looming), but that's the kind of thing that will keep Saban up late at night. 

Fewer penalties

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This has been a huge problem for Alabama since 2015, and is in part due to opposing offenses snapping the ball as fast as they can. Granted, with the Crimson Tide doing the same thing the number of overall flags has gone up, but last year the Crimson Tide was flagged 103 times for 893 yards, while opponents had 87 for 663.

Alabama was tied for 126th in penalties called last season, out of 131 teams. It was 123rd in fewest penalty yards per game. In comparison, the Crimson Tide had less than half as many penalties in 2011, 49, and just 54 a year later in 2012. 

Getting off the field (defense)

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Alabama was actually good at this last season, as opponents were 60-for-198 on third-down conversions, which works out to 30.30 percent. That was 10th best in the nation and the defense's best showing since 2015. The Crimson Tide wasn't quite as successful on fourth downs, as opponents were 10-for-26, or 38.46 percent, which was 16th in the nation.

Alabama went from No. 77 in the nation in defending third downs in 2020, when opposing teams had a 40 percent success rate, so the improvement was important the last two seasons. However, getting another five percent decline is the difference between having a very good defense and one that's considered elite.

Toughness

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It was obvious that Alabama didn't have the interior running game that we're used to seeing, and the Crimson Tide wasn't overly impressive in short-yardage situations. A lot of that just had to do with its personnel.

Here's one telling statistic: Alabama scored 88.33 percent of the time in the red zone, 53 times in 60 possessions, and 40 touchdowns. But it was an almost 50-50 split between running the ball and passing it into the end zone. Ideally, you don't want to throw it in unless you have to. The ratios for some other top SEC teams were Georgia 30-18, Tennessee 34-16, and LSU 32-9.

Defensively, again, Alabama was pretty good with just 19 touchdowns allowed, and 30 overall scores on 39 red-zone possessions. However, the ratio was 11 rushing to eight passing. Georgia gave up just nine total touchdowns, and five rushing.

“I like this team’s toughness," Saban said. "I think they’re physical, they play hard. We don’t have a bunch of guys that are soft or looking for an easy way. They try to please the coaches. They try to play with intensity. I think we have better practice habits than we’ve had in the past. And I think that mentality gets developed in the offensive line, the defensive line and on special teams, and I think we have some guys that are trying to step up and do that.”

Fewer mistakes on offense

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Having less dropped passes, penalties and turnovers are always goals, and with this year's team it'll be interesting to watch how the new quarterbacks fare in that respect, especially with the Crimson Tide having a new coordinator. No one will be expecting Alabama's quarterbacks (this is one of those years there could be more than one starter), to post Bryce Young-like numbers this season, but minimizing mistakes will be an important step in the offense's overall success.

Moreover, Alabama is very deep at both running back and wide receiver. Attention to detail and not making mistakes will be important factors in determining the depth chart, and its evolution over the course of the season. You want to play? Do the little things right. 

We'll be exploring some of these areas in the weeks ahead, but if you look at No. 1-4 they're all big reasons why Saban hired Kevin Steele to be his defensive coordinator again. 

Christopher Walsh's notes column All Things CW regularly appears on BamaCentral, often in four or five parts over the course of the week. 

See Also: What Oddsmakers Anticipate About Alabama and 2023 College Football Season