One Key Statistic Will Demonstrate Kevin Steele's Impact, Penalties: All Things CW

The Crimson Tide has gone from being the best in the nation at avoiding flags, to among the worst over the past decade.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — One gets the feeling that Nick Saban had finally had enough. When it came time to hire a defensive coordinator during this past offseason, he couldn't overlook one statistic in particular, which almost certainly played a part in Keven Steele's return to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Yes, Alabama football wants to be known for having a disciplined team that does the little things correctly, especially on defense. However, that reputation started to change in 2015, as demonstrated by the dramatic rise in penalties. Since then, the Crimson Tide has been horrible in that regard, especially over the last four seasons.

Saban’s teams used to almost never get flagged, and it was a point of pride while building the foundation for the dynasty. Instead, last season Alabama was penalized 103 times for 893 yards, which ranked 125th in the Football Bowl Subdivsion. Only three programs were flagged more: Tennessee (despite having just six penalties when hosting the Crimson Tide), Utah State and Syracuse.

The 7.92 average was the worst of the Saban era at Alabama.

Fewest Penalties Per Game

Year: Average per game, Rank

• 2007: 4.54, 5
• 2008: 4.07, 5
• 2009: 4.93, T17
• 2010: 5.08, 24
• 2011: 3.77, 3
• 2012: 3.86, 6
• 2013: 4.85, T34
• 2014: 4.93, T25
• 2015: 5.93, 60
• 2016: 5.73, 52
• 2017: 5.00, 31
• 2018: 5.89, 57
• 2019: 7.31, T114
• 2020: 7.13, 106
• 2021: 6.00, T62
• 2022: 7.92, 125

An obvious factor was playing some key opponents on the road and dealing with some beyond-crazy atmospheres. Alabama had a staggering 17 penalties at Tennessee, and 15 at Texas. It averaged 11.2 flags during the five regular-season road games, including nine during the overtime loss at LSU.

"There were too many things that we did in the game," Saban said after the 52-49 Tennessee loss on a last-second field goal. "I mean, 17 penalties is, you know, just 130 yards of field position. Probably lost about 70 yards in field position on special teams, whether it was poor execution by a specialist or the mistake we made in trying to pick the ball up when it wasn't a live ball.

"I mean, that's 200 yards in the game, so that's like two touchdowns, probably."

While it’s easy to point to the Sugar Bowl as a sign of improvement, with just five penalties against Kansas State, the game was played at a neutral site, and it came off the regular-season finale against Auburn when the teams combined for 21 penalties, including 11 by the Crimson Tide.

However, if crowd noise had been a prevailing factor one would think that jumping offside would have stood out on the list of infractions. That wasn’t the case.

2022 Alabama Penalties

1. Holding 21
2. Pass interference 17
3. False start 12
4. Offside 14
5. Face mask 8

This has been an ongoing, and continual issue for years now. While it’s somewhat understandable considering the way Alabama has been in the spotlight, every opponent gearing up to face the Crimson Tide, plus the constant turnover of players. Yet the first two of those factors really isn’t anything new, and every program has had to deal with turnover thanks to the transfer portal.

What can’t be denied is the impact of up-tempo offenses, leading to more snaps in games, as the Southeastern Conference sort of went all-in on adding spread elements, including Alabama. It’s led to an increase across the board.

Alabama Penalties by Season 

Year Alabama; Opponents

• 2007 59-463; 99-863
• 2008 57-520; 87-666
• 2009 69-598; 86-729
• 2010 66-490; 72-575
• 2011 49-409; 59-453
• 2012 54-467; 67-565
• 2013 63-520; 71-560
• 2014 69-562; 61-516
• 2015 89-835; 90-696
• 2016 86-660; 58-471
• 2017 69-569; 61-455
• 2018 97-796; 92-776
• 2019 95-855; 75-628
• 2020 78-625; 76-592
• 2021 107-1005; 101-736
• 2022 103-893; 87-663

Consequently, Steele’s hiring signaled a change, that Saban was serious about correcting the issue as much as possible. The defensive coordinator was previously at Alabama as a coach in 2007-08, and 2014, and one thing he’s especially known for is attention to detail.

“Penalties, those type things, when you have something to correct, then you place an emphasis on them,” Steele said during Alabama’s media day earlier this month. “We have officials at practice. We chart the officials. There are repercussions for your actions, and it stays in front of you. In most cases in life, if you keep something that you need to correct in front of you continuously, most people learn.”

From the start of fall camp, players were talking about how they were working to minimize penalties at practice, especially on defense, with linebacker Deontae Lawson saying “Making sure everybody is doing their job and no mental errors” was a huge priority. It's clearly become a point of emphasis. 

But if that wasn’t enough for you, take note of what former Alabama linebacker Eryk Anders said during his exclusive interview with BamaCentral this week on the Joe Gaither Show: 

"Kevin Steele, he brings just like a different level of intensity to practice. He'll have you ready to run through a brick wall. He doesn't accept anything but the best, and perfection. You can expect that Alabama defenses to be one of the top defenses in the nation, one of the most aggressive defenses in the nation and have plenty of turnovers coming this year."

Turnovers and third-down efficiency will be among the closely-watched stats in trying to gauge Steele’s immediate impact, but so will be penalties, which Saban has clearly targeted for improvement. Alabama simply has to get better in that area. 

Christopher Walsh's All Things CW notes column regularly appears on BamaCentral

SEE ALSO: SEC Needs to be Proactive, Add Availability Reports