Alabama Football: Lessons Only Learned through Pain for Youthful Crimson Tide

I know the trends today in childcare all point toward non-corporal forms of behavioral manipulation.

But having raised three kids, I can confirm that the human mind doesn't learn the hardest lessons via positive experience.

When things are going great, we as humans don't often change our behavior. We want things to keep going the way they are.

Only when things go wrong do we look at our behavior to consider what needs to change.

Much like the kid who touches the hot stove. It only takes once for that memory to stick.

For the 2009 Crimson Tide, this year has been a learning experience.

Early this season, Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the country. No sane football fan accepted this as reality due to the number of new starters on defense for the Tide, but not knowing who else to put there, they put Alabama there by default.

After a few early wins, many members of the press were writing that they would indeed return to the national title game. What they were doing had to be good enough; why change?

Winning is always the goal, but there are certain accomplishments that lead to winning, and the Tide wasn't doing all of them. As the schedule continued to ramp up and teams began to solidify their performance, eventually it all came crashing down at South Carolina.

After the loss, many players were preaching about how it was a wake-up call and they spoke of gaining revenge in Atlanta. But apparently, nothing changed at practice because nothing changed on the field on Saturdays. 

Eventually reality came calling again with a season-crushing loss to LSU.  

Many players likely felt the first loss was a fluke. The second one, there was no explaining it away.

With other teams now ahead, all hope of a return to Atlanta over. It clearly hit some of the players hard; you could see it on their faces. 

Life is a cruel teacher. The players had no one to blame but themselves. 

This was a pain they had not known in the past. The next morning when they awoke,  just moments after opening their eyes, it came back. 

This pain they can not escape, and they know there was no way to turn back the clock and make it right. 

The words of coach Saban, no doubt, echoed in their head.  

"Its not about winning," Saban said, "it's about playing to a standard."  

They could probably rattle that quote and 100 others like it that Nick Saban preaches constantly. But for some players, it is starting to sink in WHY he says these things, and what that should have meant for them as an individual. 

For others, the lesson may not have sunk in yet.   

Alabama is, no doubt, an extremely young football team.

Saturday, Alabama played three quarters with an offensive line that had only one senior, two freshman and a true sophomore. Anthony Steen, who replaced the injured Barrett Jones, got the first significant snaps of his career.

The secondary has two sophomores and a true freshman. Of the seven players that play significantly, six are getting their first significant college playing time. 

Alabama's extremely complex defensive system makes this an even bigger problem. 

Of the six defensive lineman that play regularly none were starters last year, only two played with regularity. One of those regulars is bouncing back from major knee surgery.

At linebacker, Alabama has only one senior, Chavis Williams, who is only a part-time player. As good as true freshman CJ Mosley is, the fact that he was able to crack the starting lineup is a testament to the lack of upperclassmen at linebacker. 

Mosley is now two tackles from being the leading tackler at linebacker.  

The experienced linebackers are Dan'ta Hightower, who is still recovering from major knee surgery, and Courtney Upshaw, who has been limping since the first game. 

Neither were a big part of the championship season. Hightower was injured early and Upshaw only got significant playing time late in the season.

Alabama returned plenty of starters on offense but that "experienced" offense has only three seniors who play regularly.

Against Mississippi State, Alabama was able to arrest a major downturn in the season by playing one of the more complete games to date. The defensive front seven, in particular, showed signs of life for the first time since playing Florida.

Granted, the Bulldog offense was somewhat one-dimensional, making it easier on the Alabama defense. But the Bulldog defense was no joke.  

In fact, Mississippi State crashed the middle of the line more effectively than I have seen anyone do in years. 

But the Bulldogs overestimated the danger of Alabama's inside running game and exposed the perimeter.  Marques Maze, Julio Jones and Mark Ingram made them pay for that mistake and, in the span of minutes, ended any chance of a victory.

Later in the game, backup quarterback AJ McCarron promptly made two NFL-quality throws to put Alabama at the one-yard line. He then showed why he's No. 2 by throwing a lame duck that should have been picked for six.

I wouldn't worry too much about McCarron. The butt chewing he got on the sideline was classic, but the main reason he did that was that he's averaging 2.9 attempts per game.  

When he gets more playing time, he will throw that ball away.

It's too late for Alabama to fix the 2010 season or to become as good as they should have been. But every journey starts with the first step. 

In some ways, Alabama took that first step against Mississippi State.  

Alabama's 2010 season isn't finished yet. Winning is important, but with most of the seasons goals out of reach, it's more important how they play. 

Are they physical? Do they improve? What lessons have they learned?

And are they going to begin the offseason with the same intensity and focus that the 2009 squad did after losing to Utah?

Some lessons we only learn through pain.