Alabama Football: Why the Tide Are Better in 2011 Than Last Season

Sure it would be easy to wring your hands and bemoan the fact that the almost Mr. Perfect, Greg McElroy is gone along with Heisman-winning running back Mark Ingram, all-world receiver Julio Jones and first-round draft pick Marcel Dareus at defensive end have left the building.

There are lots of other players that are gone too that were part of that national championship season too.

So why is there is so much optimism this year coming from and about this year's Crimson Tide?

Maturity, depth, talent and experience. All these things are the answer to all the optimism.

Yes they had that last year, but in the numbers they do this year and at the critical positions they needed them. This past season, the Tide had but nine seniors on the team and none of them in the defensive backfield.

Last year Mark Barron was only a junior and had to try and mentor a group of youngsters, many of whom had not started a game before.

This year that entire group returns one year smarter, one more year mature and one more year experienced. This is the group that let the Alabama team down last year with lots of mental breakdowns as they had the athletic ability to do the job.

Senior Mark Barron, one of last year's co-captains returning for his senior year, said in speaking of their last game against Michigan State in the Capital One Bowl Game, "That was the game we needed to have as a group to show what we are capable of. There's no turning back now!"

As for the only co-captain soon to be immortalized in cement at Denny Chimes from last year that won't return, Greg McElroy, his successor may not have his experience and cool under fire, but he may possess greater athletic ability.

A.J. McCarron told me that, "Greg has done a super job of getting me ready in all the mental aspects of the game. I think all that advice will be invaluable next year. He's been a great mentor and I'm going to miss him big time."

That's the advice McCarron needed from McElroy as A.J. has a much more lively arm and a little faster delivery. The physical gifts are already in place and well honed. If he simply manages the offense and doesn't try and overplay his position, things will go well.

And the third co-captain from last year, Dont'a Hightower is sensing just how good this defense can be this year.

"We knew losing so many players would hurt us, but going into the season (last season) we felt we had the players to be a great defense if we could just not have many mental errors with the new players." Hightower said.

Hightower and that group showed their capabilities in that last game when he was finally free of the knee brace and running around like the pre-injury Dont'a. They are now one of the most experienced defenses in the SEC, and the newcomers may be headline makers instead of liabilities.

The two new players many think will see significant playing time is the Awesome Aussie, Jesse Williams, who Saban plans on using somewhere on the defensive line and Ed Stinson who may take Marcel Dareus' spot at end.

Both seem to have the capabilities to up Alabama's previously sluggish pass rush, so this mixture of a little new with a lot of experience may just be what this team needs to kick start it again into championship form.

Saban said in a post practice press conference, “I think probably some of the reason we suffered last year was we only had eight seniors. I think that it causes a little bit of void in leadership, But this year, I don’t know the exact number, might be 19, but I think a lot of those guys have made a significant contribution to the program over in the past in terms of how much they’ve played and how much they contributed.”

And this group is strong on leadership.

A.J. McCarron has clearly taken on the mantle of the offensive leader and didn't wait to get the official nod from coaches that he'll be the starter. He has been seen already mentoring Phillip Ely. He wants to pass along the same kind of mentoring he got from McElroy.

And running back Trent Richardson also feels he has a debt to repay. He told me, "I always felt like part of the family from the very beginning. There was no jealousy with the running backs, we were proud to see each other have good opportunities. The help I got from the other running backs was as valuable as the coaching I got to help me when I first got here."

He has been seen making incoming freshman Dee Hart feel welcome and part of the group just as he was done.

Strong leaders, caring mentors, experience at almost every position, great depth to back them up and a mental maturity that perhaps they were lacking last year, could form the pieces of a winning puzzle this coming season.

The fact that Nick Saban and the team feel that way, should give the fans reason to believe it as well.