It's time to take responsibility

Ok, I'll admit it. I am embarrassed. I am jealous. Worst of all, I am afraid of what next week might bring. All I want to do is point fingers. Who's to blame? The only obvious answer is JPW. Honestly, he is not even close to being the problem. Some want to blame Shula. But how can we blame him when he took a majority of these players 10-2. So who's left? We have the current coaches. Would you really start pointing the finger at the guy that we are paying 4 million? What about Applewhite? Who runs a toss sweep on first down on your own forty when you are down by seven with less than three minutes? Do we have no play that can get us past fourth and one? Over at the Capstone Report, they want to blame you.

I feel that the players have to take responsibility. They have to demand better of themselves. We don't have the drive to win. Saban said it best, "The season is long. What we do demands a lot of commitment and perseverance. You have to challenge yourself. You have to keep pushing yourself. It's about not taking the easy way. I'm not sure we've done that."

But wait, aren't the players I am talking about not having the drive to be better, to win, the players that went 10-2? Shula did not coach these players. He was their friend. He let them run around and do what they wanted to do. They had fun. They did well, e.g. Middle Tenn. – State. But when push came to shove, these players couldn't be coached to a win, e.g. LSU & Auburn. Now we have a guy come in that doesn't want to be their friend. He wants to give us our money's worth. But like Bear Bryant always said, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit." That's what this coaching staff is trying to do. Of course you have your exceptions, but they are few and far between.

The loss this past weekend was driven by the thought that we are Alabama. We are going to win. We don't have to get better this week. As one player said, "We let a lot of people down. We shouldn't have lost. We're Alabama. We're supposed to win…" All in all, these players have to be broken down before they can be coached up. They have to get rid of this attitude. But, I myself have it all wrong. I am looking for someone to blame, the players, Shula, the coaching staff. But there is one guy that says this, "I think we're all responsible for it. It starts with me." - Nick Saban