Nick Saban reacts to Bill O’Brien’s play-calling

After Alabama’s 32-31 loss to LSU, questions abound about the future of Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

Alabama fans were furious with both, but especially O’Brien, with many calling into question the play-calling in both the Tennessee and LSU losses.

In the LSU game, Alabama took the lead twice but instead of kicking the extra point, the Tide would go for two both twice and miss both times. If the Tide had kicked the extra point the second time, the kick late Saturday night might have been for the win. Instead, it was for the tie, and LSU would eventually win in overtime.

When asked about his offensive coordinator’s play-calling on Monday, head coach Nick Saban gave an interesting answer.

“I’m not going to analyze somebody publicly, good, bad, or indifferent,” said Saban.

Saban has made it clear in the past that he doesn’t talk about those types of things in public, so it sounds like he and O’Brien may have already had a discussion about his play-calling abilities.

The Tide faces the Ole Miss Rebels Saturday, and a win in Oxford keeps Alabama’s chances, albeit small, of making the SEC Championship game alive.

It will be interesting to see if Saban takes more control of the play-calling on both sides of the ball. Ultimately, the blame is always going to fall on him, so he might as well make the best decision he thinks will help them win.

{Mike Rodak}