Given his track-record, will Pete Golding be in charge of the Alabama defense moving forward?
Alabama would have liked to come out of Week 5 with far better results and an unblemished record. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards against Jimbo Fisher and his Texas A&M squad.
Much of the blame for the lackluster performance has been placed on third-year defensive coordinator Pete Golding. I can’t say that the blame isn’t warranted. Aside from the outlier, against Ole Miss in Week 4, the defense has performed well below the benchmark that was expected of them to start the season.
Even with significant losses to Dylan Moses, Christian Barmore and Patrick Surtain II to the NFL Draft, the Crimson Tide still brought back a ton of talent. On the defensive line, LaBryan Ray, Phil Mathis, D.J. Dale, Justin Eboigbe, Byron Young and Tim Smith all have the talent and experience to make an impact. It just hasn’t come to fruition, yet. Alabama’s D-line has been ran through and pushed around all year, and one has to wonder if the schemes aren’t doing anything to help them.
Losing Christopher Allen to injury hasn’t done the Tide any favors, either, but when you know the nature of Alabama, the next man up should be just as capable as his predecessor. Sure, he may not have much experience, but experience is gained in playing the games and getting the reps on the practice field.
On the back-end, plenty of returning players were poised to improve greatly when compared to last year, it just hasn’t happened.
During the Texas A&M game, the defensive performance in the first half was not good. Texas A&M’s backup quarterback, Zach Calzada, completed 16 of his first 17 passes. Coverage in the back-end lacked most of the evening, and part of that can be blamed on the defensive line not getting off blocks, giving Calzada enough time to go through his progressions easily. The coverage schemes, at this point, may be too complicated given the strengths of the defense. Simplifying the defense would be beneficial. Disguising the coverage even a little would absolutely be beneficial.
It’s never good when a quarterback knows exactly what’s in front of him. That has happened all year. Nobody in coverage gives a look pre-snap that changes after the play begins. It’s possible to simplify a defense while disguising coverage. It’s as simple as changing the physical positions of DBs prior to the snap. That, alone, is good enough to confuse a QB and make him believe that he is seeing one look while actually getting another.
Consider this, Pete Golding has helped just one player on his defenses since his promotion in 2019 get picked in the first round of the NFL Draft, that was CB Patrick Surtain II.
Another consideration: Pete Golding has had his hands on multiple five-star recruits at all levels of the defense, and a large majority of them haven’t panned out. Players earn the coveted fifth star when they’re likely to be a future first-round NFL Draft pick. That’s why there are never more than 32 five-stars in any given recruiting class. So, what’s the issue? Why can’t Pete Golding design a defense to play to the strengths and minimize the weaknesses?
When watching the Texas A&M game again, the defense in the second half was much improved. Who engineered this vast amelioration? I’m under the impression, and have good reason to believe that Nick Saban and Charles Kelly relieved Golding of his defensive play-calling duties following the halftime break.
It worked impeccably, until the last two drives. I believe that Saban gave Golding the chance to call those last two drives for his job. The results were telling. Moving forward, I fully expect Saban to allow Kelly to assist him with the play-calling. While Golding will be kept on to keep up appearances, I truly don’t expect him to have much of a hand in the defense other than his specialty, linebackers, moving forward.
After this season, I’m calling it now, Pete Golding will not be Alabama’s defensive coordinator.
I wouldn’t be surprised, at all, if he is relieved prior to the end of the season, however, it’s hard to imagine Saban would make a change that drastic mid-season.
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