Nick Saban explains how bad snaps are setting the Alabama offense back

Alabama has had an issue snapping the ball consistently to quarterback Jalen Milroe, and during this week’s press conference, Nick Saban addressed the issue.

After an odd question about whether he puts his kickers through tackling drills, the second question of the day to Saban at his Monday presser was about the snaps and the lack of consistency getting the ball to the quarterback. After the question, Saban bowed his head and let out a massive sigh of disappointment before going into his answer:

“Yeah, well, you know, we got to have just a little better focus, I think, on the importance of the snap,” he said. Obviously, snaps over the QB’s head or miscues on special teams are extremely costly, but even small inaccuracies on snaps can cause issues for the offense, says Saban.

“This has been a pretty consistent issue, where it makes harder for the quarterback to be able to function when, you know, he doesn’t have a dependable snap to deal with, whether he’s faking, whether it’s a play-action pass or he’s trying to read a coverage. Because you got to take your eyes off what you want to be looking at to be able to catch the ball.”

The Alabama offense has dealt with plenty of issues already. After all, they had to replace their quarterback, top running back and three starters on the offensive line. The last thing the Crimson Tide needed was small errors like poor snaps. So, he’s hoping for some better focus in that area going forward.

“So that’s something we’ve been working on and we certainly need to continue to work on it and improve, no question.”

Nick Saban had also addressed the issue after the Texas loss. Snaps were a problem in that game as well, which he credited to guys getting too caught up in the emotions of the game.

“If you get emotional, then you make bad choices and decisions,” Saban said. “Your brain doesn’t work like it needs to and bad things happen. Whether you make mistakes on defense, whether you snap the ball poorly, whether you jump offsides.”

There’s no two ways about it: with where the Alabama offense is this year vs. the last two, they absolutely need to be buttoned-up and disciplined to reach their ceiling. The last thing you’d want as a coach, fan or player is for a play that has the potential to change the game derailed by something as silly as a snap that’s off-target.