Their culture is the problem. False bravado and braggadocio is their culture. Extending guys nobody else even wants while bragging about their achievements is their culture.
They don’t have an offense or defense problem, they have a culture problem. Same as it ever was. It was ok in 1993, when the internet didn’t give them all a worldwide reach, but the idiots have escaped the village.
And it really isn’t even the white, rural culture that’s the issue. Players will overlook that if the money is right, just like they did in the Sherrill/Slocum years.
The tradition, made up legends, and inability to change are a huge problem, but it’s the incessant bravado, lies, and the inability to just fucking shut up. They’re the loudest fan base in America, yet they have the least to talk about. They don’t do anything half-ass, which is why they always fail spectacularly.
Last spring, they were strutting around screaming for everyone to look at them. They got Saban’s attention and now everyone is looking at them…and it isn’t going well.