Good News For Alabama Crimson: He is back…

Nick Sheridan, the offensive coordinator for the Alabama football team, definitely made progress on Saturday.

He paced back and forth, back and forth, between the sideline and the press box. He was forced to do so because the headsets in Western Kentucky kept turning on and off.

The Hilltoppers’ headsets malfunctioned at the start of the season opener on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide was required by rule to switch off its headsets. Sheridan had to descend to the field since he was calling plays and couldn’t communicate from the press box.

At a different point in the game, the headsets stopped functioning once more. The coaches at Alabama were forced to quit using theirs. Once more. Sheridan, back to the sidelines.

Justice Haynes, the running back, stated, “I thought he handled it well.” “Be ready for anything unforeseen. That’s what we discuss all the time. We didn’t anticipate not having helmet communications going into the game. It took place. We changed. We were prepared to act quickly and take care of our needs.

That is undoubtedly accurate. Those curveballs were confronted by Alabama, but they didn’t appear to slow the Crimson Tide down all that much. In the season opener, No. 5 Alabama defeated Western Kentucky 63-0.

Coach Kalen DeBoer of Alabama commented, “I thought our staff did a great job because that’s not something you practice.” I have never had a situation where we had to take off our headphones due to someone else’s. That was a new one for me, however perhaps it occurs more frequently than I realize and I should practice it.

Deontae Lawson, a linebacker, had to continually swap out helmets as a result. Since in-helmet communications are permitted this season, he is the Alabama defender identified as the “green dot,” meaning he is the player with communication access to defensive coordinator Kane Wommack. However, Lawson was unable to speak with Wommack because Alabama was unable to use its headsets.

The Crimson Tide turned off headsets, so Lawson wore his helmet instead of the one with the microphone. Lawson replaced the helmet with the microphone as soon as the headsets were turned back on.

Lawson remarked, “I had to switch (helmets) two or three times.”

What an intriguing introduction the new helmet mic has made.

And Alabama had to deal with more surprises than just the headset problems. Minutes before the game, the Crimson Tide had to frantically locate a new left tackle.