Julio Jones is a Nick Saban disciple. He’s Alabama Crimson Tide through and through, so his thoughts on the title game are not insignificant.
Neither is the stark truth he laid out.
Speaking with TMZ Sports, Jones said, “Dabo (Swinney) was just the better coach and they were the better team.”
That’s a heaping serving of hard truth there. But in no way is Jones wrong here.
Swinney and his staff 100 percent out-coached Saban and Co. In fact, it wasn’t even close. The big play that stands out to everyone is the pathetic fake field goal that Clemson swallowed up. But overall the entire game was like watching a tomcat in his prime toy with a kitten, and the scoreboard reflected that to perfection.
Jones also made it clear he still stands behind Saban 100 percent. He told fans not to abandon the program after one awful loss, and he also completely shut down any notion that Saban should jump up to the NFL. Instead, he wants his old coach to stay with the program he built for as long as possible.
We’ve predicted that Clemson and Alabama will be at it once again next year in the title game. Then, Saban can attempt to exact some revenge for the epic beatdown he and his team suffered through in Santa Clara last Monday. Until then, it’s clear there’s a new top dog in college football.