When Alabama players knew they broke Michigan State's spirit

 

 

Alabama head coach Nick Saban dances to Alabama's defensive theme song to the delight of his players after Alabama's Cotton Bowl college football semifinal playoff football win over Michigan State, Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Vasha 

Tim Williams could see it in their eyes.

After the Alabama front-seven got hit after hit on Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, Williams saw the Spartans offensive line's collective frustration. Billed as one of the nation's top offensive lines, Michigan State had no solution for stopping Alabama's pass rush.

Williams and the rest of Alabama's defense knew they were in the heads of Michigan State players. Cook was so rattled he was caught on the sidelines saying "they're f------ everywhere" about the Tide's swarming defense. Cook looked rattled and rushed throws out rather than take more hits. 

"Every time we touched the quarterback or rattled him a little bit, we'd see the linemen clap their hands and shake their heads," Williams said. "They were really down every time we hit Connor.

"They were getting down. We just broke their will. That's what we strive on doing."

Alabama landed blow after blow on Michigan State in a 38-0 Cotton Bowl beatdown. It was the worst loss in more than a decade for the Spartans, with Alabama holding MSU to season lows in total yards, rushing yards and points. The Crimson Tide secured two interceptions and finished with four sacks. Alabama forced Cook, a projected high NFL Draft pick, into his worst game as the MSU starter.

"We made sure every time we hit him, he had to feel us," Williams said. 

Alabama frustrated Michigan State all night but it truly took its toll on the Spartans in the third quarter. Cornerback Cyrus Jones delivered the dagger to the Spartans' hopes of winning.

Chip Kelly

More details emerge as to why Chip Kelly was fired by the Eagles

 

There are a number of reasons why the Philadelphia Eagles fired Chip Kelly on Tuesday evening. One of them reportedly had to do with his refusal to relinquish personnel power. Another one involved him losing the support of his players. But it's not just the players who stopped supporting Kelly, according to multiple reports. The former Eagles coach lost support in entire organization

 

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports has even more details on Kelly's downfall:

So what else went wrong? Well, Kelly was losing people throughout the building, sources said, even outside of football operations. His autocratic tendencies got the best of him. His allies were few and far between. The idea that DeMarco Murray somehow led this charge is preposterous, I'm told, but in fact Lurie had begun having serious reservations a few weeks ago, when he began reaching out to confidants about how to proceed and began doing research on the pool of potential candidates elsewhere. He started to doubt whether Kelly The Innovative Coach was quite smart enough to overcome Kelly The Personnel Demagogue. Everything having to be Kelly's way -- moving events around to fit his schedule, things having to accommodate him -- grew troublesome.