CBS Sports’ Gary Danielson Gives Thoughts on How to Beat Alabama

CBS analyst Gary Danielson stopped by SEC Media Days to discuss the upcoming season and what he expects to see from the conference in 2017.

Danielson, who joined the network in 2006, will have a new broadcast partner after Verne Lundquist retired following the 2016 season. Brad Nessler takes over the lead role on CBS' SEC Game of the Week every Saturday afternoon.

The big question for the conference this year is whether anyone can unseat Alabama as champion. The Crimson Tide won its third straight title over Florida last year and will be the favorite once again this fall. Danielson shared his perspective on why teams haven't been able to take down Nick Saban's teams outside of a game or two.

"There's frustration they can't play with Alabama," Danielson said on The Suttles Approach. "And I can promise you, you can all the fancy tactics that you think work. Yeah, they're effective. You can win a game doing that. You can get hot and have a few drives, but the way to beat Alabama is you gotta be as tough as them. You have to have precision like they do. You have the talent that they do, at least on your front-line guys. And you have to be efficient."

That's easier said than done, but this year could be an opportunity for teams to catch the Crimson Tide. In a league that's been dominated by defenses in recent years, Danielson sees things changing this fall.

"This year, however, there's so much talent that went into the NFL. The defenses are not the strength of the league this year, the offenses are. So you're going to get experience, you're going to get not as good defenses. But don't sleep on the running backs either. This is going to be a really strong league for the running back in this conference, too."

You can watch Danielson's full conversation with Aaron Suttles in the video at the top of the page.