BamaFootball4Life

Tide Tidbits – July 26, 2009

Posted by BamaFootball4Life | Jul 26, 2009 | -

Saban gets back to work
Nick Saban’s vacation is over. Now he’s ready for someone to listen to him. “I’ve been with my wife Terry, for the last two or three weeks, it’s really good to get back to work because at least there’s somebody who will listen to what you have to say,” Saban joked during day two of SEC Media Days at The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover Thursday. “There’s a few people that will respond to what I want to do.” Saban should have plenty of listeners after last season. Alabama caught everyone’s attention with a 12-2 campaign that began with hopes of an appearance in the national championship before back-to-back losses to a talented Florida team in the SEC Championship Game and the surprising Utah Utes in the Sugar Bowl.

Sergeant McClain: Follow me
Rolando McClain has never been much of a cheerleader. The Alabama linebacker would rather leave all the rah, rah stuff to others. Looks like the rising junior from Decatur — who will be a three-year starter this fall — has evolved. McClain has become more than just a linebacker. He’s taken on a second job. That job? Teacher. Mentor to Alabama’s young linebackers, to be exact. “Naturally, I’m a guy who likes to lead by example,” said McClain, a two-time All-American linebacker. “I haven’t always been a vocal leader, but that’s something Coach (Nick) Saban wants me to be now. If it’s something that’s gonna benefit the team, I don’t mind doing it.”

Tide’s focus: ‘Finishing’
They say defense wins championships, and Alabama was only 15 minutes away last football season. After reducing opposing offenses to rubble throughout a 12-0 regular season, the No. 1 Crimson Tide took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter of their Southeastern Conference championship matchup against No. 2 Florida. Alabama dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Gators 10-0, but Florida quarterback Tim Tebow directed two impressive drives to lead the Gators to a 31-20 victory and a spot in the BCS championship game. Finishing,” junior middle linebacker Rolando McClain said. “We’ve got to finish games and finish the season. We didn’t finish last year. We lost to Florida and Utah, so we’ve got to finish as a defense and as a team.”

Crowds cause stir at SEC Media Days
Alabama football fans swarmed the Wynfrey Hotel, hopeful of obtaining autographs, taking snapshots, shaking hands, getting to speak to Nick Saban or one of the two Crimson Tide players he took to the event. There were so many fans that coaches and players needed police escorts to get through the crowds. It was almost impossible for members of the media, who had no security, to get to their work stations on the second floor. Thank goodness, that area was off limits to persons without credentials.

SEC MEDIA DAY NOTEBOOK
As the Crimson Tide roster works to get down to the NCAA limit of 85 scholarships, Saban sounded like there would be more. ”I don’t know how these things get out,” Saban said. ”But I only address these things when we start fall camp. We still have a couple players who could or couldn’t qualify. . . . We have some players who will be grayshirted, and know they will be grayshirted. And we have some players who are contemplating what their future’s going to be relative to the University of Alabama.

Roll Tide!

2 Comments so far
  1. Doug Feil July 26, 2009 5:52 pm

    What is a Grayshirt?

  2. BamaFootball4Life July 26, 2009 7:52 pm

    From the NCAA site:

    “Grayshirting” is a term used in the recruiting process to describe situations in which a student-athlete delays initial enrollment in a collegiate institution to the winter or spring term after the traditional academic year begins. Students who “grayshirt” often use the fall to take classes part time or choose not to enroll in college at all. “Grayshirting” is not a formal designation by the NCAA or the National Letter of Intent program. If you are interested in “grayshirting” and signing a National Letter of Intent, it is important to review the applicable NLI provisions and to be aware of the informal nature of this commitment.

    In effect the team has offered more scholarships than they have available. Grayshirting is a way to move some of these players to the following year.

    Roll Tide!
    BF4L

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