Tide Tidbits – October 30, 2009

Saban defends Crimson Tide’s play
Alabama coach Nick Saban said Thursday night that he’s proud of the way the Crimson Tide has dealt with high expectations and adversity this season but knows his team must play at a higher level down the stretch. Saban also said it was “disconcerting” that people are questioning the play of a team that has won 20 of its last 22 games. “We may not win every game we play at Alabama; nobody ever said we would,” Saban said. “I think last year’s team had something to prove, and they worked hard all the time,” he said. “They were very enthusiastic about trying to prove something. This year’s team has to be as good as you can be all the time. We get everybody’s best shot. We’ve had some guys go down, injury-wise, that have put a burden on some other players, and I’m really proud of the way they have handled it and how they have done”

3-4 defense provides versatility
Who are Mike, Will, Sam and Jack, and what are they doing on the football field? It seems like they play for every team all across the country every Saturday and Sunday. But they aren’t actually the names of players. The names are, in fact, jargon for the four linebacker positions of a standard 3-4 defense, and at Alabama their names are Cory Reamer (“Sam”), Rolando McClain (“Mike”), Nico Johnson (“Will”) and Eryk Anders (“Jack”). The trendy formation has become a staple of Alabama Saturdays since head coach Nick Saban’s arrival in 2007, who brought the defense over from the Miami Dolphins. Saban had been a strict adherent to the 4-3 in his days in Baton Rouge coaching for the LSU Tigers, but was lured to the new formation after his mentor, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, adopted the 3-4 himself upon his arrival in Foxboro in 2000.

Tide football team practices in full pads
With no game to play Saturday, the No. 2 University of Alabama football team worked in full pads Thursday. The Crimson Tide, which will host LSU in an SEC game on Nov. 7, practiced for two hours in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. Players and coaches weren’t available for interviews after the session. The players are scheduled to take part in a weight-lifting session this morning and will be off on Saturday. Practice will resume Monday. “I think it’s good timing for an open date for our team,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said earlier this week. “We’ve had eight games in a row and I think mentally and physically it’s a good time to recharge our batteries, get healed up, get some treatment, focus on improvement in practice and try to work on the things that we need to work on down the road so that we can improve as a team and every player to improve individually, so we can become a better team. That’s sort of where we’re at this weekend. That’s what we’re working towards.”

Alabama’s Dont’a Hightower has new knee and old fire
That stationary bike hasn’t seen anything yet. Alabama sophomore linebacker Dont’a Hightower is getting stronger. While teammates practice just a few steps away, Hightower wears a black jersey, takes a deep breath and resumes the first steps of a painful process known as rehab. He’s attacking the bike like he would a ballcarrier in an attempt to work his injured knee back into shape. “I’m just going to have to come back with a relentless attitude,” Hightower said. “I pretty much have a brand-new knee,” he said. “When it happened, I really didn’t feel the pain. My adrenaline was pumping so bad, and I was pretty upset that it happened. I knew it was something bad, because I tried to get up and walk on it and I couldn’t.”

~ _____________________________________



Have BamaFootball4Life eMailed to You for Free


_____________________________________


Enter your email address:

Other subscription options.

~

______________________________________


Quick Links

______________________________________


FREE Magazines!

Recruiting
mybama.com
Polls/Rankings
Links and More Links...