Tide Tidbits – December 28, 2009

Coaching in constant anxiety
With a national title game looming, now is not a time to reflect for Alabama coach Nick Saban, but he once described what he dislikes most about his role. “The worst part of being a coach is you live in a state of constant anxiety, every day, every play, every whatever,” Saban said. “And when the game’s over, you have these brief moments of relief where you’re not anxious anymore. Before I get home, I’m worried about the next game, so the anxiety starts all over again. That’s the life of a coach.” While Saban’s top-ranked Alabama team restarted practice Sunday night for the Jan. 7 BCS championship game against Texas, the rest of college football was watching the stunning events at Florida. Gators coach Urban Meyer announced Saturday that he was stepping down for health reasons. Then, less than 24 hours later, Meyer switched and said he would instead take an indefinite leave of absence. He said during a news conference in New Orleans that he would coach Florida in the Sugar Bowl and expected to be back for the 2010 season. [More]

Pendry points Tide’s O-line to success
Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart was honored with the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach a couple of weeks ago. Sal Sunseri and James Willis have been showered with accolades for their production this season as first-year Tide defensive assistants. But the Alabama assistant coach who has done more than anyone could have expected toils in obscurity, much like the offensive linemen he coaches. Joe Pendry holds a special place in head coach Nick Saban’s heart, but most people not connected with the football program overlook the West Virginia native’s talents. “We knew the offensive line was going to be a question mark,” said All-American left guard Mike Johnson. “We’re not stupid. We see the field the same way you all do and we knew we were going to have to replace some quality guys. We have a freshman (Jones) and a junior-college transfer (Carpenter) starting for us and to get those guys up to speed and on the same page takes a lot of communication time and a lot of practice time.” [More]

UT’s Muschamp trying to outmaneuver mentor
For men who eat and sleep at their desks, daydream about disguising corner blitzes and spend more time than critics in Cannes watching film, relationships work differently. There is little time for small-talk, and even less for courtship. In the case of Nick Saban and Will Muschamp, it was the college football coaching version of love at first sight. Muschamp — who joked last week that “there’s going to be a lot of wasted ink on this situation” — has said repeatedly he’s learned more from Saban than anyone in football. With Alabama and UT ranking among the nation’s top three in total defense, that teacher-versus-pupil dynamic figures to be one of the dominant themes of the championship game. “We believe in a lot of the same things,” Muschamp said. [More]

ANDREW BONE: Recruiting Q&A Part V
Texastider: how much time does saban spend recruiting texas? … he’s gotten 3 recruits out of texas this year … I think he has a connection at the woodlands, but i’m not sure .. Andrew Bone: The coaching staff has done a great job in Texas and will continue recruiting the Lone Star State. Each year more and more prospects from Texas are listing Alabama as a favorite.. [More]

Saban’s Plan for ‘Bama Revival Working
When Mike Shula was fired after a 6-7 season in 2006, Nick Saban was brought in to restore Alabama’s suddenly dysfunctional football program to glory. Saban says he didn’t have a timetable or expectations of how quickly that would happen. In fact, Saban continues to remind himself each day to solve one problem at a time, whether it’s in the game plan, the kicking game, recruiting, personnel, or whatever. Saban reminds those around him to stay tuned to the task and take pride in their performance. Well, Saban’s mantra is working. The ultimate micro-manager has won 10 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career, and his top-ranked Tide return to practice Sunday to continue preparations for the BCS title game against No. 2 Texas. “I think that each year we’ve made progress in that regard and we win because we have good players that have good attitudes and work hard and are good at what they do,” Saban said. [More]

Roll Tide!

~ _____________________________________



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...