Tide Tidbits – March 22, 2010

Alabama gets back to practice
The University of Alabama football team returns to Spring practice today after more than a week off for Spring break. But while the Crimson Tide’s week off last season arrived squarely in the middle of a 12-week schedule, the week off this spring came after just one practice. Whistles first blew last Friday and were silenced until today, but UA coach Nick Saban believes one pre-break practice is preferable to the alternative of holding a final practice after the annual A-Day game. “We like to practice on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in the Spring, and practice two days before the spring game,” Saban said. “We always have one extra practice, kind of a wildcard practice, and it’s always a question, do you do it before spring break or do you do it after the spring game? We’ve done it both ways and we feel like, with this particular team, to get started – especially with the young guys we have on defense — it’s good to expose them. It’s good to give them something to take home with them during break, and actually get to spend a little bit more time with them before the break.” [More]

Alabama football coach Nick Saban named first Bobby Bowden national coach of the year.
Alabama’s Nick Saban had homefield advantage in winning the inaugural Bobby Bowden national collegiate coach of the year award. Saban received the award from the Over the Mountain Touchdown Club of Birmingham on Sunday with former FSU coach Bobby Bowden, a Birmingham native, in attendance. “It’s hard for me to think that there’s a coach in the country right now better qualified than him, and his record shows it,” Bowden said of Saban, who won the national title and a school-record 14 games. Saban, a native of West Virginia, said the honor was especially meaningful because of a gesture Bowden made when Saban was a young assistant at Kent State. Bowden was the coach at West Virginia at the time and knew Saban’s father. “After my father passed away, my mother was having a lot of problems, and Coach Bowden called and said if I needed to come home, he’d create a graduate assistant position for me,” Saban recalled. “I never, ever forgot that.” [More]

Gadsden’s Collins impressed by Tide’s first spring practice
Alabama resumes spring practice today after a week off for spring break. One recruit however — ESPNU 150 Watch List prospect Daryl Collins (Gadsden, Ala./Gadsden City) — is still talking about that first practce back on March 12. Collins, a coveted 6-foot, 204-pound receiver, attended that workout as an observer. “That was exciting watching it,” Collins told CrimsonConfidential.com Sunday night. “I got to see what I wanted to see and that was Dre (Kirkpatrick) versus Julio (Jones).”So which Bama standout got the better of the duel? “It was about a tie,” Collins said. “Sometimes Julio would win, and then Dre would get Julio back.” After practice, Collins got a chance to speak with Kirkpatrick, Jerrell Harris and head coach Nick Saban. “Coach Saban said, ‘We could use you on punt returns and at receiver,’” Collins said. [More]

Rolando McClain Has “It”
“It” is something that is hard to measure in a player. “It” can’t be tested for or improved upon by practice or training; a player simply has “it” or they don’t. “It” is a special quality that only the truly great and elite players in the game possess. “It” is what separates them from the rest. Rolando McClain, the Middle Linebacker coming out of Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide program, has “it.” He has the combination of everything it takes to be the next great linebacker in the National Football League. He has the special quality and skill set that makes him stand out and separate himself from the rest of the crowd. The top young linebackers in the game all have “it.” Patrick Willis, Curtis Lofton, James Laurinitis, Jon Beason, David Harris, Brian Cushing, Justin Durant; they’ve all got “it.” Rolando McClain looks to join that list soon enough. [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...