‘I’ve mellowed a lot,’ says Saban

On the recent day that a great basketball coach died, a great football coach sat down for an extraordinary interview with the Sporting News. Alabama coach Nick Saban talked about how the very first book he read about coaching was written by John Wooden, the late, legendary UCLA coach. Sporting News: A lot of people are fascinated by your face, by its seeming sternness, by the times you smile but it doesn’t look like you really mean it. Are people always trying to figure you out? SABAN: You know, I oftentimes feel like maybe the public persona is a little different from the real person because I’m really pretty happy, pretty easygoing. … When I first became the head coach at Michigan State (in 1995), I probably was a little more anxious, a little uneasy, especially with the media. That intensity has always been there – the perfectionist, the passion for a standard of excellence. … Through the years I’ve mellowed a lot from that standpoint. … Maybe someday people will have a better understanding of who I am. [More]

Recruiting: High profile recruits continue to visit the tide

The University of Alabama has attracted high-profile recruits to campus this summer, with several who have participated in camps. Others have been in Tuscaloosa to tour the campus and spend time with the coaching staff. Uncommitted players who wanted more time on campus included Trey DePriest, Scout.com five-star middle linebacker from Springfield High School in Ohio; Jermauria Rasco, five-star defensive end from Evangel Christian School in Shreveport, La.; and Nickolas Brassell, four-star wide receiver from South Panola High School in Batesville, Miss. Two players at the top of their positions were in Tuscaloosa last week: Malcolm Brown, Scout.com five-star running from Steele High School in Cibolo, Texas, and Jadeveon Clowney, five-star defensive end from South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C. Both prospects have a high interest in the national champs. Clowney reports Alabama, Clemson, North Carolina and South Carolina as the schools recruiting him the hardest. Neither prospect reports a favorite at this point. [More]

Ingram early favorite

It took 79 years for an Alabama player to win the Heisman Trophy. How long will Crimson Tide fans have to wait for a second? Less than a year, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers. When the early odds were released for the upcoming college football season this month, Alabama running back Mark Ingram was atop the list of Heisman favorites. But that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Ingram did win last season’s Heisman as a sophomore, after all. Since Ingram will be back this season, he could give Alabama its second Heisman this December. [More]

Another Pre-Season Top 25

Alabama, your more-or-less unanimous Number 1. Apparently the prospect of the Tide returning but two starters on defense bothers the nation’s punditocracy not a whit, because everybody put the defending national champions in a nice comfy chaise lounge at the top of the rankings except for two: Phil Steele, who’s always sort of marched to the beat of his own drummer because he’s Phil Steele and Phil Steele can do whatever Phil Steele wants, and Brett McMurphy of AOL Fanhouse, who is . . . well, innovative in many of his selections. [More]

The SEC’s 11th Best Player

The No. 11 guy on our countdown of the SEC’s 25 best players doesn’t even start, but don’t let that fool you. No. 11: Trent Richardson, RB, So., Alabama. If you talk to enough people in and around the Alabama program, they will tell you that Richardson might be the most talented running back on campus. That’s probably not the most politically correct thing to say with Ingram coming off a Heisman Trophy season, but the game tape doesn’t lie. The 5-11, 220-pound Richardson is oozing with natural ability. He’s explosive enough to hit a seam and run away from everybody on the field. After all, you’re talking about a guy who’s run a 10.5 in the 100 meters. He’s powerful enough to run over a linebacker and turn a minimal gain into a 25-yard gain, and he’s savvy enough to let his blocking develop and find the right crease. Richardson would have been a 1,200-yard rusher on just about any other team last season, but served as the perfect complement to Ingram. They return as the best one-two punch in college football. [More]

Roll Tide!

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