Recruiting: DePriest Picks Bama Over OSU

Trey Depriest ended months of suspense Friday when he announced his verbal commitment to Alabama. DePriest, the nation’s No. 57 player, chose the Crimson Tide over Ohio State. He joins a recruiting class that already features the likes of Brent Calloway and Hasean Clinton-Dix. “I think Trey is special because he is an amazing athlete for his size,” said Mark Porter, director of ScoutingOhio.com. “He carries 220 pounds like some kids carry 175 pounds. He is very explosive to the ball which lets him make big plays.” As a junior, he registered 101 tackles as Springfield (Ohio) finished 7-5. According to CBS and MaxPreps recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, DePriest exhibits great range at the linebacker position. On film, he displays tremendous lateral movement coupled with the ability to shed blockers. It marks the second Buckeye State commitment for Alabama for the class of 2011; Lakota West center Ryan Kelly verbally pledged to the Crimson Tide on July 19. Alabama is well on its way to another top-five recruiting class, something Crimson Tide fans have grown accustomed to under head coach Nick Saban. [More]

Saban. a fun and lovable guy

Kareem Jackson was asked if he had ever seen Saban smile. “I was in the meeting rooms with him, so he smiled a lot, cracking jokes and stuff,” he said. “On the field, he’s all business. Off the field, he’s a fun, lovable guy.” [More]

Arenas and Jackson contracts signed

Kareem Jackson and Javier Arenas, starting cornerbacks on the University of Alabama’s 2009 national championship team, have signed pro contracts, according to reports posted on NFL websites. Jackson, a first-round pick who was chosen 20th overall in this year’s draft, signed with the Houston Texans. Arenas, the 50th overall pick who was taken in the second round, signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jackson played three seasons with the Crimson Tide, which went 14-0 last season and beat Texas 37-21 in the BCS National Championship Game. He decided to forgo his senior year to enter the NFL Draft. Arenas played four seasons at Alabama. He was a freshman in 2006, when Mike Shula was Alabama’s head coach. Arenas played three seasons for Nick Saban. Arenas intercepted a pass when Alabama beat Florida 32-13 in the 2009 SEC Championship Game and had two interceptions against Texas. [More]

Mcclain is the Real Deal

Rolando McClain is the real deal. The last player the Oakland Raiders got from Alabama was a flop, but this guy is for real. McClain told his agent to get him in to the first training camp no matter what. Only three other first round rookies had inked deals when McClain signed his contract. McClain comes in as the first string middle linebacker for the Raiders. He is a man of his word. About a month ago, he said that his contract would not be an issue. As he said, it was not an issue. As I said, it is very similar to the 7th overall pick from last year, Darrius Heyward-Bey’s. Heyward-Bey got $500,000 more in guaranteed and $2 million less in maximum value. Saban’s coaching at Alabama led the Crimson Tide and Rolando McClain to a National Title early in 2010. It led their Saban coached defense to be ranked second in the entire nation against the run. It led Rolando McClain to the Oakland Raiders as the 8th overall pick of the 2010 NFL draft. Saban’s coaching gave the Raider Nation hope for a better run defense in 2010. Rolando McClain is backing up the knowledge of his prior teacher. [More]

Roll Tide!

Open dates aren’t enough to stop Alabama

The Ole Miss open date for 2011 falls Oct. 8. That’s the week before the Rebels play — you guessed it — Alabama. Now, before you curse Mike Slive, take a step back and ask yourself some questions. Is your coach still Nick Saban? Is their coach still Houston Nutt? Are you still worried? It’s been well-documented that six SEC football teams will have an open date this season before they play Alabama. It means that, in chronological order, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Auburn all recognize that Alabama is the most difficult opponent on the schedule and that they need as much time as possible to prepare. Each of those schools could’ve scheduled a non-conference game the week before the Alabama game. None of them did. Smart schools. There’s no such thing as a perfect schedule, but Alabama already knows the best way to play it. Put up a perfect record and shut everyone up. [More]

Fan Day set for August 8th

Didn’t get a chance to see the University of Alabama football team in the spring on A-Day? Next Sunday will provide fans with a second chance. UA announced that its annual football Fan Day will be Aug. 8. This includes an open two-hour practice at Bryant-Denny Stadium. And while Fan Day may lack the attendance and scrimmage format of a typical A-Day, fans will get an opportunity for autographs afterward and discounted concessions. “I always looked at it as a chance to give back to the fans for all the support they gave to me as a player,” said former Crimson Tide defensive back Chris Rogers. “That’s one of the reasons you come to Alabama, because you know the way the fans come out, you know how much they love it.” [More]

Roll Tide!

Saban holds successful summer camps

Alabama head football coach Nick Saban’s annual football camps have been in full swing this summer. The blazing heat hasn’t stopped kids from signing up and experiencing what it takes to be a national champion. Alabama’s coaching staff and several high school coaches across the Southeast have teamed up to help develop the techniques of these young players. “This year’s summer’s camps were a success judging by the number of kids who attended,” said camp director Patrick Suddes. “We had the most kids ever attend this year’s camps, and I think that can be attributed to two things: word of mouth spreading from kids who have participated in the previous three years, and winning the national championship helped a little bit.” [More]

2010 SEC Preview: Alabama

Alabama’s 2010 football team would seem to be the glass half full…or perhaps half empty. In some respects, the Crimson Tide has an embarrassment of riches. It starts with the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner, tailback Mark Ingram. Returning quarterback Greg McElroy was MVP of the Southeastern Conference Championship Game and is undefeated in his career as a starter. Marcell Dareus was most valuable defensive player in the BCS National Championship Game. And the Crimson Tide has Nick Saban, who has delivered national championships to two different SEC schools, as coach. It is no wonder that Alabama, coming off its 22nd SEC championship and 13th national title with a 14-0 record last year, is among the favorites to be in contention again this season. The potential chink in the armor is special teams. Alabama has plenty of speed to man coverage and return teams, but there isn’t an obvious replacement for Arenas as the return man. The Tide must replace its placekicker, punter, snapper, and holder. Saban used scholarships for both a placekicker and punter in the last signing class. [More]

Roll Tide!

Don’t blame Saban, listento him

Agents are pimps. Sound familiar? It shouldn’t. That’s not what Nick Saban said at Southeastern Conference media day on Wednesday July 25. What he actually said was a little different. “The agents that do this – and I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp?” But the initial reaction hasn’t been to fix the problem. It’s been to condemn Saban. That’s why you won’t read the following quote in too many of the articles that portray him as a money-hungry blame-shifter. “There’s a lot of good agents out there that don’t do this stuff. They’re not out there chasing guys and giving them money and breaking rules and flying them all over the country, sending girls after them, all kind of stuff,” Saban said. “They’re not breaking the rules.” He’s right. And so was Derek Dooley when he said, “At the end of the day, it’s the responsibility of the player to not take (an agent’s offer).” But the players are actually being punished. So are the schools. Somehow I don’t believe that being called a “pimp” is on the same level as losing scholarships, eligibility and possibly millions of dollars. Currently, that’s about the harshest consequence they receive. [More]

DePriest Confessions

Common sense would seem to say recruiting is regional and DePriest would be Columbus-bound, but that’s not necessarily the case. Growing up as a Michigan fan, a feeling of love at first sight with Nick Saban (who can sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in a white dress), has DePriest thinking about rolling with the Tide, a decision that would shatter the hearts of Ohioans everywhere who follow the Buckeyes and recruiting. It’s not just DePriest’s decision that would sting so bad. Losing the top linebacker in the state and possibly the country wouldn’t hurt as much if the same thing didn’t happen last recruiting season. The top linebacker and arguable top player in the 2010 recruiting class, Jordan Hicks of Lakota West, decided to spurn the Bucks in favor of the Texas Longhorns. After Hicks’ decision, many fans were irrate that Jim Tressel once again “couldn’t close.” If DePriest picks Alabama this year, those same critics are sure to come out again. [More]

Austin, TX Statesman Picks Alabama #1

Yes, the American-Statesman sports staff did put Bama at No. 1 in our preseason poll, but to repeat: the Tide will not only have to overcome its powerful SEC foes, but the bane of the Bowl Championship Series. Since the birth of the BCS national title game in January 1999, no team has claimed back-to-back titles. USC won national championships in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, but the first was an Associated Press crown; the BCS title that year was awarded to LSU. Oh, and the NCAA just erased the Trojans’ championship season of 2004 because of Reggie Bush’s improper dealings with an agent. So Nick Saban’s crew could make history this year by doubling up — even though the odds say they won’t. [More]

Roll Tide!

Melvin Ray quits baseball, hopes to rejoin Tide

Wide receiver Melvin Ray, a 2008 Alabama signee who chose a pro baseball career, is ready to return to football and the Crimson Tide. Ray, now 21 years old, has left the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization after spending the past three seasons in the minor leagues. He returned home to Tallahassee, Fla., this weekend and is taking steps to join Alabama’s 2011 signing class and possibly enroll in time for practice next spring. “My heart is still with (Alabama) because I signed with them,” Ray said. “I wouldn’t have made that commitment for no reason. I want to play. I want to play with Alabama no matter what. Ray said he will not reopen his college football recruitment beyond Alabama. His commitment has yet to be formally accepted by Alabama, but Saban indicated in 2008 that the door would be open for Ray to return to football at some point in the future. Ray was No. 68 on the Press-Register’s Super Southeast 120 for 2008. [More]

Recruiting: Tide’s final summer camp brings in Elite prospects

Two five-star recruits were on the Alabama campus this past week but did not participate in the camp. Cyrus Kouandjio, Scout.com No. 1 offensive tackle in the country from Dematha Catholic School in Hyattsville, Md., and Isaiah Crowell, Scout.com No. 2 running back from Carver High School in Columbus, Ga., spent quality time observing and hanging out with current Tide players. Kouandjio, younger brother of Alabama freshman offensive lineman Arie Kouandjio, does not plan to announce a decision until closer to signing day. “I love it every time I go down there,” Cyrus said. “The people down there are great.” Crowell has Alabama in his top two along with Georgia. The battle for the South’s top ballcarrier will remain intense until signing day. He spent most of his time at UA with former five-star running back Trent Richardson. “Me and Trent are really close, and we have just really clicked since I met him,” Crowell told Scout.com. “He hasn’t really tried to recruit me to Alabama or anything like that. We have just become more of friends.” [More]

Roll Tide!

Recruiting: Trey DePriest Update

ESPN 150 linebacker Trey DePriest visited Columbus on Friday, but capped his weekend off with a three-day trip to Tuscaloosa, to visit pimp-hating Nick Saban. Fickell and company have made a solid push as of late to lure the Springfield product (and good friend of commit Braxton Miller) to Ohio State, with other sites going so far as to proclaim DePriest an Ohio State lock earlier last week, but everything we’re hearing indicates he’ll be suiting up for Alabama next season and may have even offered a silent verbal over the weekend. If this does come to pass, the staff, despite their top-notch haul this year, has to step back and evaluate what could have caused the state’s best linebacker in back-to-back classes to slip through their grasp. [More]

NFL must exercise control over agents

The words “sports agent” can have a chilling effect on college football fans. For those who love the college gridiron game and don’t give a rip about the game played on Sundays, no good ever came from a professional sports agent. The University of Alabama found out agents don’t even have to be very professional. Antonio Langham’s signature on a napkin in the hands of a relative was enough to land the Crimson Tide in the NCAA’s doghouse. It cost Alabama dearly — forfeited games, a year without a bowl appearance and, costliest of all, a whole sack full of scholarships. Alabama coach Nick Saban’s attack on unscrupulous sports agents wasn’t an overreaction. Saban knows all too well that their actions could nullify years of hard work and preparation. The NFL could choose to work with college football. It could police agents and limit their ability to do business within the league if they cost college players’ eligibility. It could penalize players financially if rule-breaking during their college years proves costly to their schools. [More]

Saban reflect on Gulf-area visit

Miles isn’t the only SEC coach who checked on the Gulf Coast this summer. Alabama’s Nick Saban visited Grand Isle, as well as Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Ala. Saban was LSU’s coach from 2000-2004. “My message would be that even though there may be oil around, if you want to help the people in those areas, still go there, still visit,” Saban said Wednesday. “There’s plenty of people who would love to see you and provide you some hospitality.” [More]

Roll Tide!

NCAA rule would halt early offers

The recruitment of high school athletes has become a year-round job — sign this year’s class while simultaneously working on the next. College football coaches, especially in the uber-competitive SEC, can’t afford to think solely in terms of filling needs on a year-by-year basis. That’s short-sighted thinking. In the SEC, where recruiting is as cut-throat as it gets, coaches must stay a step ahead of the competition, which has resulted in a sped-up recruiting process. But if the NCAA gets its way, the recruiting process could slow down a bit. In theory, at least. The NCAA is sponsoring a proposal that would prohibit colleges from offering scholarships to recruits before July 1 in the summer before their senior year. The legislation came from a recommendation of the Recruiting and Athletics Personnel Issues Cabinet. [More]

Recruiting: Super Southeast 120

Jadeveon Clowney is a freak of nature. He’s 6-foot-6, weighs nearly 250 pounds and can run 40 yards in less than 4.5 seconds. Add that up and it equals a lot of sacks — 24, to be exact, to go with the 144 tackles Clowney racked up as a junior at South Pointe High in Rock Hill, S.C. “He is kind of a rare breed in that he’s so big and so fast and he’s got a great motor,” said Bobby Carroll, Clowney’s coach at South Pointe. “To see him run and he’s so big, it’s absolutely mesmerizing.” Many envision Clowney as a head-hunting defensive end, others as a pass-rushing outside linebacker. “He’s a prototypical outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme,” Carroll said of Clowney, who currently lists Alabama and South Carolina as his leaders. “That’s where coach (Nick) Saban and many coaches have told him he’d play. The kid is just so agile and fast.” [More]

Roll Tide!

Agents: The root of football evil

Something tells me Doak Walker never had to worry about agents’ lavish parties on South Beach. It’s a different day in college football. Even for someone my age, the times are a-changin’. There have been scandals in the collegiate ranks before, but I don’t recall one as wide spread as the current outbreak. It seems to have spread like a virus throughout the college football world, and it’s making everyone sick. It’s time to take the words of Dr. Nick Saban to heart. Saban might not really be a doctor, but he has prescribed the right medication to handling these kind of situations. Sure, the athletes are to blame if they break the rules, but some of the rules are so vaguely written that only lawyers would fully be able to understand them. Saban recommended revoking the agents’ ability to deal with players if they are found to be interfering with the NCAA. Saban couldn’t be more right. [More]

Derek Dooley: Saban clone?

Derek Dooley became the third head coach in as many years to represent Tennessee, after Lane Kiffin’s one-and-one tenure following the end of Phillip Fulmer’s reign. The son of longtime Georgia coach Vince Dooley may resemble his father, but his coaching playbook comes straight from Nick Saban, under whom he served at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins. The Saban influence on Dooley was immediately evident. Like Saban does every year, Dooley opened his remarks by thanking the media for “all you guys do for college football.” Dooley did, however, wait until the third question of the day to invoke the phrase “relative to,” a well-known Sabanism. Dooley doesn’t hide from his Saban ties. “I have a great relationship with Nick, professionally and personally, anytime you’ve worked with somebody for seven years” Dooley said. “… He had a very big impact on my development as a young head coach. I’ll always be appreciative of that.” [More]

Ranking the SEC Coaches’ Media Days Appearances

Below is a breakdown of the 12 coaches’ presentations to the media based on several factors, including controversy, likeability, humor and how informative they were. 3. Nick Saban (Alabama) – Gave the media exactly what it wanted: juice. Anytime the defending national champion coach describes agents as “pimps” the media will react. Saban was a little dry (as always), but the way he blasted agents and downplayed the title talk were rather impressive. The buzz surrounding Saban was also fascinating, as fans flocked to him like he was giving out free money. (He didn’t.) 12. Gene Chizik (Auburn) – You know when they call a coach no-nonsense? That is Chizik, who offered no humor (and no attempts at humor). His lengthy explanation about developing a long-term plan in a short-term league had us yawning. He had the longest opening statement of the week and lost us shortly after “Good morning.” [More]

Roll Tide!

Caldwell entertains SEC media

Vanderbilt interim head coach Robbie Caldwell did something that only Alabama’s Nick Saban had done before Caldwell made his appearance at SEC Media Days, and that was stay before the media for his full allotted 45 minutes before the journalists ran out of questions. When he left the podium, he did something that conference commissioner Mike Slive had only done before him: Received an ovation when he exited the press conference. The journalists as a group laughed audibly at Caldwell’s stories and his down-home method of telling stories and analyzing his team heading into the season. [More]

SEC advocating that agents take responsibility/punishments for actions

As the NCAA’s investigation into a party in Miami that might have resulted in numerous college athletes having improper contact with agents spreads, the issue has taken center stage at SEC Media Days. Georgia’s A.J. Green’s name popped up, but he denied going to the party, which was held at the Fountainbleu hotel in Miami. On Tuesday, it was Alabama’s Marcell Dareus linked to the party. Before that, it was North Carolina’s Marvin Austin, a defensive tackle, and Greg Little, a receiver, and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders. Pouncey’s brother, Maurkice, wasn’t linked to the party — he was drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round of the NFL draft. But Maurkice Pouncey was accused of accepting $100,000 from an agent between the 2009 SEC Championship game and the Gators’ bowl game. Alabama coach Nick Saban railed on agents and called for action against them, including having their license suspended for a year for improper contact and not being able to collect fees. Saban equated the rogue agents to “pimps.” [More]

Roll Tide!

For hardcore, the season has begun

The lobby of The Wynfrey Hotel was a sea of Alabama crimson and white Wednesday, splotched with a few dabs of Florida orange and blue and a smattering of Mississippi State maroon. The first sure sign that another football season is just around the corner, SEC Media Days kicked off Wednesday — beginning a three-day feeding frenzy for a hungry pack of sportswriters, broadcasters and bloggers starving to write about college football again. It’s also a round-the-clock stakeout for hardcore fans hoping to get their favorite players and coaches to sign their commemorative footballs, replica helmets and team posters. While Alabama coach Nick Saban, easily the headliner of Wednesday’s rock show, didn’t address the media until 1 p.m., the first fans started to trickle in as much as seven hours earlier. [More]

Saban: It is 2010, right?

Before he began answering questions from the media, Alabama head coach Nick Saban had a question for the media. “Let’s get something established. It is 2010, right?” Saban asked. “Because there’s been a lot of talk about last year’s team, but last year was last year. It’s over now, and we have to work for this year.” Saban dismissed thoughts of defending Alabama’s 2009 SEC and national championships, and said the Crimson Tide will not try to repeat as champions either. This is a different team from last year, Saban said. “Even if we had the same ingredients from last year, it would be different,” Saban said. “It’s like I was watching a cooking show last week. I put the same ingredients in my pot the guy on TV did, but we got very different results.” Saban did say he hopes this year’s edition of the Crimson Tide will learn some lessons from the 2009 national championship team. “The team last year understood what it takes to be successful, and hopefully this team will do the same thing,” Saban said. [More]

Roll Tide!