Sports » Headlines
‘Positive energy’ flows from Crimson Tide
By Griffin Pritchard
Email this story |
Print this story
Nick Saban could have passed for a rockstar Thursday morning before stepping to the podium to address a crowded ballroom filled with national media.
“This is why I love college football,” said Saban, second-year coach at the University of Alabama.
Last season, Saban and the Tide nursed a 6-6 regular season record into a Petro Sun Independence Bowl victory over Colorado.
“I think a lot of guys this year grasp what (Saban)’s saying, that we have to focus on the process and not on the results,” said Tide offensive lineman Antoine Caldwell.
“You’d think it wouldn’t make a big impact, but if you think about it, it only takes about three or four guys to mess up a game and a season. I think the guys are buying into it now and that makes a big difference.”
Success in the final game of the 2007 season was overshadowed by the Tide’s legal problems in the first part of 2008.
“You know, I’m not going to clean house and get rid of everybody just because they might be a problem,” said Saban.
“Now, when players don’t do the right things and make poor judgments, then they cannot be a part of the program. But it’s our philosophy to support players, to help them be successful. One of the reasons that I enjoy college coaching and want to be in college coaching and am here is to help players do that.”
Good news however is that despite the negative publicity that the program has received, positive pub soon followed.
Quarterback John Parker Wilson is on both the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award Watch Lists.
“A new offensive coordinator ”Jim McElwaine replaced Major Applewhite ” a little more diversity, a little more quarterback friendly, I think that will help us,” said Saban.
“I think (Wilson)’s a little more businesslike and mature in his approach to how he prepares in the decision making process that he goes through. But I feel very good about the progress that he’s made in this off season. I do think there is some opportunity for several people at the receiver position to sort of step up. Some of those players are young players. But we also have some players, Nikita Stover, Michael McCoy, who have some experience. But I think the development of that group is going to be really the key to our success offensively because we do have some returning players on the offensive line. We don’t have a lot of depth. We have a couple decent tight ends. We have some experience at runningback. That’s the real area where we need to have some people step up and play great football for us. And I think that will help the quarterback.”
Five Tide football players “-Caldwell, Andre Smith, Rashad Johnson, Rolando McClain and Javier Arenas ” were named to first and second team All-Conference. Alabama, as a team, was chosen to finish third in the SEC West behind Auburn (48 first-place votes) and LSU (21first-place votes).
The question is, how long will it take for the Tide to return to a position of relevance on the national spectrum?
“We never, ever talk about it. It is what it is. We are where we are. We work every day to try to get it where we want it to be,” said Saban.
“We’re going to make small, incremental improvements to getting there. You know, obviously the quality of player that we can attract in recruiting, the way we can develop the players that we have, the attitude that we can develop within the organization, I mean, there’s so many factors that contribute to that. But I have never as a head coach put a timetable. And every situation is different. You know, sometimes you go into a situation, you have pretty good players in there in disarray. You straighten them out, they start playing pretty good, get confidence, all of a sudden you’re pretty good. You go in other situations where you may not have as many good players, it’s going to take a little more time to recruit your way out of it. It’s always a combination of all those factors that determine, you know, how soon you can start to be successful.
But we’re going to do everything that we can to continue to build a program that our fans and supporters can be proud of. It’s certainly our goal to be one of the teams that’s recognized in the SEC as a top, top team again.”
The Crimson Tide can begin their journey to relevance this fall when it opens the season against Clemson inside the GeorgiaDome.
“I don’t look it as bragging rights,” said Crimson Tide safety Rashad Johnson. “The ACC has great teams and the SEC has great teams. For our team, we’re looking for an identity and so we want the game to show how hard we’ve been working in the offseason to get the job done.”
The Tide and Tigers will tee it up Aug. 30. Following that match-up, Alabama will play host to Tulane (Sept. 6) and Western Kentucky (Sept. 13) before traveling to Fayetteville (Arkansas) and Athens (Georgia).
Our schedule is very challenging,” said Saban.” I think one thing that the Clemson game will do for us early in the season, you hear all the things about exposure and national TV game. They’re a great team. They’re a top 10 team. They’re picked to win their league. But I think what it’s going to help us do is enhance our development in terms of our identity as a team because it will certainly show us where we are in terms of how we compete against one of the best teams in the country, even though it’s a first game and it’s on the road. I also think that’s going to help us down the road in our competition in the league, which is several teams that will be in the top 10, top 15, and six or seven in the top 20.”
Alabama will then play host to Kentucky (Oct. 4) and Ole Miss (Oct. 18) before traveling to Knoxville (Oct. 25). The annual rivalry game, known as “The Third Saturday in October,” will actually be played on the fourth Saturday in October.
Homecoming is scheduled for Nov. 1 against the Sun Belt Conference’s Arkansas State.
Saban will return to Baton Rouge Nov. 8, but will stand on the opposing sideline.
“We need to earn the respect. We need to earn it,” said Saban. “So that’s what he need to do. That’s what we’ll work to do. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Mississippi State, who upset Alabama in Starkville will travel to Tuscaloosa Nov. 15 and the Crimson Tide will end the 2008 regular season by hosting rival Auburn Nov. 29.
Become a fan of