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Alabama football is steeped in tradition.  It is a tradition of great coaches and great players in all positions but it has been a rarity over the last decade to see Alabama sign many top HS defensive backs.  Of course there are exceptions; –Simeon Castille (2004) Tony Dixon (1997) both rated very highly out of high school; but for the most part, Alabama’s secondary has been manned by overachievers with heart and moxie.  But with the past two recruiting classes, Nick Saban has landed the top defensive back in each class.  Last year it was Dre’ Kirkpatrick from Gadsden City High School and this year it’s Demarcus Milliner from Stanhope-Elmore HS in Millbrook, AL.  So what are some of the reasons for Alabama possibly becoming Defensive Back U?

1.       The popularity of the spread offense in high school in Alabama.  Note that both of these two prospects are from right here in Alabama.  The spread offense has changed the way that we play football here in the state of Alabama.  HS football in Alabama used to be about getting the ball to your best player as soon as possible and letting him find his way through the defense.  This led coaches to place the best athletes at running back and the best defensive players were linebackers.  The spread offense has the philosophy of getting the ball to your playmakers fewer times but allowing them to catch the ball in space.  This has led to the better athletes being placed on the outside as WRs and DBs.

2.       The popularity of the spread offense in college has led to the need for better athletes in the secondary.  You used to be able to hide your defensive backs with run stuffing linebackers and pass rushing defensive ends.  With offenses spreading the field, it requires defensive backs who can play receivers in man coverage and tackle in space as well as have good ball skills when the pass is in the air.

3.       Coach Saban.  Coach Saban played defensive back and much of his defensive expertise is in this area.  He values the position and understands the importance of having talent at the position.  He also believes in an aggressive, man to man pressure style of coverage which requires better athletes and also prepares players for this type of defense on the next level.

So Alabama fans look forward to seeing more playmakers in the secondary and keep an eye on the top 3 or 4 defensive backs in each class.  I’m sure coach Kirby Smart and coach Saban will.

According to a SJSU spokesman who confirmed to the Press-Register, San Jose will be making bank from Alabama in a reported $1 million to come to Tuscaloosa to open the 2010 season in the newly expanded Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Alabama, however, has not formally announced the game or released the 2010 schedule. Other non-conference games slated for 2010 include host to Penn State and a road trip to Duke.

Check out my article where you can find quotes from Coach Saban, Dr. Witt and Mal Moore on the latest of these rulings.

ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting that the Alabama-Virginia Tech game will be on ABC at 7 p.m. CST. It is also likely that ESPN’s College Gameday with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso will be making it’s second consecutive appearance at the Georgia Dome for the second annual Chick-fil-a Kickoff Game.

“When you can match two top-10 teams in the first week, it really does start to look like a BCS-style game to open the season,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO to Chris Low. “We think the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game is the biggest game out there and we’re proud of our partnership with ESPN and that ABC will be broadcasting the game in its prime time slot.”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -Alabama head coach Nick Saban announced Friday that linebacker Prince Hall will transfer to Central Washington.

“Prince Hall has decided to transfer to Central Washington for his senior season,” Saban said. “We wish him the best of luck as he finishes his collegiate career.”

Hall played in 36 games during his Alabama career while making 14 starts at linebacker. He recorded 152 tackles during his three seasons at the Capstone with 13 tackles for loss and three sacks.

“I would like to thank the University of Alabama, Coach Saban and the staff for helping me during my career,” Hall said. “I think it will be a great opportunity to finish my last year of college at Central Washington, and I am looking forward to it.”

Photo: Chicago Sun-Times

These past few days have been a wild ride for the Crimson Tide football team and it is all good news.

Here is a list of the former 2008 Seniors in the NFL draft

first round (6th overall) Andre Smith- Cincinnati Bengals

third round (74th overall) Glen Coffee- San Francisco 49ers

third round (77th overall) Antoine Caldwell- Houston Texans

third round (95th overall) Rashad Johnson- Arizona Cardinals

Free agent deals for 2008 Seniors

John Parker Wilson- Atlanta Falcons

Bobby Greenwood- Kansas City Chiefs

Marlon Davis- Cleveland Browns

Nick Walker- Minnesota Vikings

Travis McCall- Buffalo Bills

Congrats to all the Seniors! 7 of the 9 Seniors on scholarship are on to the NFL.

Also found out that Michigan State has signed a deal with Alabama to play a home-and-home series starting in 2016. “The two schools have never met on the gridiron and the first matchup is scheduled for September 3, 2016 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama will visit Spartan Stadium on September 2, 2017.” Alabama already has a contract with a home-and-home series with Penn State (2010-2011) and Georgia Tech (2013-2014) so things look good on the non-conference schedule.

Alabama also got its 10th verbal commitment Monday and yes… it’s a kicker. But not just any other kicker. Cade Foster, the 6-1 215 pounder from Texas, also played linebacker for his high school and after watching a little video on him, he’s not afraid to lay some hits on kickoff coverage. He also had scholarship offers from Washington and Colorado as well as interest from Florida, LSU and UCLA.

Alabama also picked up Phelon Jones Monday as a transfer from LSU. The 6-foot safety from Mobile will grey-shirt this coming year and will have two years of eligibility left when he joins the team in 2010.

Whew, got all that?

Photo courtesy: BDL

Here are the final stats on A-Day. Article coming soon:

 Team Statistics (Final)
                            The Automated ScoreBook
              Crimson vs White (Apr 18, 2009 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

                                CRIMSON    WHITE

FIRST DOWNS……………….       11       10
  Rushing…………………        1        4
  Passing…………………        8        6
  Penalty…………………        2        0
NET YARDS RUSHING………….        4       37
  Rushing Attempts…………       19       23
  Average Per Rush…………      0.2      1.6
  Rushing Touchdowns……….        0        1
  Yards Gained Rushing……..       38       86
  Yards Lost Rushing……….       34       49
NET YARDS PASSING………….      189      165
  Completions-Attempts-Int….  16-30-2  12-35-2
  Average Per Attempt………      6.3      4.7
  Average Per Completion……     11.8     13.8
  Passing Touchdowns……….        2        0
TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS………..      193      202
  Total offense plays………       49       58
  Average Gain Per Play…….      3.9      3.5
Fumbles: Number-Lost……….      1-0      1-0
Penalties: Number-Yards…….     2-15     3-35
PUNTS-YARDS……………….    7-292    8-289
  Average Yards Per Punt……     41.7     36.1
  Net Yards Per Punt……….     40.1     30.6
  Inside 20……………….        1        1
  50+ Yards……………….        0        0
  Touchbacks………………        0        1
  Fair catch………………        2        3
KICKOFFS-YARDS…………….    3-194    2-135
  Average Yards Per Kickoff…     64.7     67.5
  Net Yards Per Kickoff…….     40.0     40.0
  Touchbacks………………        0        0
Punt returns: Number-Yards-TD.   3-24-0   4-11-0
  Average Per Return……….      8.0      2.8
Kickoff returns: Number-Yds-TD   2-55-0   3-74-0
  Average Per Return……….     27.5     24.7
Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD..   2-10-0   2-26-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD.    0-0-0    0-0-0
Miscellaneous Yards………..        0        0
Possession Time……………    28:13    31:47
  1st Quarter……………..     8:24     6:36
  2nd Quarter……………..     7:11     7:49
  3rd Quarter……………..     4:31    10:29
  4th Quarter……………..     8:07     6:53
Third-Down Conversions……..  5 of 13  4 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions…….   0 of 0   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances…….      1-1      1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards……..     8-49     4-31
PAT Kicks…………………      2-2      1-1
Field Goals……………….      0-1      0-1

Individual Statistics

                                 Individual Statistics (Final)
                                    The Automated ScoreBook
                      Crimson vs White (Apr 18, 2009 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)



Crimson

Rushing         No Gain Loss  Net TD Lg  Avg
——————————————–
Terry Grant     10   28    1   27  0  6  2.7
Demetrius Goode  3    7    0    7  0  3  2.3
Greg McElroy     6    3   33  -30  0  3 -5.0
Totals…       19   38   34    4  0  6  0.2

Passing         Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
——————————————–
Greg McElroy      16-30-2   189  2   52    4
Totals…         16-30-2   189  2   52    4

Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long
———————————–
Julio Jones        4   73    1   52
Mike McCoy         3   53    1   41
Colin Peek         3   32    0   30
Terry Grant        3   19    0   13
Darius Hanks       2   11    0    7
Demetrius Goode    1    1    0    1
Totals…         16  189    2   52

Punting          No.  Yds   Avg Long In20   TB
———————————————-
Alex Watkins       4  160  40.0   44    1    0
Heath Thomas       3  132  44.0   49    0    0
Totals…          7  292  41.7   49    1    0

                  Punts   Kickoffs  Intercept
All Returns     No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
———————————————
Julio Jones      1   8  8  1  30 30  0   0  0
Javier Arenas    2  16 10  1  25 25  0   0  0
Chris Jordan     0   0  0  0   0  0  1   3  3
Mark Barron      0   0  0  0   0  0  1   7  7
Totals…        3  24 10  2  55 30  2  10  7

Field goal attempts
—————————————-
Leigh Tiffin    4th 10:54  55 yds - Missed

Kickoffs         No.  Yds  TB  OB   Avg
—————————————
Leigh Tiffin       3  194   0   0  64.7



White

Rushing         No Gain Loss  Net TD Lg  Avg
——————————————–
Marquis Maze     2   47    0   47  0 33 23.5
Jeramie Griffin 10   31    0   31  0 10  3.1
Ivan Matchett    3    8    0    8  1  5  2.7
Thomas Darrah    3    0   14  -14  0  0 -4.7
Star Jackson     5    0   35  -35  0  0 -7.0
Totals…       23   86   49   37  1 33  1.6

Passing         Cmp-Att-Int Yds TD Long Sack
——————————————–
Thomas Darrah     8-22-0    113  0   28    3
Star Jackson      4-13-2     52  0   38    5
Totals…         12-35-2   165  0   38    8

Receiving        No.  Yds   TD Long
———————————–
Marquis Maze       5   87    0   38
Preston Dial       5   58    0   20
Chris Jackson      1   15    0   15
M. Williams        1    5    0    5
Totals…         12  165    0   38

Punting          No.  Yds   Avg Long In20   TB
———————————————-
Heath Thomas       2   78  39.0   42    1    1
P.J. Fitzgerald    6  211  35.2   42    0    0
Totals…          8  289  36.1   42    1    1

                  Punts   Kickoffs  Intercept
All Returns     No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
———————————————
Marquis Maze     4  11  4  0   0  0  0   0  0
Robby Green      0   0  0  0   0  0  1   0  0
D. Hightower     0   0  0  0   0  0  1  26 26
Rob Ezell        0   0  0  3  74 30  0   0  0
Totals…        4  11  4  3  74 30  2  26 26

Field goal attempts
—————————————-
Leigh Tiffin    3rd 08:24  33 yds - Missed

Kickoffs         No.  Yds  TB  OB   Avg
—————————————
Leigh Tiffin       2  135   0   0  67.5

FUMBLES: Crimson-Greg McElroy 1-0. White-Marquis Maze 1-0.

Defensive Statistics

                                Defensive Statistics (Final)
                                  The Automated ScoreBook
                    Crimson vs White (Apr 18, 2009 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.)

Crimson             
## Player          Solo  Ast  Tot  TFL/Yds  FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH
————————————————————————————–
4  Mark Barron        4    1  4.5     .     .   .    1-7     .    .      .     .
57 Marcell Dareus     2    4  4.0  1.0/6    .   .     .      .    .   1.0/6    .
1B Alonzo Lawrence    3    1  3.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
41 Courtney Upshaw    2    3  3.5  2.0/4    .   .     .      .    .   2.0/4    1
92 Damion Square      3    .  3.0  1.0/6    .   .     .      .    .   1.0/6    .
8A Chris Rogers       2    1  2.5     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .
20 Tyrone King        2    .  2.0  1.0/10   .   .     .      .    .   1.0/10   .
55 Chavis Williams    2    .  2.0  2.0/16   .   .     .      .    .   2.0/16   .
36 Chris Jordan       1    2  2.0     .     .   .    1-3     .    .      .     .
5  Jerrell Harris     1    2  2.0     .     .   .     .      2    .      .     .
9A Alex Watkins       1    1  1.5  1.0/7    .   .     .      .    .   1.0/7    .
47 Rowdy Harrell      1    .  1.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
1  B.J. Scott         1    .  1.0     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .
12 Greg McElroy       1    .  1.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
45 Higgenbotham       .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
26 Ali Sharrief       .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      1    .      .     .
64 Kerry Murphy       .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
42 Jennings Hester    .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
39 Kyle Pennington    .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
96 Luther Davis       .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
99 Josh Chapman       .    1  0.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     1

White               
## Player          Solo  Ast  Tot  TFL/Yds  FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds QH
————————————————————————————–
25 Rolando McClain    5    2  6.0  1.0/8    .   .     .      .    .   1.0/8    2
30 D. Hightower       4    2  5.0  2.0/7    .   .    1-26    .    .   1.0/6    .
13 Cory Reamer        3    .  3.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
3  Kareem Jackson     2    2  3.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
23 Robby Green        2    2  3.0     .     .   .    1-0     .    .      .     .
98 Brandon Fanney     1    4  3.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
32 Eryk Anders        2    1  2.5  2.0/17   .   .     .      .    .   2.0/17   .
62 Terrence Cody      2    .  2.0  1.0/3    .   .     .      .    .      .     .
24 Marquis Johnson    2    .  2.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
28 Javier Arenas      1    1  1.5     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     1
34 Jeramie Griffin    1    .  1.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
85 Preston Dial       1    .  1.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .
27 Justin Woodall     .    2  1.0     .     .   .     .      .    .      .     .

Hello Alabama Football fans and welcome to the first edition of my blog.  I would first like to thank the great people here at Touchdown Alabama for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts on something that we all love, the Alabama Crimson Tide football program.  Before we get started I guess I should tell you a little bit about what to expect from me.  I will be sharing my thoughts about various topics from what I hope is an interesting and unique perspective.  I am a graduate of the University of Alabama, a lifelong Alabama football fan and I am also currently a high school football coach in the state of Alabama.  Well now that we’ve got all of the pleasantries out of the way, let’s get down to business.

I’m sure that all of us are looking forward to the A-day game this Saturday.  For the first time, the ESPN cameras will grace our A-Day spring event and we will probably see another 92,000+ attendance number.   But, one of my friends asked me an interesting question this weekend:  What would make so many people and especially a network like ESPN show up for and televise what is essentially a practice?  This question made me think: why do we care so much about spring football?  We’ve all heard the joke that goes as follows: “In the South, there are two sports; football, and spring football.”  But why do we get so wrapped up in what is only an open practice session. 

I’ve been a part of many spring training football practices as a coach and a player and many more regular football practices and the one thing that I can say is that there were very few moments that were particularly exciting.  Forget about fans being there, I didn’t even want to be there.  Here’s a dirty little secret that some of you who may not have played organized football before may not know… Football players HATE football practice.  All of them. They all hate it.  Especially spring practice.  It’s hot, it’s boring, and unlike in other sports, you get very few opportunities to actually play football during practice.  Spring practice is the worst because it’s just endless drills without actual game preparation.  So if players hate it, why do we love it so much?  Here are some of the thoughts that I came up with:

1.        This is the first opportunity to see next season’s team in action.  For many programs implementing new systems this is particularly exciting because we want to see if the new offense in going to score points or if the new defense is going to be a sieve like the old one was.  But for Alabama fans, we want to see the players.  Who’s the new QB going to be? How is the secondary without Rashad Johnson?  Have they found a receiver to go opposite of Julio Jones? How are they going to rebuild the O-Line?  These are the questions we are looking to be answered in the A-day game.

2.       We want to see young guys stepping up.  Who will be the new fresh face to light up the A-day game?  We want to see the next Terry Grant, who lit up the A-day game a couple of years ago before becoming the Tide’s leading rusher for the season.  (But then was unceremoniously buried on the depth chart last season.)  We want to know if Tyler Love and Jerrell Harris can play.  We want to see how bright the future is going to be.  And the third and most important reason…

3.        Football is Football, is Football.  Let’s face it, this is Ala- freakin’- bama and we don’t need no stinkin’ reason to celebrate football.  If football is being played, we’re watching.  If the Tide is suiting up, we’re there, and if Auburn is playing, we’re booing.  That’s just the way it is.  We love football and we’re not going to apologize to anyone for it.  That’s how it is and if you don’t want to know, don’t ask.  If you don’t like it, who cares?

With that said, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of my blog, enjoy the A-Day festivities, and ROLL TIDE!!!

Whether it was the swirling winds, the absence of  Mark Ingram (hamstring) and Mike Johnson (ankle) or just lack of experience, the Tide offense will certainly like to forget about Friday.

Coach Nick Saban on the performance of the offense:

“We started out very slow offensively, but as things wore on, we did a better job … We need to keep improving, relative to how we throw the ball.”

Quarterback Greg McElroy seems to be distancing himself from the quarterback race going 12-of-26 for 128 yards, two touchdowns and two picks followed by walk-on Thomas Darrah who threw 9-of-18 for 91 yards and a pick.

Saban said of McElroy, “He’s quite a bit ahead of the other guys.”

The praise of the defense, however, couldn’t have been better by Saban. “The guys up front, I think, we’ve really done a good job improving our pass rush … The first defense was very good, except for a play here or there. We have a lot of experience, playing with a lot of confidence.”

ALABAMA FOOTBALL - SCRIMMAGE #2 (April 10, 2009)
*Stats include 11-on-11, situational drills, red area, goalline, 2-minute

PASSING
Greg McElroy - 12 for 26, 128 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Thomas Darrah - 9 for 18, 91 yards, 1 INT
Star Jackson - 5 for 12, 12 yards, 1 TD

RUSHING
Ivan Matchett - 7 rush, 43 yards, 1 TD
Demetrius Goode - 8 rush, 9 yards
Jeramie Griffin - 10 rush, 7 yards
Jermaine Preyear - 2 rush, 5 yards
Terry Grant - 16 rush, 2 yards

RECEIVING
Darius Hanks - 8 rec., 69 yards
Julio Jones - 3 rec., 54 yards, 1 TD
Preston Dial - 3 rec., 25 yards, 1 TD
Brad Smelley - 2 rec., 18 yards
Marquis Maze - 2 rec., 16 yards
Chris Jackson - 2 rec., 8 yards
Mike McCoy - 1 rec., 18 yards, 1 TD

FIELD GOALS
Leigh Tiffin - Made: 52, 24, 29. Missed: 43, 43.
Colin Gallagher - Made: 42.

PUNTS
P.J. Fitzgerald - 10 punts, 369 yards, 36.9-yard average
Heath Thomas - 1 punt, 59 yards, 59.0-yard average

DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Rolando McClain - 8 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks
Marcell Dareus - 5 tackles, 4.0 TFL, 2.5 sacks
Robby Green - 5 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PBU
Dont’a Hightower - 5 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 1.0 sacks
Eryk Anders - 5 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.0 sacks
Javier Arenas - 5 tackles
Tyrone King - 4 tackles, 1 INT (24 TD), 3 PBU
Chris Jordan - 4 tackles, 1.0 TFL, 3 PBU
Lorenzo Washington - 4 tackles, 2.0 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 PBU
Ali Sharrief - 3 tackles, 2 PBU
Justin Woodall - 2 tackles, 1 INT, 3 PBU

SCORING
Touchdowns - 5 (King 24-yard INT return; Jones 13-yard pass from McElroy; McCoy 18-yard pass from McElroy; Dial 3-yard pass from Jackson; Matchett 2 run).

According to an Alabama news release, CBS Sports has announced that the 2009 and 2010 Iron Bowls will be on a Friday starting on Nov. 27 at Auburn and Nov. 26 in 2010 at Tuscaloosa.

To my knowledge, it’s been a long time since the rivalry has been on a Friday. What are some of your opinions?

Oh, and one more thing. A recap of some of the second scrimmage is coming real soon.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - CBS Sports has announced that it will televise the 2009 and 2010 Alabama-Auburn football games nationwide. Games in both years will be moving to Friday on the last weekend of the Southeastern Conference’s regular season schedule.

The 2009 game will be played on Friday, November 27, at 1:30 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn. The 2010 game will be played on Friday, Nov. 26, (Time TBA) at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.