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When linebacker Jimmy Johns was kicked off the team after being charged with drug-related felonies, it was the latest in a string of arrests of Alabama football players. Most were for minor disturbances, but Johns and defensive tackle Jeremy Elder were shown the door after more serious charges.
Nick Saban, going into his second season as Alabama’s coach, said Thursday at the Southeastern Conference Media Days that he has not changed nor questioned his approach to discipline.
“Unfortunately for you all, we have about 25 or 30 guys that are doing extremely well in the program, have improved dramatically as students, have made a lot of personal choices that have enhanced their chances of being successful in the future, have improved as football players,” Saban told reporters. “And I think their chances of being successful in life have improved dramatically.
“You know, philosophically, we are there to help players. You know, we're going to take every player and try to get him to reach his full potential. And everybody has a responsibility and an obligation for their own self-determination, but we're there to support and help those players to do that. That's our philosophy. I'm not gonna clean house and get rid of everybody just because they might be a problem.”But, Saban acknowledged, some problems are bigger than others. “When players don't do the right things and make poor judgments, then they cannot be a part of the program,” Saban said. “… There’s no change. We just need to do what we do better.”
Nutt at home in Oxford
Houston Nutt spent 10 seasons declaring, sometimes tearfully, his undying love for the University of Arkansas. He should love it even more now. He got A $3.5 million golden parachute to leave and promptly signed a contract with Ole Miss that pays him more than $2 million a year.
Good work if you can get it.
Nutt inherited a team that had talent but couldn’t win under zany Ed Orgeron. The Rebels were 0-8 in the SEC last season. Nutt was brought to change that. And now it’s Ole Miss and the town of Oxford for which he declares his love and devotion.
“I tell you, from the moment Diana and I and Haven, we walked in the Ford Theater in Oxford, Mississippi, I really thought the press conference was going to be basically a room full of just press, print media,” Nutt said. “But to walk in the Ford Theater and have 1500 people, then later find out that 500, 600 people were turned away, I can't tell you how we felt that day. That was a day full of goosebumps, just re-energized us from that moment forward.”
‘Stacked’ team at Alabama?
Not a lot of people look at the 2008 Alabama team as a serious championship contender. But they haven’t talked to center Antoine Caldwell, who passed up an opportunity to leave early for the NFL. "I feel like we were going to have a really good season, and there were relationships that I was going to miss,” Caldwell said.” I'm really big on not regretting anything. If I was in NFL training camp right now, I'd be thinking, ‘Shoot, Alabama is stacked this year and going to win the SEC championship and I'm going to miss it.’”
It’s where you finish that counts
Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer knows his team will probably be picked Friday to finish third in the East. He doesn’t care. There are no trophies for winning the vote of reporters in the summer. Plus, those reporters have only been right two of the past 13 years. “I mean, we were picked third in ’98 when we won the national championship,” Fulmer said. “I just think it's a reflection of how good this league is. It hasn't changed since I came into it or the divisional play started. It's always been Georgia or Florida or us. Now you add Coach Spurrier, what he's done at South Carolina to that equation, what Coach (Rich) Brooks has done at Kentucky, and Bobby (Johnson) has done at Vanderbilt. The first goal has to be to win the division, and then you worry about winning the SEC championship.”
Some good lines
Ole Miss offensive tackle Michael Oher had two of the better lines of the day Thursday.
On “The Blind Side,” a book written by Michael Lewis that examines Oher’s story and the evolution of the left tackle position: “I haven’t read it. I lived it.”
On whether he hung out with any Playmates during the Playboy All-America photo shoot: “Let’s keep this about football.”
