re: Spring Practice News/Discussion Thread

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Two days before the national championship loss against Clemson in January, Josh Frazier was eagerly anticipating the end of the season. The Crimson Tide was about to play its 15th game after spending more than four months upholding its No. 1 ranking.

Frazier could have been forgiven for feeling exhausted and emotionally drained. But that's not the reason he was ready to get to the finish line.

"Next year is going to be my time and I can't wait," the rising senior defensive tackle from Arkansas said. "It's going to be an amazing thing when I get on the field."

Almost three years ago, Frazier arrived at Alabama as a four-star recruit and the 85th-best player in the nation, according to 247Sports. Yet he still hasn't started a game in college. Frazier's experience is not unique at the Capstone, where Nick Saban has crammed his roster full of blue-chip prospects and created a waiting line for playing time. It's part of his ongoing effort to create internal competition that helps give Alabama the edge on Saturdays in the fall.

The operative "P" word used in this program is process, and it has become a slogan known well beyond these parts. But another one that captures the essence of Saban's machine is patience.

Players who were the stars of the their high school teams and coveted by universities across the land have had to accept the sobering realization that they could remain pinned to the sideline for a while before they get the opportunity to shine. 

"All it does is build character," said Rashaan Evans. "You become unselfish. You become more about the team and when you have that type of mindset your individual success is going to come anyway when you are thinking about the team. Those things I have learned here overall under Coach Saban, I feel like those are the most important things you can take here and to the next level." 

Once rated the best outside linebacker in the nation, Evans has played in a reserve role for most of his career with the Tide. During the week of the SEC championship game in November, he wrote this message on his Twitter account: "It's been fun Bama."

The cyber dispatch created a rush of speculation that the linebacker was transferring, which seemed a reasonable inference given his limited role and the lofty status he held when he enrolled at Alabama back in 2014. But Evans quickly put the kibosh on that assumption and then started the Tide's two playoff games after replacing the injured Shaun Dion Hamilton. 

Now, he's considered one of the senior members of the defense.

"I'm looking to lead this team now this season," Evans said.

Da'Shawn Hand is simply hoping to make an impact. Last season, 15 defensive teammates were on the field for more snaps than the 6-foot-4, 282-pound rising senior -- a pretty remarkable fact when considering that Hand was the fifth-best recruit in the entire nation back in 2014 and the top prospect in all of talent-rich Virginia.

"I've been waiting. I've been working. So, I'm just ready to showcase," he said. 

In previous years, Hand was identified as a player on the verge of a breakout season. Hype would build about Hand. His name would appear in headlines. And then he would fade into the background, where he watched as others -- namely Jarran Reed, Jonathan Allen and Dalvin Tomlinson -- grabbed the starring roles.

He called the experience "humbling."

It's why Hand is determined to make the most of his final year of eligibility.

That became evident when a reporter asked him Thursday to describe his level of motivation.

"How hungry am I?" he said, a smile spreading across his face.  "Whoo. Whooooo. To be honest, man, I don't even know how to answer that question. That's how hungry I am. It's immeasurable, for real."

Hand is not alone in feeling that way. Frazier's excitement was palpable in Tampa.

"It's been a long three years," he said. "It happens faster for others. It just didn't happen for me when I first got here. I told myself I want to be freshman-ready, and I kind of was to a certain extent. But next year is going to be my year and I can't wait for it."

He won't have to for much longer. The season kicks off in exactly 155 days.

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Would love to see him catching swing passes out of the backfield

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