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re: Spring Football News & Info
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:48 am to RollTide66
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:48 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Tua Tagovailoa ready to lead Bama past its winter of discontent Alex Scarborough ESPN Staff Writer ...Continued...
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In title games -- the College Football Playoff National Championship and the SEC championship, in particular -- Tagovailoa struggled. There's no other way to put it; after averaging a 96.1 QB rating during the regular season, he failed to break the 60-point mark in either game.
There was the matter of his health, of course. Against Georgia in the SEC championship, he injured his ankle and completed just 10 of 25 passes for 164 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. If it weren't for Hurts coming off the bench and leading the come-from-behind victory, Alabama might have been shut out of the playoff.
But Tagovailoa's underwhelming performance against Clemson is harder to make sense of. He had a month to recuperate and in the semifinal game against Oklahoma he appeared to be fine. But a week later, on the game's biggest stage against Alabama's playoff rival Clemson, he started out with a pick-six and never fully recovered. He wound up throwing for 295 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the 44-16 loss, which was the largest defeat of coach Nick Saban's career at Alabama.
When asked whether he had a chance to reflect on his wild ride last season, Tagovailoa said he couldn't because "a lot of the bad still stands there."
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 1:55 am
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Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:49 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Tua Tagovailoa ready to lead Bama past its winter of discontent Alex Scarborough ESPN Staff Writer ...Continued...
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"The biggest takeaway for me from last year would be the things I didn't correct throughout the little games, throughout the games where we played teams that weren't up to our competition, you know," he said. "We kind of made a lot of mistakes and we could get away with it. It ended up catching up to us and I think that's something big that we can all take from it as a team."
Put another way: "We have to do things a lot different than we did last year."
In Saban parlance, that means reestablishing what the 67-year-old coach calls the "Alabama factor." If you haven't heard that phrase repeated or seen it tagged on social media, give it time because it's picking up steam. What it means is hard to pin down -- responsibility, accountability and avoiding distractions are a few things Saban singled out -- but clearly it's a nod to the intangibles that he felt were missing last season.
And it's not just players who are being held accountable. This offseason, Saban cleaned house on his coaching staff, adding seven new assistants, including both coordinators. He brought back Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator two years after he was on staff at Alabama during the 2016 season, first as an analyst and then as OC for one game after Lane Kiffin left for FAU.
Saban, who rarely has his hiring practices second-guessed, received criticism after bringing back Sarkisian. Many fans still haven't forgiven the way Sarkisian called plays in the loss to Clemson in the 2016 national title game, nor were they impressed with his two seasons in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons. Saban defended the decision, saying the program was "really fortunate to get a guy that was offered the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator job to come to Alabama."
Regardless of how you grade the hire, one person stands to benefit most from the addition of Sarkisian: Tagovailoa.
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 1:58 am
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:49 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Tua Tagovailoa ready to lead Bama past its winter of discontent Alex Scarborough ESPN Staff Writer ...Continued...
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There was nothing Saban could do about losing former OC Mike Locksley to Maryland, but bringing in Sarkisian at least made the transition easy for his quarterback, who already had a relationship with the coach going back several years. USC was Tagovailoa's dream school growing up and it was Sarkisian, as head coach at USC, who recruited him early on and offered him a scholarship. Tagovailoa called him a "people person" who "makes it a very easy learning environment."
What's more, Sarkisian is going to challenge Tagovailoa to expand his game. Whereas last season's offense leaned heavily on the run-pass option, Sarkisian will ask Tagovailoa to do more full-field progression reads. Rather than reading and reacting, Tagovailoa will need to scan the entire field to find the open man.
And if Tagovailoa is being critical of his play last season -- and it's clear he has no problem doing that -- it's that his eyes moved too fast at times. He'd get through his progressions so quickly that he'd miss things. Keeping his eyes in tune with his feet, he said, is one of the biggest things he'd like to improve upon this offseason.
(The good news: When he scans the field, he'll see that Henry Ruggs III, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Biletnikoff Award winner Jerry Jeudy are all back at receiver.)
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 2:02 am
Posted on 4/10/19 at 2:00 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Tua Tagovailoa ready to lead Bama past its winter of discontent Alex Scarborough ESPN Staff Writer ...Continued...
quote:
But the area in which Alabama might need Tagovailoa to develop most is leadership. He acknowledged it himself: Hurts is gone. So are veterans Damien Harris and Ross Pierschbacher. This is a new team. This is his team and he can't simply lead by example anymore.
If the message he has delivered this spring is any indication, he's on board. The way he spoke about fighting for his job sounded eerily similar to Saban through the years. The same goes for how he has focused on what he needs to do better, rather than what he did so well.
The so-called "Alabama factor" is Saban and his belief that no job is safe and nothing is perfect. And if that idea had fallen by the wayside, then the loss to Clemson was the ultimate wake-up call.
For Tagovailoa & Co., there is no victory lap, no time to reflect. There's only the work ahead and the climb back to the mountaintop.
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 2:03 am
Posted on 4/10/19 at 4:19 am to RollTide66
Football Enters Final Week of Spring Practice
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama football team wrapped up its 13th of 14 spring practice sessions on Tuesday afternoon with a two-hour session in full pads on the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields.
Alabama will return to the practice field Thursday, April 11, to make its final preparations before spring drills conclude with the annual Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with Tom Hart and Todd Blackledge working from the booth while Laura Rutledge calls the game from field level.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaFTBL on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaFBL on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 6:30 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Time To Look Ahead To Football National Championship BamaOnLine - By Kirk McNair
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Now that basketball season is over and considering the big news of the impending Alabama vs. Oklahoma home-and-home series for 2032 in Norman and 2033 in Tuscaloosa (when Nick Saban will be in his 80s), let predictions of the final four of football begin.
It’s not THE Final Four, of course. That’s a zealously kept NCAA trademark. We’re talking College Football Playoff (CFP).
The last scrap of confetti had hardly floated to the turf in Santa Clara, Ca., late on the night of Jan. 7 when the predictions began for the preseason 2019 college football season. Not satisfied to pick just a likely preseason poll, some have also predetermined which of the 40 or so bowls every team will appear in at the end of the upcoming season.
That, of course, includes the four teams that make it to the CFP – the semifinal games in the Peach and Fiesta bowls on Dec. 28 and the national championship game in New Orleans on Jan. 13
Conventional wisdom is that the Pac-12 won’t make it, that Clemson has a cakewalk from the ACC, Oklahoma is clearly the class of the Big 12, and only a fool would fail to include Alabama from the SEC.
That leaves one spot.
Ohio State would be the logical choice from the Big Ten had Urban’s health held up, but even so the Buckeyes are not a bad guess.
Even if it’s not those four, think about how unlikely it is that all or most of the very best teams in football would be shut out of the CFP, as was the case with basketball in this year’s Final Four.
As almost everyone can remember, last year’s CFP field was No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Notre Dame, and No. 4 Oklahoma. It was probably bad luck for Bama to be No. 1 and have to play the Sooners and Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray while Clemson was able to cruise to victory over the way overrated Fighting Irish. That is not to take anything away from Clemson, but the Tide oh-so-much would have loved to have played Notre Dame in the CFP semifinals.
The CFP does not take the NIT approach in its pairings. The NIT makes its bracket with an eye to selling tickets (or gaining television eyes). For instance, in 1993 Alabama’s 16-13 team was paired against UAB. Even this year, the plan was that the second round matchup in Tuscaloosa would be Alabama against Dayton, headed by former Tide Coach Anthony Grant. Coach Avery Johnson’s Tide scuttled that pairing by losing to Norfolk State.
Think about a CFP at the end of the 2019 season that had Clemson No. 1, Alabama No. 2, Ohio State No. 3, and Oklahoma No. 4, with Alabama and Oklahoma advancing.
Who wouldn’t be intrigued by Tua vs. Jalen. That’s right, a CFP championship game of Alabama with Tua Tagovailoa vs. Oklahoma with former Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts. Those guys could already have been in competition (along with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence) for the Heisman Trophy.
Do you think television would make much of that?
And in this Alabama-Oklahoma game, Nick Saban would be only 68 years old.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 9:14 am to RollTide66
WJOX - 715 on Friday Saban will talk abt ADay game
Posted on 4/10/19 at 10:11 am to RollTide66
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How many of you are going to the A-Day Game this weekend? just wondering.
Doing the same as last year. Leaving out Friday. Going to Mississippi Braves game. Stay in Meridian. Drive in Saturday morning. Watch game. Eat with team. Drive home.
Preemptive, No...I won’t tell you what Tua eats.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 11:39 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Formerly-injured Trevon Diggs feels 'back to my normal self - BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Trevon Diggs’ 2018 season was cut short by injury.
But Alabama’s rising senior cornerback is 100-percent healthy this spring.
“It felt good,” said Diggs of returning to practice at the beginning of the spring. “I wasn’t on the field for like six months. When I got back out there, I was kind of rusty, kind of timid. But once I started going, it started to ease up. It’s good to be back. It was a humbling experience.”
Diggs stepped into a permanent starting role at corner in 2018 after a brief stint with the ones to open the 2017 season. But his season ended early when he suffered a foot injury at Arkansas that kept him on the sideline for the next nine games. Diggs returned to full health just before the start of spring ball after he “planted wrong and had something break in my foot” in October.
Prior to that setback, though, the Gaithersburg, Md., was putting together a breakout season in the Crimson Tide’s secondary. Diggs was tied for fourth in the SEC in passes defended at seven before his injury. He had broken up a team-high six passes while picking off his first career pass against Louisiana-Lafayette while adding 20 tackles and one forced fumble through six starts.
The rest of Alabama’s nine contests, Diggs “got to learn a different aspect.”
“I got to see how to coach and to help other people and help myself, as well,” Diggs said. “There are more aspects to the game than just playing and doing it. You can learn different ways and I learned you couldn’t take anything for granted. Make the most of every opportunity you get.
Meet the trendiest smartwatch that everyone keeps raving about.
“You can’t take it for granted.”
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 11:46 am
Posted on 4/10/19 at 11:44 am to RollTide66
LINK ]Formerly-injured Trevon Diggs feels 'back to my normal self - BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter...Continued...
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Diggs will return to the starting lineup this fall -- his last in a crimson uniform. But this spring, he and fellow corner Patrick Surtain II have spent some time at Star with Shyheim Carter limited. The springtime, after all, is a perfect time for experimenting. “I want to learn Star more and have as much versatility as I can in all positions,” Diggs said. “If I could learn safety, I would, too.”
Spending some practice time playing closer to the action in the slot, Diggs is adapting to making calls and adjustments and flipping from one side of the formation more than when on the boundary.
He is leaning on Carter and using what he learned from Minkah Fitzpatrick as a freshman, not only as he continues to explore a new position but to be an example for UA’s younger defensive backs.
“Basically, the leadership aspect of it,” Diggs said. “I like how the younger guys asked me questions and stuff like that. They can follow me, so it’s like when I was in their position. I was asking (Fitzpatrick) the questions and he was trying to make me better. So, it just feels like I’m getting old.”
Diggs will be one of the veterans and leaders of the Crimson Tide defense for the 2019 season. He’s coming off a promising junior campaign that was cut short in early October, but he has a solid foundation started from last year and is building on that this spring. After having to watch Alabama end the season without him, Diggs is ecstatic to be back. And so are his teammates.
“It’s great to see Trevon Diggs back out here,” said defensive lineman Raekwon Davis.
Diggs said he was a bit timid when he returned to the practice field for the first time on March 8.
“But now, I just feel back to my normal self.”
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:07 pm to RollTide66
LINK ]'A whole different' Eyabi Anoma gearing up for impact season - BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama linebacker Eyabi Anoma made headlines when he entered and then quickly exited the NCAA transfer portal in February. But this spring, the rising sophomore is making plays and competing for a larger role in the Crimson Tide’s spring practices.
“He’s been making a big step lately,” said Alabama senior defensive lineman Raekwon Davis on Tuesday. “He’s been helping this team the best he can. He’s a whole different Eyabi. ... He’s starting to buy in more. Just to hear his voice, he’s starting to lead more.”
Head coach Nick Saban and Anoma “had a good meeting” when the former 5-star recruit chose to enter his name in the transfer portal. The 13th-year head coach admitted Alabama could have used the Baltimore, Md., native “a little bit more” in pass-rushing situations last year, especially with Terrell Lewis and Christopher Allen sidelined by knee injuries for the entire 2018 season.
“I think the’s going to develop into a fine player,” Saban said at the time.
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 1:14 pm
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:07 pm to RollTide66
LINK ]'A whole different' Eyabi Anoma gearing up for impact season - BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter...Continued...
quote:
This spring, Lewis is also limited as he continues to recover from an ACL injury, so the younger of two Maryland-D.C. area linebackers is getting more reps and impressing when he steps on the field. In the Tide’s pair of closed scrimmages, Anoma has been a regular in the backfield.
“He’s doing a good job,” Saban said earlier this spring. “He’s working hard. He’s learning a lot. I think he’s responding very well to Sal (Sunseri) with Sal coaching him. He’s doing much better in school. Being responsible and trying to do the right things and respond to people the right way. He’s certainly making a very positive contribution to the defense. I certainly think that’s our expectation for him, and if he continues this way, I’m sure he’s going to make a huge impact.”
Appearing in 12 games last season, Anoma registered nine tackles, including two for a loss, while adding one quarterback hurry as a reserve at outside linebacker. The 6-foot-5, 252-pound edge rusher also earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors from the conference’s coaches.
Anoma was a coveted 5-star recruit during the 2018 recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was considered the No. 1 weak-side defensive end and player in the state of Maryland and the No. 4 overall prospect in the nation out of St. Frances Academy.
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 1:18 pm
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:08 pm to RollTide66
LINK ]'A whole different' Eyabi Anoma gearing up for impact season - BamaOnLine - By Charlie Potter...Continued...
quote:
Anoma missed one of Alabama’s College Football Playoff practices in December for “a personal day, I guess, to sort some things out,” Saban said at the time. He returned to practice the next day.
But with the indecision presumably behind him, Anoma is making the most of his opportunity.
“Anfernee Jennings is a name that everybody always knows. He always does a real good job off the edge. A great pass rusher, great run stopper,” said junior offensive tackle Jedrick Wills in an appearance on 3 Man Front. “As well as Eyabi, that a lot of people are starting to hear about who’s stepped up this year a lot. Real great speed off the edge, great first step, real quick twitch.
“He’ll also be a big factor for us this year.”
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 1:19 pm
Posted on 4/10/19 at 1:38 pm to RollTide66
Anoma is going to get minutes. The two ahead of him look gimpy.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 4:59 pm to Tide or Die87
how many of y'all on the tide pride waiting list, got notified of a $25 fee to stay on the waiting list?
?????
?????
Posted on 4/10/19 at 5:31 pm to Tide or Die87
For a kid who has not really played football, he showed his talent last year, not so much his understanding of the game; but no doubting the talent. If Coach Sal can get him understanding his role and not just see ball, get ball, I think he will be a great rotational player this next season. If the "gimply's" aren't able to hold their serve, he should be able to learn much better with lots more PT.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 5:54 pm to RollTide66
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For a kid who has not really played football, he showed his talent last year, not so much his understanding of the game; but no doubting the talent. If Coach Sal can get him understanding his role and not just see ball, get ball, I think he will be a great rotational player this next season. If the "gimply's" aren't able to hold their serve, he should be able to learn much better with lots more PT.
At minimum he should be good enough to put out there in Rabbits.
This post was edited on 4/10/19 at 5:55 pm
Posted on 4/10/19 at 7:46 pm to Tider95
Kind of like Tim Williams. I would just hope he will see the wisdom in staying for 4 years to gain football experience. BUT, the magic of the money will probably be hard to turn away from when he finishes his 3rd year. Don't know his family life and what the pressures might be; but the league's desire for QB's and people who rush QB's may get him off campus early. With Sal's guidance, I can really see him being in the opposing team's backfield on a regular basis.
Posted on 4/10/19 at 8:02 pm to RollTide66
Why would he stay if he is good enough to leave?
Posted on 4/10/19 at 8:43 pm to Tide or Die87
I think coach Sal gonna make a huge difference this year.
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