re: Bama Football Tidings

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Before speaking to reporters as part of Media Day and taking part in his second practice of preseason camp, Shyheim Carter crossed a major milestone off his college checklist.

Carter walked across the stage at Coleman Coliseum and earned his degree from the University of Alabama on Saturday morning, an event that had him smiling hours after the commencement ceremony.

“It sounds amazing. It feels even better,” Carter told senior analyst Travis Reier on the Built by BamaOnLine podcast. “Walking across that stage today, it made my day, it made my parents’ day.

“It was just a great day all around.”

Not only has Carter excelled in the classroom, but the senior defensive back is also a student of the game of football. Entering his final season in a crimson uniform, the Kentwood, La., native has played every position in the Crimson Tide’s secondary, thus making him one of Alabama’s most experienced players. That experience at cornerback, Star, Money and now safety makes him a valuable member of UA’s 2019 defense, and according to Nick Saban, one of its most knowledgable.

“I think Shyheim Carter would fit in probably one of the top two or three players on the team from a knowledge standpoint,” Saban said Saturday. “He can answer every question in a meeting about every position. He would be a great, great coach. I think that’s what creates a lot of diversity for him as a player, to be able to play multiple positions because he’s very smart and it means something to him. He’s spent a lot of time trying to learn this stuff. He prepares well for the games.

“I can’t say that one position is more natural for him than the other because he’s always done a pretty good job wherever we’ve decided to put him in.”

In the spring, safety Xavier McKinney said, “Shy is a smart dude. You could put Shy anywhere, and he’ll get it like that. Since I’ve got here, he’s known the defense all the way around like the back of his hand. For him, he picks up on stuff pretty fast. You don’t really have to tell him a whole bunch of stuff. He’s pretty much a fast learner. He knows the defense like the back of his hand.”

Just like graduating on Saturday, Carter said he always wanted to master the secondary positions.

“That was one of my goals coming into college, learning what everybody does,” Carter said. “Once I got my position down to where I know what to do and know how to do it and why to do it, I started moving around to different positions, trying to master those positions, and that really helped me a lot.”

Carter stepped in as Alabama’s full-time Star, or nickel defensive back, last season after Minkah Fitzpatrick left for the NFL. As a junior in 2018, Carter finished 10th on the team with 44 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, and registered three quarterback hurries and one forced fumble. He also intercepted two passes, returning them both for touchdowns, and recorded 10 pass breakups.

Carter was limited by a sports hernia injury in the spring but said he is now full-go from a health standpoint. Entering his senior year, Carter can play both Star and safety, where he has practiced all of 2019, as well as will take on more of a leadership role with Deionte Thompson turning pro.

During Alabama’s open practice on Saturday, he played safety with the first-team defense in nickel and dime and then lined up at Star with the second-team defense. Where he sees himself lining up Aug. 31 against Duke in Atlanta remains to be seen, although he will certainly be on the field. But Carter said he can transition “pretty seamlessly” to any given spot in the defensive backfield.

“There’s no focus on one spot,” Carter said. “I may have to be everywhere. But Coach Saban makes those decisions, and whatever decision he makes, I’m good everywhere.”

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