Tide Gets In Practice No. 4 Yesterday
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2,600 In Attendance For Fan Day
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| And the line stretched on... Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Signs Autographs Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt |
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team spent approximately two hours practicing inside Bryant-Denny Stadium yesterday. Approximately 2,600 fans watched during annual Fan Day, and then lined up to collect autographs from as many players and coaches as possible during the 45-minute autograph session.
The Tide worked out in shells during the heat of the day, focusing on the basics of offense, defense and special teams. Four practices down, 24 to go before the season begins. The Crimson Tide will kickoff the season on Saturday, September 3rd in Arlington, Texas at the AdvoCare Classic against the Trojans of Southern Cal. Game time is 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ABC.
Four Alabama quarterbacks vying for the starting position this fall took all the snaps. Marq Burnett of SEC Country said this is the order in which the four took the snaps:
- Cooper Bateman, junior
- Blake Burnett, redshirt freshman
- Jalen Hurts, freshman
- David Cornwell, redshirt sophomore
Some of the players answered questions yesterday as a matter of courtesy. Naturally they had the permission of their head coach.
Tight end O.J. Howard, when asked about leadership, said, "Leadership is a big thing that we have to develop this year. We have built leadership so far in just these first few days. Even in the summer when the coaches can't be out there with us we were developing some roles. The leaders are just taking over in fall camp right now."
When asked about leadership on the offensive side of the ball, Howard commented, "I'd say myself, Cooper Bateman, Brandon Greene...some of the older guys like us that have been here for awhile and know the system pretty well. That's just a few guys I named, and of course we have a lot on the defense as well."
When asked about the team's "energy", Howard said, "You know, Coach (Saban) tells us every day to come out and be better each day, and play each rep hard. I that that everyone has noticed that, and everybody has picked up on the intensity and little bit."
Chatting a little, wide receiver Calvin Ridley was asked about whether he has a personal drive this season to set more records. He commented, "Yeah, I want to do that, but I am going to take it game by game and be the team player that I am. I just need to work hard and hopefully it comes around again."
When asked about what he might want to work on this season, Ridley answered, "I'm looking forward to improving my blocking and also running every route at full speed."
Center Ross Pierschbacher, when asked about moving from left guard to center, said, "It has been good. It was a huge help just playing next to a guy like Ryan Kelly last year, and really picking his brain to see how he played the game at the center position. I went into the summer and took in all the coaching that I could, and I was really building the cohesiveness with the guys playing next to me...so it's been good."
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| Fans Line Up For Autographs From Players Photo Credit: Montgomery Advertiser |
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| Alabama Defensive Coaches Sign Autographs Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt |
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| Alabama Football Open Practice Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
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Saban Speaks At Annual Alabama Football Media Day
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Alabama Tops Rivals 2017 Recruiting Class
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*State of Alabama Recruits/Commitments
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Saban Speaks At Annual Alabama Football Media Day
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| Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban addressed the media yesterday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama during the university's annual Football Media Day. Saban discussed several topics of interest to the Alabama football family.
Saban said that the team has shown improvement in each of its first three practices so far at the beginning of fall camp. He did say, however, that there are a lot of questions yet to be answered about this team. Such as its identity and how will individual players assume new roles. Though he likes the mental strength of this team, he says there are still a lot of questions to answer.
Internal questions remain, according to Saban. Once again the team is looking for a new starting quarterback. It's been awhile since the team went into the season with an established quarterback, one who had to hold off new guys fighting for the job instead of having a group of non-seasoned prospective starters. He also mentioned that the running back position this season is in a state of flux, with the top two backs having departed last season. He also mentioned a significant loss of talent on the defensive side of the ball.
Addressing Alabama's preseason No. 1 national ranking, Saban said the rankings don't matter, especially at this point. He believes the first rankings shouldn't even be released until the fifth or sixth week of the season.
Concerning the Maurice Smith transfer issue, Saban again said that the transfer rules were made by the university presidents and that he continues to support the rules made by the Southeastern Conference. He did state that neither he nor Alabama runs the conference.
He touched on an injury during practice. Saban said that running back Derrick Gore had a sprained knee and would be out for a few weeks.
Saban again touched on the quarterback situation, saying that they hoped to have answers at the position before the end of August practice since they have two scrimmages to help prove the four candidates.
He said that depth at wide receiver this season wouldn't be a problem this season as it was last year. Saban says having at least six at the position this year will be huge for the team if they want to run fast-paced offences.
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Alabama Tops Rivals 2017 Recruiting Class
With 21 total commitments for the class of 2017, the Alabama Crimson Tide has the No. 1 recruiting class at this point in the process according to Rivals.com. Alabama's class consists of 2 five-stars, 14 four-stars , 4 three-stars and one other for a 3.81 average rating per player for a total of 2609 recruiting points. Ohio State is next with 2312 points.
Nine Southeastern Conference schools rate in the Rivals.com top 25 in recruiting for 2017. They are Alabama (1), LSU (3), Georgia (6), Tennessee (8), Texas A&M (9), Mississippi State (14), Florida (15), South Carolina (16) and Auburn (19).
| Rank | School | Total | 5 Stars | 4 Stars | 3 Stars | Avg | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| 21 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 3.81 | 2609 | |
| 2 |
| 16 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2312 | |
| 3 |
| 18 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 3.56 | 1933 | |
| 4 |
| 16 | 0 | 11 | 4 | 3.63 | 1863 | |
| 5 |
| 18 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 3.5 | 1840 | |
| 6 |
| 14 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 3.79 | 1833 | |
| 7 |
| 17 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 3.53 | 1827 | |
| 8 |
| 23 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 3.17 | 1750 | |
| 9 |
| 18 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 3.33 | 1706 | |
| 10 |
| 18 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 3.22 | 1648 | |
| 11 |
| 25 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 3 | 1603 | |
| 12 |
| 12 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3.75 | 1539 | |
| 13 |
| 12 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 3.75 | 1514 | |
| 14 |
| 22 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 3.09 | 1501 | |
| 15 |
| 14 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 3.57 | 1460 | |
| 16 |
| 19 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 3.16 | 1455 | |
| 17 |
| 15 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 3.13 | 1408 | |
| 18 |
| 13 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3.54 | 1397 | |
| 19 |
| 12 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3.58 | 1396 | |
| 20 |
| 20 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 2.95 | 1393 | |
| 21 |
| 15 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 3.2 | 1334 | |
| 22 |
| 15 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 3.2 | 1318 | |
| 23 |
| 14 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 3.43 | 1295 | |
| 24 |
| 19 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 2.89 | 1290 | |
| 24 |
| 18 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 1290 | |
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2017 Football Commitments For Alabama Football
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team currently has 21 student-athletes who have committed to furthering their football careers at the Capstone. As new commits are announced the list will be updated and released.
Here is the complete list of 2017 commitments to UA as of 8/08/16:
- Najee Harris, RB (6-1, 210), Antioch, California
- Alex Leatherwood, OL (6-4, 300), Pensacola, Florida
- Chadarius Townsend, ATH, (6-0, 180), Tanner, Alabama*
- Brian Robinson, RB (6-2, 210), Tuscaloosa, Alabama*
- Aaron Sterling, DL (6-1, 270), Stone Mountain, Georgia
- Gary Johnson, LB (6-2, 225), Dodge City (Kan.) Community College
- VanDarius Cowan, LB (6-4, 217), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
- Tua Tagovailoa, QB (6-1, 210), Honolulu, Hawaii
- Elliot Baker, OL (6-7, 295), City College of San Francisco (California)
- Mac Jones, QB (6-2, 185), Jacksonville, Flaorida
- Markail Benton, LB (6-2, 245), Phenix City, Alabama*
- Brandon Ruiz, K (5-10, 165), Gilbert, Arizona
- Tyrell Davis, LB ( 6-6, 202), Lewisville, Texas
- Thomas Fletcher, C (6-2, 220), Bradenton, Florida
- Akial Byers, DL, (6-4, 275), Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Jhavonte Dean, (6-2, 189), Homestead, Florida
- Brannon Hunter, (6-4, 290), Cullman, Alabama*
- Jerry Jeudy, ( 6-1, 177), Deerfield Beach, Florida
- Kyriq McDonald, DB (5-11, 185), Madison, Alabama*
- Kendall Randolph, OL (6-5, 290), Madison, Alabama*
- Kedrick James, TE (6-5, 250), Waco, Texas
*State of Alabama Recruits/Commitments
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Famous Celebrity Birthdays
Birthdays for Monday, August 8, 2016:
Roger Federer, 34
Ragan Smith, 15
Anthony Rizzo, 26
Chris Eubank, 49
Sable, 48
Hannah Miley, 26
Shawn Mendes, 17
Aubrey K. Miller, 14
Meagan Goode, 34
Ronan Parke, 17
Jen Selter, 22
Dustin Hoffman, 78
Peyton List, 29
Countess Vaughn, 37
Ken Baumann, 26
Katie Leung, 28
Jackie Cruz, 29
