Alabama Football Begins Prep For Washington
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| UA Photo |
It's time.
The University of Alabama football team has returned to the practice field. The Crimson Tide worked out for nearly two hours yesterday afternoon getting ready for the College Football Playoff semifinal game against the Washington Huskies. Bama worked out in shells inside the Hank Crisp Indoor Practice Facility for their first workout session.
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey was practicing and continues to show improvement from his hamstring injury. Tony Brown did not practice due to a muscle pull, according to Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. Defensive lineman Dakota Ball also didn't participate yesterday due to an injury from a hunting accident, also per Saban.
Backup offensive lineman Josh Casher was working out on an exercise bike, as was freshman running back B.J. Emmons. Casher broke his foot in the SEC championship game. Emmons was wearing a boot over his left foot.
Backup quarterbacks and David Cornwell and Cooper Bateman were both at practice. The two are slated to remain with the team through the playoffs and then transfer out.
Saban and the Crimson Tide plan a total of seven practices before Christmas, and 11 total leading up to the semifinal game with Washington in the Chic-fil-A Peach Bowl to be held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Saturday, December 31st. The game will air live on ESPN, with a 2 p.m. CT start time. Joe Tessitore, Todd Blackledge and Holly Rowe will be handling the call.
The Pac-12 champion The Washington Huskies will enter the College Football Playoff Semifinal as the Pac-12 champion and with a 12-1 overall record. They also boast an 8-1 mark in conference play. Washington defeated No. 8 Colorado 41-10 in the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 2nd to earn its berth in the playoff. The Huskies are led by head coach Chris Peterson, who has a 27-13 record in his third season with the program. His overall record after an 11-year career is 119-25 at Boise State and Washington.
This will be the fifth meeting between the Crimson Tide and Huskies, with the Crimson Tide coming out on top in each of the previous contests. The most recent meeting was in the 1986 Sun Bowl where the Tide came away with a 28-6 victory.
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Nick Saban Names Steve Sarkisian
New Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks Coach
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| Steve Sarkisian New Alabama football offensive coordinator UA Photo |
University of Alabama football head coach Nick Saban wasted no time in naming his new offensive coordinator to replace Lane Kiffin, the new head football coach at Florida Atlantic University. Of course Saban is a very intelligent man, and his "process" includes planning. Saban saw the writing on the wall and made the decision to hire the man now named offensive coordinator as an offensive analyst this past season. Saban made it official on Friday, announcing that he was naming Steve Sarkisian as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Sarkisian formerly served as the head coach at Southern Cal, but was fired for incidents related to his alcoholism. Saban hired Sark as an offensive analyst just this season. He has certainly made his presence known with help in various aspects of the offensive process, and assisted Kiffin in game planning.
In a press release, Sarkisian said, "I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to join Coach Saban’s staff, and I can’t thank The University of Alabama enough. I have always admired the Alabama program from afar and getting to be part of this football team these past few months has only reinforced my belief that this is the best college football organization in the country. There are many outstanding coaches and athletes at The University of Alabama, and I am extremely excited to start working with them in my new role. This is a very special place to have the opportunity to coach when you consider the program’s rich tradition and the unrivaled passion of the fan base."
Saban was extremely complimentary of Sarkisian’s past experience when discussing the hire. Saban said, "We are pleased to be able to hire an offensive coordinator with the pedigree and experience of Steve Sarkisian. He has a tremendous offensive mind and is someone we believe will do a great job of teaching and developing our football team on the offensive side of the ball. He has been a great asset to our coaching staff this season and brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to his job. Steve will be a phenomenal addition to our coaching staff and someone who can seamlessly transition into the job with a full understanding of how our organization works."
Sarkisian’s resume is impressive indeed, having first joined USC in 2001, and was the position coach for 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and responsible for much of his development. He became the team’s offensive coordinator in 2007 for two seasons before taking the job at the University of Washington. He took a Huskie team that had won only 12 games in five years to a 34-29 team over the next five year. Sark then returned to USC as the head coach in 2014.
There really shouldn't be much of a "transition" from Kiffin to Sarkisian, as Kiffin has mentioned on more than one occasion that the two are cut from the same cloth.
Though he has battled with alcohol addiction, Sarkisian was and is a very capable coach. It was, however, the alcoholism that cost him his job with USC. At the time Saban hired Sark as an offensive analyst, Bama's head man said, "He's going through some personal things himself to get himself in a very positive position and wants to continue to do those things in the future. Professionally, he loves coaching. So we thought it would be a good thing for our organization to have somebody - look, I've known him for a long time and he's a very, very good coach - to make a contribution to being an analyst here and having some input into some things that we could do better, I think, would be a real positive for our organization."
Saban was pleased enough with his performance this season that he has now named Steve Sarkisian as Alabama's new offensive coordinator to begin when the playoffs are over. He will continue until then as an offensive analyst.
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Bama Women's Basketball To Host Georgia Tech Today
The first 300 fans in attendance today will receive an Alabama ugly sweater T-shirt as a part of the the Alabama Ugly Sweater T-Shirt Giveaway. In addition, at halftime, the Teddy Bear Toss will take place. All fans are encouraged to bring a teddy bear or stuffed animal to toss at halftime, with all those collected being donated to the Salvation Army. Other giveaways are also planned for today.
Today's contest will be Alabama's ninth home game of the season. This will be the fifth meeting between the Crimson Tide and the Yellow Jackets, with Alabama leading the series 3-1. Georgia Tech won last season's game 70-58 in Atlanta.
Meoshonti Knight is leading the Crimson Tide in scoring this season, averaging 12.4 points per game. Sophomore Shaquera Wade leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 boards per contest, while freshman Jordan Lewis leads Alabama in assists at 3.9 per outing.
Thus far in the young season Alabama has four ladies averaging in double-figures. Besides Knight, a junior, there are junior Hannah Cook (11.7 ppg), sophomore Shaquera Wade (11.7 ppg) and freshman Jordan Lewis (10.3).
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Former Bama LB Adonis Thomas To Florida State
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| Adonis Thomas Photo Credit: BamaPride via Bing |
Adonis Thomas spent the 2015 football season with the University of Alabama but later decided to transfer to a junior college. That, however, wasn't his final destination. Thomas signed with the Florida State Seminoles on Friday to continue his collegiate football career and education.
Thomas was listed as a four-star recruit out of Lawrenceville, Georgia. He chose the Crimson Tide, at the time, over Florida in the class of 2015, but redshirted during season, but later transferred in the summer due to concerns over the issue of playing time.
Thomas put up some good numbers while playing for Northwest Mississippi Community College. He collected a total of 73 tackles, 10.5 for loss along with six sacks and an interception.
Thomas needed just one semester in junior college to be eligible to transfer out according to NCAA rules. He will have three years of eligibility and will enroll at Florida State in January.
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What Saban Said In Friday's Press Briefing
Saban spoke of his excitement concerning the players who recently graduated from UA and have won both national and Southeastern Conference awards. He mentioned that 21 graduates will be on the field for the Crimson Tide in the upcoming game.
Concerning the effort displayed by the players, and their enthusiasm, Saban said he was encouraged seeing all of it at practice. He did, however, speak of how difficult it was to carry the momentum of Alabama's undefeated season into a game that was "this far off." Remember, the Tide hasn't played nor practiced since the December 3rd Southeastern Conference Championship, some 13 days. The semifinal game with Washington is still another 15 days away, December 31st.
When asked about the election by the players of the team captains and his thoughts, Saban said that he felt the players did a good job in their choices. He said the four had obviously earned the respect of the rest of the team, and that these were the four that he, himself, would have named as captains.
Saban spoke of the quality of this Washington team that Alabama would be facing, adding that the Huskies football team is the best team Alabama has faced this season. He was rather emphatic in stating that he didn't want to hear anyone - players, fans, or others involved in Alabama football - to talk about Clemson or Ohio State during this time. He said that Washington was a good football team, commanded the respect of everyone and would be a tough team to beat.
Saban said that there was a different sort of injury to report. Crimson Tide defensive lineman Dakota Ball had a hunting accident and shot his finger. His situation would continue to be looked at.
Concerning other injuries, Saban said that Tony Brown had suffered a muscle pull and did not practice. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey practiced and continued to show improvement. Backup offensive lineman Josh Casher and freshman running back B.J. Emmons were at the practice session but limited. Casher broke his foot in the SEC championship game. Emmons was wearing a boot over his injured left foot that sustained an injury in early November.
Saban spoke highly of new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, saying that he is part of "this family" and that he has a good offensive mind. Saban said that Sark had done a great job organizationally in helping outgoing OC and new FAU head coach Lane Kiffin this season. He spoke of what a "positive addition" Sarkisian was to the staff.
When asked who would be the offensive coordinator for the playoff games, Saban emphatically stated that Lane Kiffin was still the offensive coordinator at Alabama until the end of the season.
Again, concerning Sarkisian, Coach Saban said that he wanted to support Sark with his off-the-field issues faced in the past. (The alcohol problems which led to Sarkisian's firing at USC seem to be well-managed at this point.)
Saban added that a big plus for Sark was that he was familiar now with the terminology used at The Capstone, as well as his background with a spread, pro-style system. Saban said that Bama's support staff would help Sark and that they already had been available since Sarkisian's hiring as offensive analyst. Saban then emphatically stated that he would never hire someone if he didn't have complete confidence that the person could help the players.
Turning back to the Huskies and the playoffs, Saban said that Washington's trick plays are a "big focus", and told the reporter asking the question that Alabama has a "reel full of them" and said they were available for viewing. He said that the trick plays weren't junk plays, but rather "well conceived."
In another personnel note, Saban said that Rashaan Evans would be the one with the best opportunity to fill in for injured Shaun Dion Hamilton. Saban commented, "We have a lot of confidence in him."
