Players have to take responsibility in discipline debate
February 27, 2008
If Nick Saban never expected to face the media after a loss to Louisiana Monroe, how do you think he felt about Tuesday’s topic?
After eight Crimson Tide players had been arrested since he arrived in January 2007, Saban felt the time was right to discuss law and order — or the lack of it — in his Alabama football program.
It was a tough assignment because the coach couldn’t make sweeping edicts about what will happen the next time a Crimson Tide football player is arrested.
Situations that call for discipline rarely are as black-and-white as a kid sticking a gun in the face of two people and robbing them of $26.
And let it be noted that Saban responded swiftly and appropriately to Jeremy Elder’s criminal behavior. Elder has been sent home for at least a year. The University doesn’t have to let him come back. It would be shocking if it did.
Unlike that bizarre act, most the off-field problems Saban has dealt with is unruly behavior in and around nightclubs. Late at night.
Now, no matter where you stand on this issue, it’d be tough to convince me that anything good happens after 2 a.m. at or near a bar. That’s not the time to debate Tuscaloosa police, campus officers or even bouncers, no matter how badly they may be behaving.
Rashad Johnson isn’t a troublemaker, but he was the eighth player arrested since Saban’s arrival. It was Saturday morning on the Tuscaloosa Strip. He was charged with disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct is not armed robbery. It may not be excusable, but it’s not armed robbery.
Saban knows that. But he also knows that perception can be reality. If Alabama is seen as a place for thugs, he won’t sign the nation’s top recruiting class next year.
His frustration level rises when his players pop off and ignite problems that could and should be avoided.
“There are degrees of everything,” he said Tuesday. “And I’m not going to make comments, but guys have to know when to walk away and keep their mouths shut and that’s probably been the biggest issue that we’ve had to deal with relative to being respectful to people in authority.
“And that could happen to anyone. And that can be disorderly conduct. So does that… there is relative degrees for what you get arrested for relative to the penalties can be.
“The problem is, as soon as you say arrest — when you get a traffic ticket, you’re really getting arrested, too — when you say arrest… and I have never dealt with what we’re dealing with here. We have an issue that we have to work on internally and improve our players awareness of how they need to represent themselves and act. And we also need to do a better job of educating them and developing relationships with people so we have a better understanding of how to educate them so we don’t have these issues in the future. It’s not good for the community, it’s not good for the person, it’s not good for the program, it’s not good for the young men, it’s not good for anybody, it’s not good for the reputations, it’s not good for anybody.”
Saban can make players run stadium steps all day and sweep up lobbies of senior citizens’ centers all night. But there really has to be some accountability from the players in these cases. Does anybody say, man, it’s 1:30, let’s call it a night?
The coach said repeatedly last year that curfews and putting places off limits often creates a forbidden fruit attraction. Besides, these guys aren’t high school kids anymore. In fact, part of the college experience is stretching your limits and your body clock. No one I went to school at Troy didn’t enjoy a late-night outing at least once in a while. Some of them majored in it.
Saban hinted that his players may be restricted in where they go.
“I have always been a strong proponent as the NCAA has of players being able to do and live the same student experience as anyone else,” Saban said. “If we continue to have problems, there may be some places that we are going to ask our players not to go. There have been some limitations already placed on that. It’s a team issue, it’s not going to be discussed publicly.”
Again, personal accountability apparently wasn’t a strong enough deterrent. If you’re responsible for memorizing a playbook and being on time to class and practice, you ought to be able to impose a little self-discipline on a weekend night.
Frankly, it’s easier said than done. After all, Mike Price failed to grasp that he was the football coach at the University of Alabama all day, every day. You give up a lot to be a part of that program.
The players in it need to realize that they are University of Alabama football players all the time, especially when they are in Tuscaloosa. They, too, give up some things to be part of the program. If that price is too high, we’ll miss them.
Everybody wants to win. Saban certainly does. But not at all costs. He pledged again to do things the right way. He vowed to work to get that message through to his players.
We’ve heard a good bit of this last year. Something about the anger and awkwardness of Tuesday tells me the message will be delivered more forcefully this time.
But they still have to listen.
