Rashad Johnson’s OT pick earns national recognition

November 14, 2008

Ken Rogers

Rashad Johnson turned around the LSU game with his three interceptions last week.
Not only did the top-ranked and undefeated Crimson Tide benefit, so did the school’s general scholarship fund.
Fans from around the nation voted Johnson’s overtime interception as the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Week. Alabama earned a $5,000 contribution from Pontiac as a result.
The Pontiac Game Changing Performance recognizes the most dramatic moments that occur in college games across the country. As one of the 14 weekly winners, the play is entered into the yearly vote. The play selected in fan voting as the best of the year will earn a $100,000 general scholarship contribution from Pontiac.

Parental instincts keep Saban on Crimson Tide

November 11, 2008

Ken Rogers

Why does he pace nonstop, at practice and in games? Why does Nick Saban constantly preach to his team about improvement and focus and blocking out external factors that don’t mean anything?
Because it’s his job.
The coach showed his paternal side when discussing his team’s focus on Monday at his press conference.
He was asked if now, in Week 11, and given his team’s maturity and its leadership, which he has praised this season, if he doesn’t have to worry about a dropoff in the final weeks of the regular season.
“No, I don’t,” the coach said. “And I trust our players. And I love them. They’ve done a great job all year long, but…do you have kids?” he asked the questioner.
The person said he had two youngsters.
“Well, when they get 16, when they get the keys to the car and they go out at night, no matter how much you love them and how much you trust them, you still worry about them until they walk in the door at night. You know what I mean?” Saban asked. “That’s how I feel about our guys. I love them, I trust them, they’ve done a good job all year, they haven’t gotten in trouble. But until they show up and do it, ... when they walk in the door at night, then I’m fine.”

Saban got warm welcome in most recent visit to Tiger Stadium

November 08, 2008

Ken Rogers

From king of the castle to being burned in effigy.

Welcome back, Nick Saban.

On the eve of bringing his first Alabama team to Tiger Stadium, the coach remembered his warm reception back for his first game at LSU since he left Baton Rouge.

That was in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when Saban’s Miami Dolphins visited the displaced New Orleans Saints.

His cheers that day were louder than the Saints, reporters who were there agreed this week.

“Like I said, we have a lot of goof friends there and have a lot of respect for the fans and the people there. Have no ill feelings at all,” Saban said. “I have a lot of special feelings and memories about things that were done and accomplished there and certainly appreciate the support and help a lot of people gave us. I think they know they were a part of that building process we went through there.

“It always makes you feel good that people still respect you as a person and probably one of my best friends, Richard Gill, who passed away, is someone that I miss as much as anyone. He happens to be from Baton Rouge and he happens to be an LSU man. That’s personal feelings and we all have a professional job that we have to do. I hope that people there see that from our perspective. We certainly respect their passion and tradition and what their interest is.”

Saban went out of his way this week to shift attention away from him and onto his top-ranked team and a dangerous LSU squad. It was nearly impossible, however.

“We appreciated out time there. It was very special what we were able to do there,” the coach said. “We have great memories and great friends, but my heart is with this team.”

Asked about the “reception” he expects from the sure-to-be- hostile crowd, Saban said, “Again, regardless of the reception, regardless of anything, my focus is on our team and the job that we have to do.

“We can’t control any of that stuff so we’re not concerned about it. We’re going to stay focused on the task at hand and doing a good job for our team. I think it’s what our players deserve and I think it’s certainly what we’re going to do everything in our power to stay focused on to do.

“Fans are emotional and we respect their fans and they’re great fans — certainly there’s nothing personal between us and them, not from my standpoint — and I think our players need to understand that they need to stay focused on the task at hand because they have a very good team and how we play on the field is going to be the most important thing to affect the outcome of the game.”

Saban again answered the question of why he returned to college football after leaving LSU for the NFL Dolphins.

“When we decided to come here we tried to make the best decision for our family — for my children, for my wife, our future happiness,” he said. “As I said before, sometimes you do things, you experience things that make you realize who you are and you learn about yourself.

“I think my experience of being a head coach in pro football made me realize how much I love college football. And how much we wanted to get back to where we felt like we could have an impact on young people in a lot of ways. Helping them to develop as people, helping them developing as students, help them develop as football players.

“The self-gratification you get seeing guys develop a character and attitude and how that’s going to help them be more successful in life. So we learned that and made a decision to do it. We’re pleased that we did. We enjoy the University of Alabama. We think it’s a special place. We think it’s great support here. The players have responded very well to what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s been a lot of positive, self-gratification for us, as well as it’s been a great experience for us.”

But no, he doesn’t want to be viewed as a villain by anyone, not even LSU fans.

“There’s a lot of people in Alabama who look at me like that. There’s a bunch of people in this room that look at me like that,” he allowed himself a smile as the interview room broke into laughter.

“No, not at all. I’ve had some great mentors. You know, Don James was my coach and he was the epitome of class. Even though I have failed in that regard in some instances, that’s something we would always like to do — be very professional, try to treat everybody with class, not be condescending but have compassion for other people, which Terry and I have oftentimes tried to do with some of the things that we’ve done externally to help others.

“There’s not a teeny, tiny part of me that ever wants to be anything but that. And if there was ever a time that I didn’t feel like I could be in this profession and do that personally, then I would sit down and say, ‘Should I continue to do this?’ Because being that kind of person is probably more important than winning a game or anything else.”

Saban, Miles reflect on Fulmer’s departure at season’s end

November 03, 2008

Ken Rogers

Nick Saban and Les Miles both played down the coaching angles to Saturday’s Alabama-LSU showdown in Baton Rouge.

However, both took a moment Monday to reflect on Phillip Fulmer’s departure from Tennessee at the end of the season.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Phillip Fulmer and what he’s done,” Saban said. “To me, his full body of work, 16 years, he’s won a national championship, I can’t say enough about the great job he’s done there. From a professional standpoint, you hate to see any one of your colleagues go through this kind of thing. It’s kind of a part of our business that’s not a good part of the business. We wish him and his family the very best. I feel badly if that does happen because I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a coach and a person and the job he has done.”

Miles, too, praised the Volunteer coach’s career.

“The only thing I can say is that he’s had a great tenure at Tennessee,” Miles said. “He’s done a number of great things. In my opinion, he’s had a very distinguished coaching career. I hope it’s something that he wanted to have happen. I hope it was something that he enjoyed. There will be great memories of his time there. I suspect that he’ll do a lot with his time from this point forward, and certainly, those were his calls.”

Saban was reminded that Fulmer is the second head coaching opponent that Alabama defeated who won’t be back next season. Tommy Bowden was fired from Clemson, which lost to the Crimson Tide in the season opener.

“No, I don’t think you ever play for this,” Saban said of a rival coach’s firing. “You play for your team and what your team can do. You want your team to try and dominate so they can be successful. You’d really like to win the game on your ability to execute, not somebody else’s inability to, and that’s what makes you feel good about having success is you know you kind of did a good job relative to how you played, how you performed and how close to your capacity you really played to. I think every guy knows that and that’s really what you want for your team. You don’t really want anything bad to happen to the other team, you just want your team to play well.”

McLain, Rashad Johnson stay on same page

October 29, 2008

Ken Rogers

My story in Thursday’s Dothan Eagle is on Alabama’s linebacker corps, which was an area of concern coming into the season.
Uh, they’ve done OK so far. Alabama is unbeaten and second in the nation in rushing defense.
Its victory over Tennessee last Saturday was as impressive for its physical dominance as it was the final 20-point margin of victory.
Inside linebacker Rolando McClain said the Tide rarely changed things up against the Vols. He said the Crimson Tide has several schemes it hasn’t revealed.
“We’ll practice maybe 70 different plays, and we might play five. We have a ton of stuff that we haven’t even used,” McClain said. “We play so good up front with our base defense, we don’t have to use the blitz. So other teams haven’t had a chance to look at our blitzes yet.”
The Tide did blitz when it had its back against the wall early. Tennessee had first-and-goal at the Alabama 5 after a fumbled punt. Alabama forced a third-and-7 before disrupting Vol quarterback Nick Stephens.
McLain and free safety Rashad Johnson shot the gap on both sides of center Josh McNeil. It was a call Johnson relished.
“It was a lot of fun. I love blitzing,” Johnson laughed. “I was messing with coach to send me a little more. But it was definitely a lot of fun.”
Of course, he needed the Vols to line up a certain way.
“When he called it, it depended on the offense and how they were lined up as to whether I was coming or not. I was just hoping they lined up the right way where I could come and they did.”
McNeil was forced to choose which blitzer to pick up. Johnson liked his chances of sacking Stephens.
“Me and Rolando were both coming through the ‘A’ gap, so I knew he was going to have to make a decision either to take Rolando. I guess he figured the quarterback could break my tackle so he was going to block Rolando.”
The sack covered seven yards and the Vols settled for a field goal.
The senior Johnson and sophomore McClain have developed their communication skills even in tough environments like Neyland Stadium.
“I get the hand signals from coach (Kirby) Smart, but after that, I have to go and scream at everybody,” McClain said. “If the formation changes, then you have to run and tell the D-line, scream at them again. Rashad does a great job of helping with the secondary. He knows everything out there, so he can tell the whole secondary what to do.”
Johnson said the key is communication with McClain.
“Every play, it seems like we’re on the same page,” the safety said. “Even if it’s not the right thing we’re supposed to be running on the field, everybody locks in on what Rolando says or what I say. We lock in and play that call and go with it. It seems to work. It may be the wrong play but everybody is doing the right thing.”