Stuff

I had a couple of deep thoughts after reading the article by Cecil Hurt in the Tuscaloosa news this morning.

Please be patient as I am sure there will be grammer and spelling errors.

Make no bones about it Footbal is THE SPORT at BAMA. We all know what The NCAA did - not saying we were completely innocent - Anyway One of the main things that it did was destroy our depth.

SO I ask what has coach Shula done to adress the issue of depth.

NO QB Depth - We all remember Brandon Avalos starting
We went out and accepted a X-fer in Guillon. Then we started signing QB's like crazy. By 2007 we will have on campus
Grey Shirt Junior -- JP Wilson
Red Shirt Sophmore - J Barnes
Red Shirt Freshman - Greg Mcelroy
True Freshman ------ Robert Marve

NO HB Depth - We all remember Aaron Johns starting
We have realy upgraded the HB spot. Just look at what we will have by 2007
Junior ----------- Jimmy Johns
Junior ----------- Glen Coffee
Red Shirt Sophmore Roy Upchurch
Red Shirt Sophmore Ali Sharief
Sopohmore -------- Terry Grant
True Freshman ---- Jamar Taylor

only one WR
Remember when our only WR returning was a True Sophmore who had a huge heart but was not the biggest guy and had like 8 catches as a true freshman. Look where we will be by 2007
Red Shirt Senior Tyrone Prothro
Senior --------- Keith Brown
Senior --------- DJ Hall
Red Shirt Senior Matt Caddell
Red Shirt Junior Will Oakley
Red Shirt Junior Aaron Mcdaniel
Red Shirt Junior Johnathon Lowe
Red Shirt Junior Nikita Stover
Sophmore ------- Mike McCoy
Sophmore ------- Earl Alexander
True Freshman -- Jermaine McKenzie

What about our D-Line
We actually started walk ons on our D-Line. They had a lot of heart but the fact is we had DIV II players starting. By 2007 we will have
Red Shirt Senior --- Wallace Gilberry
Red Shirt Senior --- Keith Saunders
Junior ------------- Bobby Greenwood
Red Shirt Sophmore - Lorenzo Washington
Red Shirt Sophmore - Brandon Deadrick
Red Shirt Sophmore - Brandon Fanney
Red Shirt Sophmore - Byron Walton
Red Shirt Freshman - Milton Talbert
True Freshman ------ Lamarcus Williams
True Freshman ------ Alex Watkins

The O-Line
12 sacks - enough said. Look where we will be by the 2007 season.
Red Shirt Senior ------------ Chris Capps
Red Shirt Senior ------------ Justin Moon
Red Shirt Junior ------------ Justin Britt
Red Shirt Junior ------------ Cody Davis
Red Shirt Junior ------------ BJ Stabler
Red Shirt Junior ------------ Antoine Caldwell
Junior ---------------------- Marlon Davis
Red Shirt Sophmore ---------- Mike Johnson
Red Shirt Sophmore ---------- Evan Cardwell
Red Shirt Sophmore ---------- Drew Davis
Sophmore -------------------- Andre Smith
Red Shirt Freshman ---------- Taylor Pharr
Red Shirt Freshman ---------- Brian Motley
Red Shirt Freshman ---------- David Ross
Red Shirt Freshman ---------- Alex Stadler
Red and Grey Shirt Freshman - Cole Harvey

Ok Point made about the depth issue.

Some people point to Line Backer as a depth problem but I think some folks will be surprised at what we have on the field at LB in 2007. We have a lot of "Tweener Safety/LB/DE types that I am sure Coach Kines will get ready. Granted some of these guys will stay at Safety or DE but still I am confident that we will be able to find at least 3 - 6 very fast guys to play Line Backer from a group that include
Senior -------------- Marcel Stamps
Senior -------------- Marcus Carter
Red Shirt Senior ---- Matt Collins
Red Shirt Senior ---- Demarcus Waldrop
Junior -------------- Cory Reamer
Red Shirt Sophmore -- Prince Hall
Red Shirt Sophmore -- Eryk Anders
Red Shirt Sophmore -- Zack Schreiber
Grey Shirt Sophmore - Sam Brunthall
Grey Shirt Sophmore - Travis Sikes
Sophmore ------------ Justin Woodall
Sophmore ------------ Andy Davis
Sophmore ------------ Charlie Higenbotham
Sophmore ------------ Chalie Kirschman
True Freshman ------- Rolando McClain
True Freshman ------- Jennings Hester

Next is Conditioning.
I remember when we went out to UCLA to play and watching our guys absolutely dead from being out of shape before half time. Most of us thought it would be a long season after watching that first game. La Tech erased all doubt. We have all heard the stories about the workouts being optional etc. etc. - Now it seems we are all shocked if a kid takes one day off much less the whole summer.

Recruiting
Sure we had high ranked classes in the late 90's but to be honest most of those kids were over hyped and the ones that weren't never made it into school. What's more we lost the State of Alabama. Since Coach Shula has been here he has taken back the state. Last year we beat out the top programs in the country for the #1 recruit in the Nation Andre Smith and this year this is a real good possibility that we will sign 7 of the top 10 ranked players in the state according to Rivals latest top 27 in the State Rankings. If we get 2 guys to switch their commitment we could have 9 out of 10. We have signed the player of the year from the state of Mississippi the last 2 years in Jimmy Johns and Terry Grant as well.

Discipline
Sure we have had occasional things pop up with Simpson, Hudson, Nance, Keys, Dawson, JPW, Sikes and a few others but what you don't see is Our coach blasting the kids in public. He handles it in house. And whan I say handle it - I mean it because if the kids do not change their act then they are gone. Nice to see someone put their foot down but at the same time give kids a second chance.

That BAMA fight
I have not saw teams fight like Coach Shula's teams since Coach Stallings was here. Example: In Coach Shula's 1st year his team had every reason to lay down. Fran the back stabing l!ar had walked out on them without even saying goodbye. Then just as they were getting used to their new coach he went and did the Dumbest move of a lifetime and got fired. DO YOU PEOPLE REMEMBER SHAUD WILLIAMS IN TEARS PLEADING Dr. Witt to keep coach Price. He wasn't alone, Smiley, Britt, and Brodie were up there on that stage begging too.

Time and Time again their hopes would get built up only to get Stolen away at the last second. They were told they had no chance playing Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Arkansas yet Every player left everything they had out on the field every play of every game. NO MATTER how much thay were getting beat by, they never quit. They played Tennessee and Oklahoma to the wire giving those much deeper and more talanted teams everything they could handle.

Even after a loss to "cow pattie U" somehow THIS coaching staff got them up for a meaningless game at Hawaii. Game 13 you are 4 and 8 and loosing, the refs have just given you THREE 15 yard penalties that they pulled out of their arse what did that team do? THE Defense held and just about tore the Q-Back's head off in a sack, Then not only did they block the field goal but returned it for a touchdown! Not making excuses but two of the touchdowns Hawaii scored were WAC official Gimmies. Still we had a chance only trailing by 8. The Onside Kick was perfect, WARD got his hands on the ball but.

Inches, thats what that team faced week in and week out. I WAS/AM DANG PROUD OF THAT TEAM AND THIS COACHING STAFF. Coach Shula somehow was able to get his kids to play their hearts out. That is what you want, You want your head coach to get 110% out of his players. Bear could do it, Stallings could do it, Parcells does it, DON Shula did it and guess what COACH MIKE SHULA CAN DO IT TOO. If you can get 11 players playing as one heartbeat as a team putting everything they have into every play you will win and YOU WILL WIN BIG.

It might take Coach Shula 1 more year (gasp) oh my GOD to get this cluster turned around but he will. He has proved it in his 1st year, the second and then again last year. He is doing it the right way - It has not been easy and it is not over but the final blocks of Coach Shula's Foundation are being layed into place as we speak.

I am proud to be BAMA fan, and I am proud of the direction that our program is headed.

Sorry for the length.

Roll TIDE
Clay

mclay6@nc.rr.com