SEC Media Days

[Townhallsavoy]

Gus Malzahn Press Conference - "I'm tickled to death to sorta kinda but not really answer your questions.  Sorry, I just said too many words."

Highlights:

- Nick Marshall is remorseful, and that's a start.  Will have to face the consequence of his actions and Gus did not say he would be suspended the 1st game.
- Carl Lawson will most likely miss the year, but he's working towards coming back at the end of the season.

And that's about it.

[AUChizad]

Cracks in the armor.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/24625541/will-bamas-nick-saban-be-tough-on-discipline-hard-to-tell-after-sec-media-day-speech

Saban to be tough on discipline? Hard to tell at SEC media days
July 17, 2014 5:41 pm ET

HOOVER Ala. -- Clearly Alabama's Nick Saban had to vent, but what came out was a five-minute diatribe on player discipline that wasn't exactly clear on Saban's plan for the Tide's off-field problems.

Speaking broadly from the SEC media days podium about today's youth and college football, Saban was purposeful, thoughtful -- and then a bit showy.

One comment in particular made it sound like Saban's "Process" is necessary for human survival.

"I want you to know there's not one player -- not one player -- since I've been a head coach that I've kicked off the team that ever went anywhere and amounted to anything and accomplished anything, playing or academically," Saban said. "That's not always the answer. Discipline is not punishment. Punishment is only effective when it can help change someone's behavior."

Luckily for Saban he added that "playing or academically" phrase at the end of that first sentence. Suggesting people he coached wouldn't "amount to anything" doesn't pass sensitivity training.

Saban needed to address his players' legal troubles -- especially because Bama has endured at least five arrests or citations since January, along with a rash of suspended players during the season -- but it's still uncertain what his plan is.

Running back Kenyan Drake (obstructing governmental operations) and defensive end Jarran Reed (DUI), both arrested in July, are suspended but not kicked off the team. Seems reasonable enough. In fact, Saban's message seemed tailored directly for them.

But Saban said discipline isn't always the answer. He also said sometimes you've "got to get the wrong people off the bus." Translation: Some players have to go.

That's a bit confusing. When it comes to Alabama's winning football culture, which one will it be? Bama might throw out a few suspensions here or there, keep a few team discipline matters in house. But D.J. Pettway, part of a second-degree robbery and credit card arrest with teammates, has made his way back on the team after being kicked off in 2013.

Second chances can be good, but this example makes it difficult to decipher Saban's broader message Thursday.

"I just want you all to know we all have to be committed to help our young people from a culture standpoint and have a better chance to be successful in our life," Saban said. "And that's something we're very much committed to and really the reason that we coach. That's the part that I like the best and give me the most positive self gratification to see someone have a chance to be successful."

Look, off-field problems are not unique to Alabama. Perception is an equal opportunist in the SEC. Bama and Texas A&M are the latest to hit a bad stretch, just like Florida and Georgia and others in past years.

How Saban manages that in the next five months will tell a lot about a team that clearly had cohesion problems a year ago. While AJ McCarron once ripped the young players for not buying in, now those same young players claim "we would have won more" if the leadership up top was better," rising junior Amari Cooper said Thursday.

Maybe Saban will take a cue from the SEC coach once excoriated for disciplinary problems -- Georgia's Mark Richt.

Richt actually seems harder on crime than ever. The Bulldogs dismissed safeties Tray Matthews and Josh Harvey-Clemons this offseason.

"Just because we've got guys suspended isn't evidence we have a discipline problem," Richt said. "It's evidence that we discipline our players. It's evidence there's accountability. ... Sometimes when you make part of your discipline playing time, it becomes a very public thing. Some of your dirty laundry gets out there in public. I'm willing to take that risk if the process will help these guys grow into men. If we ignore stuff they do and act like it didn't happen and sweep it under the rug, let them get away with it or whatever, what are we teaching? We are setting them up for failure down the road."

I think Saban's message, at its core, was similar, and maybe he has a well-defined plan. He just didn't deliver that clearly at SEC media days.

[wesfau2]

Notice that this exemplary list doesn't include Auburn:

Look, off-field problems are not unique to Alabama. Perception is an equal opportunist in the SEC. Bama and Texas A&M are the latest to hit a bad stretch, just like Florida and Georgia and others in past years.

Funny how the perception from a national perspective doesn't have Auburn on equal footing with Bama...or hell, 3 other teams.

Also:

I want you to know there's not one player -- not one player -- since I've been a head coach that I've kicked off the team that ever went anywhere and amounted to anything and accomplished anything, playing or academically,"

Corey Grant would like a fucking word.

[Townhallsavoy]

I watched the entirety of Saban's rant, and it was in my opinion one of the best examples of bloviated, self-involved, arrogant bullshit that comes with Nick Saban as a head coach.

Half of the speech was a message to his players that he has obviously lost control of.  "Yeah, uh, the young guys don't know how to act anymore.  Can you believe the kids these days?  Worst they've ever been!  What ever happened to the good ole days where young people wanted to earn a living through hard work and abstaining from premarital sex.  Now they all up in that whacky tabacky." 

The other half was telling the media to not criticize his decision to no longer punish or kick off players that break the rules.  "We're a family and just like family, you can't just kick family members out.  You have to keep them in and help them grow into respectable adults and when they mess up, we can't all gather around and talk about how shitty they are as people."  Which is OBVIOUSLY the way Saban handles his "family" as evidenced by the amount of medical hardships, transfers, and oversignings he's had over the last 8 years. 

[dallaswareagle]

I watched the entirety of Saban's rant, and it was in my opinion one of the best examples of bloviated, self-involved, arrogant bullshit that comes with Nick Saban as a head coach.

Half of the speech was a message to his players that he has obviously lost control of.  "Yeah, uh, the young guys don't know how to act anymore.  Can you believe the kids these days?  Worst they've ever been!  What ever happened to the good ole days where young people wanted to earn a living through hard work and abstaining from premarital sex.  Now they all up in that whacky tabacky." 

The other half was telling the media to not criticize his decision to no longer punish or kick off players that break the rules.  "We're a family and just like family, you can't just kick family members out.  You have to keep them in and help them grow into respectable adults and when they mess up, we can't all gather around and talk about how shitty they are as people."  Which is OBVIOUSLY the way Saban handles his "family" as evidenced by the amount of medical hardships, transfers, and oversignings he's had over the last 8 years.

[AUTiger1]

Notice that this exemplary list doesn't include Auburn:

Funny how the perception from a national perspective doesn't have Auburn on equal footing with Bama...or hell, 3 other teams.

Also:

Corey Grant would like a fucking word.

Grant transferred after being put at DB and not RB did he not?  I didn't think he was actually kicked off.

[Snaggletiger]

I watched the entirety of Saban's rant, and it was in my opinion one of the best examples of bloviated, self-involved, arrogant bullshit that comes with Nick Saban as a head coach.

Half of the speech was a message to his players that he has obviously lost control of.  "Yeah, uh, the young guys don't know how to act anymore.  Can you believe the kids these days?  Worst they've ever been!  What ever happened to the good ole days where young people wanted to earn a living through hard work and abstaining from premarital sex.  Now they all up in that whacky tabacky." 

The other half was telling the media to not criticize his decision to no longer punish or kick off players that break the rules.  "We're a family and just like family, you can't just kick family members out.  You have to keep them in and help them grow into respectable adults and when they mess up, we can't all gather around and talk about how shitty they are as people."  Which is OBVIOUSLY the way Saban handles his "family" as evidenced by the amount of medical hardships, transfers, and oversignings he's had over the last 8 years.

Damn it, Barner.  You don't git the jeenyus of Nick Saban.

[wesfau2]

Grant transferred after being put at DB and not RB did he not?  I didn't think he was actually kicked off.

Fair enough.

[Townhallsavoy]

Damn it, Barner.  You don't git the jeenyus of Nick Saban.

Actually, I do get it.  He is a genius.  He knew exactly what he was getting himself into.  You know what's going to happen?  The state media will back off even more in reporting and analyzing the discipline issues at Alabama.  Especially if they keep winning.  He just looked the media in the eye in Hoover, AL and said, "Lay the fuck off my players especially the stars.  The ones we kick off, force to transfer, or injure purposefully don't matter in life.  But the ones we decide to keep around are our family members that should be treated nicely." 

It's brilliant.  Wish Auburn had that kind of pull sometimes.