Roll Tide Nation

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Spring is a time for experimentation.

It allows Nick Saban and his coaching staff to see if a player might have a better opportunity to contribute at another position, he said, or bolster the depth for a group that was lacking beforehand.

A couple of Alabama football players have spent time at different positions during the Crimson Tide’s spring practice, including redshirt freshman linebacker Cameron Latu working at tight end.

“Obviously, losing Hale (Hentges) and Irv (Smith Jr.), we’ve got some experience issues at tight end and also some depth issues,” Saban said. “Having another guy suspended for four games next year at that position, I mean, you’re taking three out of the first four guys, so we need to get some people there. We’ve been encouraged by the progress that (Latu)’s made at that position.”

Hale Hentges and Irv Smith Jr. were Alabama’s first-team tight ends the last two seasons, and both are no longer on campus with Hentges exhausting his eligibility and Smith entering the NFL draft a year early. That left the Tide with four scholarship tights on the roster for the spring in Miller Forristall, Kedrick James -- who will be suspended -- Major Tennison and Michael Parker. 

ByCharlie Potter Apr 1, 12:10 AM

A now-former Alabama player has found a new home in the American Athletic Conference.

Defensive back Kyriq McDonald has committed to transfer to Cincinnati, according to Chad Brendel of Bearcat Journal. McDonald entered the NCAA transfer portal in early February along with long snapper Scott Meyer and received offers from Florida State, Mississippi State, Louisville, Purdue and Memphis. However, Meyer is still on the Crimson Tide roster and practicing. 

McDonald visited Cincinnati on Thursday.

McDonald filled a role in the Alabama secondary and on special teams this past season after redshirting his first year in Tuscaloosa. He totaled seven tackles and a quarterback pressure through 11 games of action in his redshirt freshman campaign and was named one of the Alabama coaches’ special teams players of the week for his play against Mississippi State and Auburn.

ByHank South Mar 31, 12:16 PM

It’s down to just five for Lanett (Ala.) product Kristian Story.

The four-star athlete took to Twitter on Sunday morning to reveal a final list of Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

The one-time Vols commit is a highly sought after prospect following a season that saw him amass 2,434 yards and 40 touchdowns passing, 1,207 yards and 16 touchdowns rushing, and 33 tackles and nine interceptions in the secondary.

Since backing off his commitment to Tennessee prior to his junior season, the 247Sports Crystal Ball has been trending towards Alabama. UA was aided in pursuit of Story after hiring new assistant Charles Kelly from the Vols. The family goes way back with the new UA assistant, as Kelly coached Story’s father during his time at Jacksonville State and recruited the 2020 prospect during his stint in Knoxville.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Following Alabama’s first of three spring scrimmages, head coach Nick Saban was asked about several position groups -- how they performed thus far on the practice field and what he saw from them during the roughly 158-play scrimmage Saturday afternoon.

But even before that, the 13th-year head coach expressed concerns over depth.

“I think we have some really good players, we have some guys that can play winning football,” Saban said during a press conference. “To me, we don't have enough. We don’t have enough depth on our team. We don’t have enough guys that execute with confidence, play fast. So, the way we need to go about that is keep working these guys and keep practicing them.”

Getting into specifics, it started with the defensive line.

Raekwon Davis, Phidarian Mathis and LaBryan Ray currently make up the Crimson Tide’s first unit. Davis was a starter last season while Mathis and Ray were the first two players off the bench for Alabama a year ago. That group has played well up to this point in the spring. But the can’t be said for the players behind the first-team trio, Saban said following the scrimmage.

2019 center Raymond Hawkins verbally committed to Alabama on Sunday becoming the first pledge of the Nate Oats era.

“I’m going to the University of Alabama,” Hawkins told 247Sports. “A few weeks ago my mom, my brother and my step brother all visited coach [Nate] Oats and coach [Bryan] Hodgson at Buffalo. The culture between the players and coaches was unbelievable. The relationship just made me comfortable. I felt like I can trust them.”

Hawkins, a standout at Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep, visited Buffalo the weekend of March 8 and scheduled a decision date for March 30. Once Oats made the move to Alabama earlier this week, instead of pushing back his decision he opted to follow him.

“When I found out they were going to Alabama, he called me and said I was the first person he called and let me know that he wanted to bring me with him,” Hawkins said. "I told him I talked to my family and he called them as well.”

“It showed how much he actually wanted me and how much interest he has and how much he believes in me.” He added. “I believe in myself, but you play better when your coach believes in you and gives you that type of confidence.”

A football scrimmage is not the same as a football game, at least to those who have seen both, who have noticed there is no scoreboard in a scrimmage and no historical record of a winner. But to Alabama Coach Nick Saban, who is process-oriented, the scoreboard is immaterial. It’s not about the scoreboard to Saban. It’s about performance. That may be the reason his team almost always comes out on the right side of the scoreboard.

There was a reason for Saban to discuss the subject Saturday afternoon after his Crimson Tide football team went to Bryant-Denny Stadium and completed its eighth practice of the spring with its first scrimmage.

There may have been a few thousand fans – boosters, sponsors, football lettermen – scattered among the 100,000-plus seats, but that certainly did not make it like a game. That made part of Saban’s point: “Other than the fans, the noise, football is football,” he said.

And he enumerated:

“I think we try to create as many situations as we can in practice,” he said. “We practice good against good (first team offense vs. first team defense) a lot, so that’s a lot like playing in a game.