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Saban wants new recruits to show up early

Associated Press
Originally published 08:40 a.m., May 12, 2008
Updated 08:40 a.m., May 12, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Here's one wish Alabama coach Nick Saban can't necessarily make come true: To have all the signees in school when the first summer session begins June 3.

Saban said it is a "tremendous advantage" to get incoming freshmen on campus early and it has always been his goal at every college coaching stop.

"It's the intention of every one of our freshmen that we recruited that they will come in early if they can get certified academically through the (NCAA) Clearinghouse in time," Saban said. "That's the philosophy that we'd like to use."

But he can't order them to get there that early. The NCAA doesn't allow new arrivals to work during the summer with the coaches, though they can do strength and conditioning, watch film and participate in voluntary workouts with other Crimson Tide players while getting acclimated to campus.

Two signees have beaten Saban's timetable. Receiver Chris Jackson and kicking specialist Corey Smith enrolled in January and went through spring practice.

Another receiver recruit, Destin Hood, is an exception. He won't enroll for the first summer session because the standout shortstop is a potential early-round pick in the baseball draft on June 5-6.

"It's starting to head that way," his father Dewayne Hood told the Press-Register of Mobile in a story Friday. "If he's drafted right, he's probably going to play baseball."

Other players likely will have to wait until later, too.

Defensive lineman Kerry Murphy, who spent last season at Hargrave Military Academy, is waiting on scholastic test scores to qualify. Others could require summer school at their respective high schools.

"You have to manage every one of these situations relative to what's best for the player," Saban said. "Philosophically, you want to work with the family so you can do this. We've been through these issues many times before. (Quarterback) Matt Mauck signed a baseball contract and didn't come to Michigan State. Well, he ended up at LSU and won the national championship."

© 2008, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

       57 Comments

Posted by Gigavol on May 12, 2008 at 9 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This breaking news should have been included in the breaking news that gets sent out via text messaging.

Posted by TommyJack on May 12, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

All Saban recruits SHOULD show up early... while he's still there.

Posted by TurboFan on May 12, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I guess watching the new recruits via webcam wasn't good enough for Saban.

(this comment has the site staff hovering over the delete button)

Posted by nicksjuzunk on May 12, 2008 at 9:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

TJ,

Good call.

Posted by pmidude56 on May 12, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)

and this is of interest to the Vol Nation how?

Posted by andy112382 on May 12, 2008 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Anyone want to start a pool/bet on how long until one of the two happen: (A) Saban bolts for the next job or (B) Saban gets Alabama under investigation for violations (again) and bolts?

BTW, who saw the article about how much OJ Mayo got paid while in HS and at USC, and the guy who was paying him was getting paid by a sporting agency and got a $50,000 vehicle from Ronnie Lott who played at USC.......anyone start thinking Reggie Bush and USCs sudden bolt back up the ladder? Wonder how many other guys had some benefits come their way there....

Posted by pdhuff on May 12, 2008 at 9:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

andy112382 -9:51am - we need another pool on how long it will take Phil to beat Saban?

My big buddy Fletch pointed out Phil is 1-6 vs Ga without Cuttcliff. It will be interesting this fall, I hope......

How many days, Ashley?

Has TDTN been seen in Boerne, TX?

Posted by VolnDothan on May 12, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Very observant Andy...you stole my thunder...

The fact that UA, who constantly butts heads with the NCAA, has been directly warned by the NCAA time and again, and has been punished by the NCAA repeatedly, whould hire a reckless idiot like Nick Saban to run their program says a lot about these people.

They've either made the perfect hire (for their kind) or they're striving for the death penalty...

None the less, UA is a wacko institution, ran by wackos for wackos.

Posted by TommyJack on May 12, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

No TDTN sightings in Boerne, but I have the Bear Moon bakery staked out...best fritters this side of the Brazos.

Posted by tigervol9802 on May 12, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Can anyone tell me one time Saban has gotten a program in trouble?

Posted by VolnDothan on May 12, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

tigervol9802 - Our point is that Saban is leading a a program, which is a permenant #1 on the NCAA's radar, and continues to push the envelope in recruiting "methods" which make news each week. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the potential volatility of this situation...

Posted by Indianavol on May 12, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Who cares about Slick Satan and the Crimson Turd?

Let's just beat their sorry @sses in October!!!!!!

Posted by doverton on May 12, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Who cares about Bama's recruits? Put this on Bama's web page !!!

Posted by GreerVol22 on May 12, 2008 at 11:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Guys, remember who the sports editor is. It explains a lot. Tuscaloosa John I believe he is referred to. There is still a silent love affair with the former LSU coach.

Posted by auttat on May 12, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Seriously, is Saban like the head master of SEC Coaches, now? There have been a handful of articles on this site in the past week about his OPINION, sh#$!!!!

Posted by TommyJack on May 12, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Please. Give it a rest.

Posted by wewhite on May 12, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Of course he wants his players in summer school! Everybody knows that summer school classes are, by and large, easier due to longer class periods and shorter semesters. Also, with fewer sharp-eyed profs on campus, it's easier to "assist" a fuh-ball player with his "studies." And, come fall, having an NCAA-acceptable GPA already will allow the player more leeway with quitting... I mean, "dropping" the hard classes (or those classes with profs that have refused payoffs from the athletic department) without affecting his overall GPA.

Posted by TurboFan on May 12, 2008 at 12:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

This is the SEC News section. Hello? Can you hear me now?

Besides, Phil reads it for tips and ideas.

Posted by givehim6 on May 12, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe Saban needs to be a basket ball coach so he can get kids out of the 8th grade like UK. (hehe) Or start his own bama high . (hehe)

Posted by UTfan4life on May 12, 2008 at 12:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

who cares? Saban and Meyer have a dinner arrangement for 2 in hell tonight.

Posted by tigervol9802 on May 12, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Pushing the limit through loopholes and non-regulated things and boosters paying recruits and recruits' coaches are entirely different things.

Posted by gnm53108 on May 12, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

coach nick saban is going to push the envelope...4 million!!!lets find a couple of dt studs and beat the crap out of them come october and they will be the ones to can his a##.

ashley?

Posted by KnoxVol_in_TX on May 12, 2008 at 1:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Agreed...put this on bama's web page. No sense in reading this story here.

For God's sake...what is this junk!!!

Posted by BigOrangeVol on May 12, 2008 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

So he got 32 commitments. Whoopty-freakin-doo; how many will qualify and actually be on their team this fall? The over/under should be about 22.

If he gets beat by Cow College and UT three years in a row Malfunction Moore will fire him. Two in a row by Misserable State may do the trick!

At least they got UL Monroe off the schedule! I'd love to see Tulane, WKU or Ark. St. beat 'em this year.

I think they are looking at their second straight 8-4 season. Four million just doesn't get you what it use to.

Posted by VOLstuckINky on May 12, 2008 at 2:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

another classic example of why this site no longer chages 6 bucks a month ...........

Posted by pdhuff on May 12, 2008 at 2:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Errr, I believe they went 7-5 or 7-6 last year. They lost more than 4. Someone will know.

I'd just be satisfied with a win vs Saban or at worst hold them under 47 passes completed by John Parker Fitzsimmons Kennedy Wilson. What a total lack of effort on our part.....

Posted by TommyJack on May 12, 2008 at 3:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

PD: Don't be such a Negative Nellie. We were in that game right up to kick-off.

Posted by JohnAdamsIsTrash on May 12, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Bama was 6 - 6 during the regular season and I believe they won their bowl game after losing 4 or 5 straight.

Posted by LadyVolsEighTimes on May 12, 2008 at 3:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thye entire Bama team made A's last semester.

An offical at Bama stated they are "really gonna try to teach them B's, maybe C's next semester.

Posted by orange4ever on May 12, 2008 at 3:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe they can tell them who their daddy is too.

Posted by TommyJack on May 12, 2008 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

LadyVols: First I think they have to next learn the A's in cursive.

Posted by thesavageorange on May 12, 2008 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yep ,Bama was 7-6.

Every coach in the SEC wishes the same thing Saban does.

Posted by Ashley on May 12, 2008 at 4:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

112 days till Football Time In Tennessee!!!!

Posted by VolFanatic33 on May 12, 2008 at 4:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey savage,
Just saying that talking bad about a team or coach that just beat us as bad as they did doesn't provide much support for any arguments, no matter what any other team did. We should worry about ourselves first.

Posted by thesavageorange on May 12, 2008 at 6:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

VolFanatic33 , Very true sir, very true.

Posted by pdhuff on May 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yep, TJ, 3:36 you're right, I stand corrected. Our bus didn't break down on the way over to Tuscaloosa. That was positive. Phil got fed, that's a given and we only gave up 41 to a 6 loss team. See, its easy.

I did hear it took us 4 days to completely get our a## down from between our shoulders. LOL

Posted by IPOrange on May 12, 2008 at 7 p.m. (Suggest removal)

UL-Monroe 21
Alabama 14

That eases the pain of 41-17 at least a little bit.

When does "Football Time in Tennessee" come out? I'm in a deep funk this time of year.

Posted by invisiblekid on May 12, 2008 at 7:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Don't worry Savage, we may have plenty of problems on our own but it never hurts to relish in someone else's misery on occasion.

Posted by thesavageorange on May 12, 2008 at 8:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)

invisiblekid ,Ahhh, the commodore method right?I read about that in a book once.Let's just hope I don't have to make it a habit!

Posted by sjt18 on May 13, 2008 at 1:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey pdhuff, Fulmer is 2-0 against Richt with a competent OC... how's that?

Posted by pdhuff on May 13, 2008 at 5:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)

sjt18- good morning -True and accurate point.

I just read that Dave Clawson is the 1st Tenn OC from outside the program in TWENTY-FIVE years. Goes back to Walt Harris. Hard to believe we became that inbred, albeit successfully. Talk about stay the course!

AJC just picked us 3rd in the East. No surprise there, but picked Auburn over LSU in the West.

Posted by sjt18 on May 13, 2008 at 5:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Nope. No surptise at all. I will be amazed if anyone picks UT higher than third though the smart money would be 2nd. Some will undoubtedly pick them 4th behind USC... again. As I've mentioned before, I see one and only one potential loss on UF's schedule- UT in K'ville.

That is pretty interesting. 25 years huh? Makes it pretty exciting doesn't it?

FWIW, I don't think CPF's job ought to ride on Clawson's O this year. I think it should ride on Chavis' D. He got in trouble the first time by letting his loyalty to Sanders outweigh the good of the program when the guy was obviously performing subpar (you can look at point production- it generally dropped off as Cut's players left)... I hope CPF isn't repeating that mistake with Chavis.

Posted by sjt18 on May 13, 2008 at 5:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Don't know about the West pd. Every time I pick a team I notice glaring weaknesses. Auburn's schedule is better than LSU's and since no one has really challenged those two in awhile except for Arkansas amazingly.... I guess Auburn is the safe choice.

Posted by TurboFan on May 13, 2008 at 8:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)

PD, that isn't exactly true is it? Walt Harris was OC from 83 to 88 and had no prior coaching or playing experience with UT except the OC position. Thus Clawson is the first since Walt left in 88, 20 years? Depends on how you define "is".

Trivia question, who was OC prior to Walt Harris?

Posted by BADGES0413 on May 13, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)

WD40,

Was it Al Saunders or Bill Pace?

Posted by vol_in_lsu_land on May 13, 2008 at 9:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I wonder, what exactly is the "big deal" about hiring coaches outside the "family"? And what exactly is wrong with promoting good coaches that have UT roots?

Fellas, I do understand that schemes and philosophies get stale without new blood. That is why I am glad to see Clawson come in with some new ideas. However, I also see an advantage to having coaches who played at UT or spent significant time with the program as position coaches. Perhaps loyalty is a small ingrediant to success?

The good thing about hiring Clawson is that (if he's successful) he'll be the prime candidate to replace Fulmer. Hopefully he'll grow into the position and develope a sense of loyalty to Tennessee football. Some on here would love to see UT go out on a limb and hire a "brand name" coach (ie Nick Saban/Steve Spurrier) to come in and rebuild the program. Two problems here...UT doesn't need to be "rebuilt". The program is far from dead. Second, the model for that type of coaching hire is usually short term success but long term misery because questionable recruiting tactics usually go hand in hand and the NCAA gets involved (see Alabubba's history)

I welcome our new coaching staff, but more than anything I want them to develope a sense of loyalty to "Rocky Top".

Posted by Vol13 on May 13, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

sjt18:

Great point about Florida's only possible loss in 2008 being to UT. Afterall, we've beaten them 5 times in the past 17 years and they only squeaked by with a 39 point victory last year. They return virtually everyone, only a year older and wiser. We lost a 4 year starter at QB, will be breaking in a new offensive system, lost 5 of our front seven from last year on a defense that wasn't very good, and they have about double the amount of talent on their roster than we do. I can see why you think we are primed to pull the upset.

Posted by hiresanders on May 13, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Alabama will not lose to Tennessee while Saban is coach. He had the worst team he is ever going to have last year and still won by more than 3 touchdowns!

Posted by Vol13 on May 13, 2008 at 10:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

vol_in_lsu_land:

Just to play devil's advocate with you - Let's say that UT goes 6-6 for the next two years. I'm not saying that it will happen, but it's not completely out of the question either. This is a tough league. Recruiting was down 2 of the last 3 years. With back to back records like that, it won't be easy to draw in Top 10 classes either. We won't be on TV as much. We won't be ranked, etc. The domino effect.

Enter a couple of UT fatcats hell bent on helping rebuild the program. They might even make it their crusade to save Fulmer if by chance he was still around. You never know. They get more involved and start shifting money around under the table, buying cars, jewelry, whatever.

The above is exactly how Alabama got in the mess they got in. A little subpar football in the South can make people do a lot of crazy things. Don't think that UT couldn't get caught in the same web. I'd want the best guy that could do the job. I don't care if he has Tennessee ties or not. And him not having them does not mean that he'd be a candidate to get us in hot water.

Posted by TommyJack on May 13, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

vol13 has valid points.

Posted by Colliervol on May 13, 2008 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Darn right those freshmen better get to Tuscaloosa early. The slush fund may start running low when the upperclassmen get back on campus. Better get some while they can.

One note vol-in-lsu-land. Clawson will have plenty of time to grow into the program and develop that sense of loyalty you were referring to. Jimmy Sexton and Mike Hamilton had a lunch meeting yesterday in Memphis to put the finishing touches on Fulmer's new 7 year contract. (Actually, it's an extension putting it back to a 7 year term.) Unless something catastrophic hits, I expect Fulmer to be there 3 to 4 more years at least.

Posted by Vol13 on May 13, 2008 at 3:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

If Hamilton agrees to any extension for Fulmer then he is hitching his wagon to a shetland pony and heading for the Kentucky Derby. He'll sink the UTAD with any kind of buyout.

Posted by sjt18 on May 15, 2008 at 7:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Vol13, You don't comprehend very well, do you?

I didn't say UT would beat UF. But even 99gator acknowledges that UT on the road is probably UF's toughest game this year. They get UGA in J'ville of course but if you think Fulmer's futility against UF is bad... check Richt's.

Home games- Hawaii, Miami, Ole Miss, LSU, UK, USC, and of course UF's tradition of playing a terrible FCS school every year lives on with the Citadel.

Away games- UT, Ark, Vandy, FSU

IF they get by UT in K'ville, their schedule couldn't lay out any better.

Posted by sjt18 on May 15, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Vol13, I don't believe CPF can survive one much less two 6-6 seasons.

Posted by TurboFan on May 15, 2008 at 8:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

SJT, can CPF survive UT fans if Meyer wins two NCs in three years?

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