I would rather Saban boot a player who broke the rules, than a player who didn't meet performance expectations.
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OT: Tide Clear Scholarship Room by Punting Thieves
But it had to be done.
but I don't recognize the other three. Surprisingly, the three I don't remember get the boot while Calloway gets to stay. Definitely done the Saban way. I just get the feeling that Dee Hart will not be with Bama next year.
It says all four got the boot.
Dang it, Nick. if you had kept Calloway, I could have referenced
Jock Guide To Getting Arrested, Rule 1: Don't Suck
Eddie Williams was a 5 star, Pettway and Hayes were both 4 stars. All four were talented guys. I don't know how much they contributed in college.
Call me a cynic, but it's easy to make this move when the football team's at the top of the mountain and their recruiting machine is bringing in top recruits on an annual basis. Also, was this Nick's doing or the University's? UA couldn't take the PR hit that would've accompanied keeping these guys on, especially if they only kept the guys most likely to contribute on the playing field. They don't want to actually confirm to the world that they have a win-at-all-costs mentality.
I understand the Saban hate, but I seriously doubt these guys would have been kept around anywhere. They jumped a guy, beat him to a pulp, robbed him, committed credit card fraud, and at least one of them had also been carrying an illegal firearm at some point,
It needed to be done.
the ongoing discussion of Alabama during the offseason is always oversigning so I just ran with it. if i hadn't said THIEVES in the title, you'd have a point
Its good to see you again, Geaux.
And its good to see that at least Saban's practice is actually punishing players that should probably be punished this year.
But it was actually warranted.
My mom had no idea this was coming.
Doesn't count: your mom is a bear, and doesn't even know what football, electricity, or Seinfeld is.
Terrible title. We all bash the coaches for being too lenient on players who violate the rules. So instead of appauding Saban for having a backbone you are making him seem devious by kicking off player who broke rules? Saban might be a douche but give the man credit this time.
It doesn't really require backbone to dismiss players for crime when you are 9 spots over the scholarship limit.
did i take credit away from him for kicking them off? did i label them as anything less than thieves, or even refuse to explain their crimes in my pull quote?
Yes. Yes, you did.
or are you going more for the "you can't put your finger on it" angle?
Your title leads with "Tide Clear Scholarship Room". That's strongly suggesting a purpose behind the dismissals that has absolutely nothing to do with doing the right thing. Claiming you aren't taking any credit away from Saban because you also give another reason for the dismissals is just silly.
Sadly, I read the title and immediately wondered who this Thieves kid was, what position he played and how highly he was rated.
Hey Blue Mike, is your avatar a thing that exists somewhere?
Or just a really awesome non-thing thing?
It is a thing that exists... on my hard drive. I cropped it from a wallpaper I made.
Fantastic. Please let us know if you make the wallpaper or this version available! ...if you haven't already.
To add to the troubles of Eddie Williams in particular, I believe there had been a story somewhere that said he was arrested the day before the robberies and attacks described in the Washington Post article for carrying a handgun without a license, and I think Calloway has been in trouble before as well, but for marijuana possession.
It is hopefully fair to say that what these players did should not reflect the values of ANY organization, to paraphrase Nick. Here is a slightly more detailed piece with some more of his quotes regarding this (LINK). Actually, it states that after their judicial review at Alabama, the four mentioned in the article are no longer enrolled there either.
I don't know. I bet Saban is actually thinking something more along the lines of, "if like 5 more of you could break the law, that'd really be doing me a solid."
Not fired in the truest sense, but...
For some reason I'm reminded of Gollum sprinkling the lembas crumbs on Samwise's cloak.
This is just next level roster management by Saban. He's got a network of narcs following around non-performers.
This is meant as a joke.
Probably.
And completely separate from the post itself
Brent Calloway: 10 carries for 63 yds, 0 TDs
DJ Pettway: 4 TFL, 2.5 Sacks, 1 QB Hurry, 8 total tackles
Tyler Hayes: 10 Solo tackles, 14 total, 1 QB Hurry
Eddie Williams: No available stats
So Saban actually did lose a bit in Pett and Hayes, both Freshman
Saban's bible:
Dreaded double post. My bad!
Eddie Williams was a universal 5 star recruit, the other 3 4-star recruits (Calloway being a Rivals 100 guy). We can all snicker about how convenient it is for Saban to find room for his next class, but he lost some big time football talent with these guys. The crimes definitely warranted being booted though, just trying to say this wasn't about Saban booting some scrubs off his roster.
Eddie Williams was a universal 5 star recruit, the other 3 4-star recruits (Calloway being a Rivals 100 guy). We can all snicker about how convenient it is for Saban to find room for his next class, but he lost some big time football talent with these guys. The crimes definitely warranted being booted though, just trying to say this wasn't about Saban booting some scrubs off his roster.
We should snicker about Saban kicking these kids off. This is exactly the problem with oversigning. Any school that doesn't oversign would be facing the likelihood of being down 4 players right now. But because Saban had room for 12 or 13 (or whatever) and signed his SEC allowed 25, he has plenty of room to give these kids the boot.
Agree with your point, but other than Calloway, I can't imagine these are players he would have wanted to kick off the team. One was an all freshman-SEC performer, another contributed on special teams as a freshman and a third was redshirted. Calloway seems to have fallen hopelessly behind in the RB depth chart, but I'm sure Saban and Co. at least had hopes for the future out of the other three. You are right though, in that this won't hurt Bama nearly as much as it would other schools.
It's fine to snicker about oversigning, sure, but this isn't a case where Saban is in the wrong. Booting these kids was warranted (at least the 3 that were part of the beating/robbery)....if he hadn't, I guarantee there'd be a thread about how could he let this slide, about how he only cares about football and winning. I'm pretty sure Saban was not eyeballing 4 freshmen with solid football credentials coming out of HS for St. Saban's Hospital or whatever pastures he's sending some kids out to in order to get his next class in. All that said, Saban still treats his football program like a ruthless CEO treats his/her business and it's not fair to the kids that just want to have an enjoyable college experience.
I have tons of respect for Nick Saban. I really do.
Quote from him regarding those kids: "Some people learn by words, some people learn by consequences and some people can't learn at all."
Maybe my sarcasm meter is broken, but I can't tell if you're serious or not. Did he really say that? If he did, that is the frickin' epitome of "sad, but true".
"There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves."
Saban is a brilliant football coach and motivator, and obviously he's doing the right thing here. His penchant, though, for stretching the letter of the rules and as such ignoring their spirit makes him warrant every bit of the suspicion he gets for the way he manages the roster.
My eyes burn from reading the comments on al.com
I honestly don't think he did it to clear roster space. All 4 were really good recruits and 3 of them saw time as freshman. He wouldn't just drop them for unproven recruits. As much as I hate Alabama and Nick Saban I think he did it to teach a lesson to those kids. Just my thoughts
Now, I dislike the Dark Lord Nick Saban as much as the next guy, but that thread title is weak. That was very TMZ/Tabloid Magazine of you.
Maybe they were kicked off the team for being turds, not for clearing scholarships?
So if Saban doesn't cut them ... He's Satan, and $EC and blablaba
If Saban cut them ... He's Satan because he did this to get room to sign other players.
Well, when you say it like that... Yes.
Well, obviously Saban set them up on the crimes. Must've been a handful of the 3-stars that he overlooked when they signed their LOI (aka letter-of-you-can-try-out-for-bama). Now he looks like a Saint instead of Satan because he booted some "lawbreakers" from his team. It's the perfect scheme!
/s <-- Someone would miss it.
The part of the story everyone is missing, is Saban didn't dismiss anyone, the University kicked them out. Unless, I read it wrong.
University spokeswoman Deborah Lane said Wednesday that linebackers D.J. Pettway and Tyler Hayes, safety Eddie Williams and H-back Brent Calloway are no longer enrolled after a judicial review.
Your probably right. If it was up to Saban these kids would still be on the team. To me it's just like Tressel promoting an environment detrimental to compliance. Meyer was known to do the same thing at Florida.
In the SEC and Cbus, playing football gives you a free pass to act as you wish without consequence. There's absolutely no accountability in these webs of deceit. Moral obligation as a player is rare, and academic obligation is basically nonexistent.
And now you can begin to understand "The Michigan Difference".
Good move on Saban's part, but I still hate him.
and coached at Mississippi State, no one would care. Not to mention, holding up Saban as the posterchild for oversigning is like making Andy Pettite the posterchild for PEDs. The only evidence that Saban has forced anything onto anyone is the NYT article that had very questionable integrity. He's easy to hate, I get it. I'm no fan of Saban, but following every roster decision he makes to try and uncover some dirt on him is silly. FTR, I realize that this thread was created at least partially for humor and the OP likely doesn't think Saban kicked the players off the team to clear roster spots. This is just something that has been annoying me for a while.
he still has 6 more players to get rid of to get to 85.
i will just put out this torch and lay this pitchfork over there, where i found it.
for anyone else, the 4 dudes trey speaks of will not be asked back for a 5th year.
Like picture - very funny
Saban didn't do crap other than follow along with the University's Judicial Review ruling (as if he had a choice). The fact is that the University kicked them out and, of course, Saban is just spinning it like he did something disciplinarian. He didn't do squat.
mgoblog has gone downhill if my half-assed, .5 second title that doesn't even ignore WHY the kids were kicked off receives more commentary than the actual topic.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I'm sure that this helps Saban's cause, but booting a couple of guys guilty of robbing doesn't strike me as repeatable "roster management." Now, when a third-string LB gets pinched for missing curfew by 10 minutes, then we'll have something to complain about.
Fact that the school kicked them out means saban just followed what already was directed by the school.
Oversigning...well it's roster management and what needs to be addressed isn't the 25 per yr limit but it needs to be 25 plus 3 in a yr or 85 total plus 3... that way if you only have 15 available scholarships and you can't still sign 28 something the sec is still doing.
If you want to define a position of luxury this is an example of it. These guys are mostly well recruited guys, who couldnt make the two deep. Their dismissal means nothing probably and allows them to reload.
That said. That is the luxury of being the best and getting who you want. This would not be something we could afford.
However our coaches would do the same thing. So dont think you can fault Saban.
This is what sec does, they take chances on recruiting, sometimes the recruit will work just fine sometimes he will show its true colors as a thug.. How do u play representing the student body and then you go and beat up students and steal their stuff... Gangsta fooo life LOL