Thoughts on the recent Michigan/Bama war

Before I get into it, let me give a little background information.  When I walked on at the University of Alabama we were a team that beat LSU, Auburn, and Michigan.  By the time I left campus we had fallen apart.  In recent years, as much as it pains me to say this, Alabama became a soft team.  Auburn and LSU know this.  Those in the know, know this.  

Having played with or been coached by several members of Nick Saban's current staff, it is a fact that when Saban became coach in 2007, he stated something to the effect of 33-35 players on scholarship (all of whom were recruited by Mike Shula) were not SEC caliber players.  Saban never would have signed some of these deadbeats, who, consequently, have contributed absolutely nothing to the Alabama team, and he has made this clear from day one.  

Last spring, when 92K showed up, I spoke with one member of the Tide staff who admitted that Bama's team "looked like a high school team" and that the coaches were "extremely worried" about their chances in the 2007 season.  To be blunt, we didn't have a lot of talent.  We had a lot of players just taking up space on the roster, when, as Outside the Lines, Todd, and others have indicated, a scholarship is a two-way street.  A coach doesn't have to renew it, especially when a  player does not live up to his part of the bargain.

This brings me to my list of points:

1. Mike Shula recruited the players in question; Nick Saban OWES THEM NOTHING.  If he wants to force them out, say mean things to them on a daily basis, stand them in the corner of the practice field until they quit the team in shame, he can do so.  They're not his guys.  He didn't recruit them.  They had/have had the option of transferring since he became head coach.  Guys like Jimmy Barnes and Alex Stadler left.  Others have been encouraged to leave.  This is normal during a regime change.

(By the way...as a former walk-on, I have little sympathy for scholarship players, especially some of the ridiculously undeserving guys Mike Shula signed.  They're given a  free ride to play a game we would play in a parking lot while paying our own way.  We were made to work out at five a.m. so the weight room wouldn't be as crowded in the afternoon when the schollies came in.  We were put in the spare room and given all the leftover crap, but we didn't complain because we just wanted a shot.  Many of us never got a look; when we were injured, the coaches said, "Move it up ten yards!" so they wouldn't lose any valuable practice time.  They never looked back to check and see if we were okay.  Despite how the game appears on ESPN (and despite all the moral values, work ethic crap the coaches spit out to sound pious), behind the scenes, there's nothing nice about it.  It is about winning, not making kids feel good.   Everybody knows this.  Football stops being fun for a player in high school.  Every NFL player I know says this and that's not a coincidence.  It's not intramurals, as Dan Hawkins said.  It's not for soft people.)

2. Let Saban "balance the checkbook" as he put it.  None of us know what is going on behind the scenes until it happens.  He has a plan and he will make it work.  Wait and see what happens.  He knows his roster better than any of us.  The one thing I remember from my playing days is that the majority of information written/said about our teams was usually misinformed.  The divide between what we know out here, and what Saban knows on the inside , is vast.  We'll find out after the fact.  
3. Regarding the whole 70 + 32 > 85 thing...just because a player signed a letter of intent in 2007 or 2008, does not mean he will be one of the eighty-five on scholarship in 2008.  When I played there were several players recruited by a number of schools who became walk-ons because they wanted  to play at Bama despite the lack of a scholarship offer.  In the 2008 class, there are several players who could pay their own way for a semester or two if need be, until a scholarship becomes available.  

When it comes to recruiting, retaining players, and building a team, the man is second to none.  Others might be as good, but no one is better.  He knows what he's doing.  He will push the limits of what the NCAA allows, but if he does break any rules, both the NCAA and Alabama compliance office will let him know about it.  Have a little faith in the man.  In a game of sharks, he's Jaws.

4. Michigan guys, we respect your program and your conference because we, as Alabama fans, are football fanatics and follow the game religiously.  But please don't take your frustration at the Big 10's handling of over signing out on us.  As long as SEC teams are allowed to do it, they will.  Football is all about finding advantages.  If the NCAA says players can only have twenty hours of football related work with coaches per week, you better believe that players are going to commit another twenty hours of "optional" (as in, get your ass running, passing, catching while we're not watching) work.  That's the nature of the beast.
5. Worry about your own team.  Worry about beating Ohio State.  I, for one, am sick of seeing them getting so much hype.  Knock them out.