Another player is going on medical scholarship, this time senior tackle Charles Hoke. The former tight end moved to tackle over the spring to try and provide some depth, but after two shoulder injuries over the spring, including having it popped out of place the Monday before A-Day, the medical staff advised against his playing the final season. For those of you counting at home that brings the (assumed) scholarship number down to 65 without, as it should be noted, yanking some poor kid that can play but doesn't have five flashy stars attached to his name's scholarship away from him for no good reason.

Update [2008-5-2 13:25:7 by Todd]:

Conquest Chronicles has an in depth post on this type of injury that you should all go read to see exactly why a recurring injury like this would cause a medical staff to caution a player against continued participation in football.

I'm trying to be evil! I really am!

...about the Tide getting shut out of the draft for the first time since 1970, and that something is "ATTENTION 2009 RECRUITS: A DEARTH OF TALENT MEANS A VERY HIGH POSSIBILITY OF PLAYING TIME. YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT." That is all.

Also, some monday Snow. Just 'cause.

No, this idea had nothing to do with this. I've actually been thinking about this for quite some time...

Last summer my dad came to visit me in Tuscaloosa. Summers in any college town are slow and uncrowded, but this week was particularly slow given that it was between summer and fall classes. He said he came down to visit then because he was normally only in Tuscaloosa on football weekends or for basketball games and there was always a sense of urgency during his visits. He wanted time to stroll around an uncrowded campus in an unhurried manner.

We walked over to Denny Chimes to check out the permanent captain displays. We both have seen them a million times but not in this way. He'd usually see them on football weekends when it was crowded or I'd scurry past them on the way to class barely taking notice of them since they'd become part of the backdrop of my daily life. This day, however, we walked around Denny Chimes enjoying time together as father and son (and football fans.) We reminisced about the players we both had watched in action and he regaled me with tales of players from days long before I walked the earth that might escape a younger generation of fans. Sure, I knew all about the big names of the past, but there are certainly lesser known names enshrined in concrete at Denny Chimes that I have no idea who they are. It was a really fantastic late summer afternoon and I had a blast talking football with my old man (one of our favorite topics.)

One thing that struck me though is how worn out some of the concrete is. Some names are becoming difficult to read and others are quite worn even though you can tell who they are. Even the displays of players as recent as George Teague are showing pretty significant wear and tear both to the name and to the prints. Not only are they getting pretty worn out, but they take up an enormous amount of space when they don't really need to. It looks like the current size is based upon what they did earlier when they were close to the sidewalk of University Boulevard. Each player's portion is pretty large and it doesn't really need to be given that it has their name, the year they were elected captain and their hand and foot print. I was thinking perhaps the concrete should come up and they be replaced with something similar to the Hollywood walk of fame where the each player's area is done in stone rather than concrete. It would last longer and look better and take up less space. At the current rate, in another decade the concrete is going to start taking over the quad.

Instead of stars, they could have football helmets with the players number on it, which would naturally match our actual helmets. It could then have the players name, and the year they were captain like it does now. These could probably be 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the current monuments. The handprints and footprints would probably be a casualty of my proposed renovation, but I think it would be a small price to pay. Perhaps a compromise could be that they'd have the handprint and (actually) cleatprint be done in bronze and inlaid into the stone. That part of the tradition could be preserved but it would last a lot longer. I don't look at this so much as changing a tradition as I do improving it. These things can't go on at their current size forever. Something has to be done eventually to both maintain the current ones (some of which are in bad repair) and to address space concerns. For the players that are still alive, perhaps they could re-cast them for the new monuments or perhaps it would just be left off of the replacements.

Thoughts???

Housekeeping first; y'all may notice a certain lack of updates here for the next few weeks. OTS and Nico are both in the midst of finals and my "real life rudely intrudes" issues have been well chronicled over the past few weeks, so unless there's just something big going on, don't expect a lot of posts beyond the totally easy word of the day and random ten variety. Give us a few weeks and we'll be right back at it.

As for the new poll, since the "Bear is DEAD!!!" bullshit continues to pop up 25 years and eight coaches later, I just wanted to see how many of our readers were even alive during Bryant's tenure at Alabama. Personally, I was alive (born in '78) but have no actual recollections of the man coaching at Alabama or his death, making Gene Stallings the gold standard for what an Alabama coach should be to most people my age (and younger).

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, the shoes Nick Saban has to fill are on this man.

You know the routine...

• First and foremost, it was a very nice crowd that came out for A-Day, and that should be noted. I don't think we will ever again see a crowd of 92,000+ with the fire marshall turning people away at the gates -- in Tuscaloosa or anywhere else -- but almost 80,000 is a huge number in its own right. I love the A-Day game, but it's just a scrimmage, and the fact that we were able to put that money people in the seats to watch a 7-6 team scrimmage, that really says all you need to know about what is, with little doubt, the nation's most diehard fan base. If anything, I think the crowd would have been a few thousand higher had there not been such bad weather the night before. Either way, we should all be proud of the fan participation, and it is seemingly helping on the recruiting front yet again.

• As for the weather, you couldn't get any better. It was pretty cool, in the mid 60's with a nice breeze, and nothing but sunny skies. It was a bad day the Friday before, but it was really great Spring football weather once 2:00 pm rolled around.

• The grounds crew has also done a very good job, which should be noted. I wasn't a big fan of the grass design pattern that they did for the game, but the grass itself looked great. It was nice and lush and a perfect shade of green, not a dead spot to be found anywhere. I'm glad we see that now after years of a very bad looking turf to play on. Interestingly enough, the field started looking a lot better when Saban arrived in Tuscaloosa. Something tells me those two things are connected.

• Funny event right before the game... Saban was roaming the field while the team was doing pre-game stretches and drills, and was walking towards the south endzone. By this point, that end had filled up almost entirely, and he looked up into the stands and gave the slightest little wave. Not even a full wave, mind you, just a bit of a hand gesture of acknowledgement. And naturally the entire end zone went nuts. Right as the commotion broke out, Saban had a slight grin on his face, something like a puppet master must have when he knows he has people at his command on a string. And in this case, obviously he does. Either way, funny stuff.

• Let's move on to the game itself and talk quarterbacks. John Parker Wilson got off to a bad start, but he eventually improved and had a decent day. All in all, though Wilson didn't look spectacular, he looked relatively solid, and there is simply no evidence to suggest that there is any legitimate quarterback race going on at the moment. Wilson, for all of his mediocrity, is light years ahead of McElroy and Fanuzzi. In reality, the second best quarterback on the roster is Thomas Darrah, but to be frank he won't likely challenge Wilson. Darrah's biggest role will be to, hopefully, eliminate the need for Star Jackson to play as a true freshman, giving him the opportunity to redshirt.

• It was a bit of a middling day for the tailbacks. Roy Upchurch started nicely, but faded down the stretch. Terry Grant looked nice as a receiver and in a scatback role, but really showed no signs whatsoever of an ability to be an effective inside runner. Demetrius Goode played a little, but it was relatively obvious to see that his knee still isn't where it needs to be, and he struggled to reach the second level. Jeramie Griffin ran outside the entire time, oddly enough, and didn't get a chance in short-yardage situations. Long story short, the A-Day game merely reinforced the unsettled situation at tailback. We'll just have to wait 'til the Fall, I suppose.

• The tight ends continue to look good. Being quite frank, we might have more quality depth there than anyway. Nick Walker looked very good as a receiver, and it seemed like he has only further built upon his breakout 2007 campaign. Ball security, unfortunately, remains a concern but he is nevertheless a very good receiving threat. And Travis McCall looked solid as usual. The real good news, though, was the developed depth. Preston Dial had a couple of standout plays, and Chris Underwood is obviously progressing nicely. Beyond that, Georgia Tech transfer Colin Peek established himself as a fine player, and honestly he is just as good as any tight end on the roster, including Walker. All told, I'm not sure we have any great players at the position, but we do have a very large amount of quality depth.

• Wide receiver, too, had a lot of positives. Darius Hanks was as good as advertised, and we'll be hearing his name a lot. Earl Alexander is obviously making a good amount of progress, and is only going to get better. Mike McCoy has been the real surprise, though, and suddenly he has turned himself into a legitimate downfield receiving threat. The really good news of it all is that we did all of this without Nikita Stover in the line-up, arguably the best receiver on the roster. A lot of people felt that we have been establishing a lot of quality depth at wide receiver -- not even considering the 2008 recruiting haul -- and those people looked dead-on during the A-Day game.

• The offensive line had a pretty nice day, but I wouldn't say anything overly spectacular. We struggled to run the ball, but in all fairness I think that has more to do with our problems at tailback and a surprisingly stout defense than anything to do with struggles by the offensive line. We didn't exactly pass block off the edge all that well, but it wasn't too terrible, either. The nucleus for a good line seems to be in place as long as we can stay healthy. I don't believe we have the depth to handle a good deal of injuries, but as long as we can stay healthy I think we'll be okay.

• The surprise of the Spring almost certainly has to be the defensive line. It looked to be a major concern coming in, but surprisingly enough a lot of people have stepped up and we look a lot more solid than anyone expected. Washington continued to look good, and Josh Chapman has made big strides. At end, Bobby Greenwood has bulked up, and Alfred McCullough came on very strong. And Brandon Deaderick looked good too. All in all, it was one of the biggest surprises of the Spring, and things showed up very nicely again during the A-Day game. Those guys played well, and rotated a lot of guys all afternoon.

• The linebacker corps didn't look great, but things didn't look all of that bad either. There is no doubt it is a concern going into the 2008 season -- and half of the 'Bama nation may need counseling if Rolando McClain gets hurt -- but I really don't know what to say. There are so many unproven players there, but things don't look all of that bad. McClain is an absolute stud, and Johns is as much of a specimen as any linebacker in the conference. Reamer might not be an every down player, but he looked fairly solid. Fanney looked like he started to come around at the Jack position, and Eryk Anders came out of literally nowhere this past Saturday to bring something we desperately need -- a speed rusher off the edge. And it's not like those are young guys, either. Aside from McClain, every single one of those guys have been on campus three years or more. And we do have a great recruiting class at linebacker coming in, and that will give us some production. Plus you have to consider that the linebacker corps doesn't take on the importance that it does when we go to nickel and dime packages, something very common today against all of the spread teams. I just don't know. The gut instinct worries me with the linebacker corps, but my brain says it could be pretty solid.

• Speaking of the linebackers, and interesting observation on Zeke Knight. Everyone dressed in full uniform and pads for the A-Day game, even the ones who were out with injuries. There was one exception to that, Zeke Knight, who was dressed in shorts and a jersey with no pads. I really hope he makes it back, but I'm afraid it's just not going to happen. I imagine we will get an official verification one way or the other on the first day of Fall camp.

• The secondary really looked a lot better. Rashad Johnson looked good, and Justin Woodall -- though nothing overly special -- looked better than Marcus Carter a year ago. The corners, too, all looked good and improved. All told, we should have a good defensive backfield in 2008, and the incoming freshmen -- Lawrence, Barron, Green, etc. -- will only further boost that. Saban is well-known as a great DBs coach and for having great defensive backs, and with Dre Kirkpatrick -- a five-star cornerback out of Gadsden, the #1 corner in the country, and the #1 overall prospect in the entire Southeast -- likely to sign with Alabama in eight months, the Tide is going to field some extremely good pass defenses in the coming years. Great DB talent + great DB coaching = great defensive backfield. The secondary should be good in 2008, and honestly that may be the worst defensive backfield we have for years to come.

• All in all, it was a good day and I suppose the thing that people should take away from this past weekend -- above and beyond anything and everything else -- is that there was marked improvement from A-Day 2007 and A-Day 2008. When you look at the two games individually, there is no doubt that there is a pretty big improvement between the two years. The truth is all of this talk about "the process" is so widespread and overused that it effectively makes it become devoid of any real meaning. But we should all fight that, and realize that it is -- despite how much you hear it -- a process, and it will take time. Nothing will come quick, and nothing will come easy. Improvement will come, but even it will come in sporadic bursts and will not be even (see the final six regular season games from the 2007) season. But most importantly, improvement will come. The players are getting more talented, and for the first time in a very long time, we are actually developing existing players. And, believe it or not, you can actually see some indications that we are building some quality depth at some positions. Again, it won't come easy or come quick, but it will come. Above and beyond everything else, people should see the 2008 A-Day game and quickly realize all of the progress that has been made in the previous twelve months.

So, just got this e-mail from the Tidecast guys:

It's also up on their website (screencap here in case it's just a bad joke and they remove it to make me look crazy), but I can't find it mentioned anywhere else on the internets, and I also talked to Jerry from the JCCW and he hadn't heard anything about it either, so I have no clue what's going on.  Have y'all heard anything?

Update [2008-4-16 22:0:57 by Todd]:

Okay, so I just downloaded and listened to the podcast and it is, in fact, a joke.

That pretty much sums it up...

I'm going to separate the posts on the A-Day game into two different posts, one is going to focus on general thoughts, while the other is going to focus on thoughts about individual players and their progress and development. We'll go with the latter first, so here goes:

• John Parker Wilson had a solid, even if not spectacular, day. He looked improved slightly from a year ago, and noticeably threw the football away better, and also got into the check-downs better than what we saw a year ago. I don't think there is any evidence to indicate he is going to have a breakout senior campaign, but he looked solid and improved.

• Greg McElroy looked "good" based on the standards that he had set in the first two scrimmages. He made a couple of nice throws, and by that I explicitly mean three or four. He didn't play particularly well, but he didn't look ungodly terrible, which is apparently how he performed in the first two scrimmages. Unfortunately, there's still not a lot of positives to talk about with him. He doesn't have a strong arm, he's not particularly accurate, and he holds onto the ball so long sometimes you would swear he's clinging to a life jacket in the middle of the Atlantic.

• Nick Fanuzzi looked completely out of his league. He has nice size and a nice arm, but aside from that... it's not pretty. He missed several open receivers, and in particular he overthrew a wide open route over the middle that should have been an easy touchdown, and in fact overthrew it so bad it turned into an easy pick in the back of the end zone for Rashad Johnson. As unimpressive as McElroy looked, Fanuzzi looked much worse.

• Thomas Darrah is the second best quarterback we have on this team, end of story. He has great size, and he has a very big arm. He's more physically impressive than even Wilson. I know he is still in Saban's doghouse for an arrest a few months back, but if you go on pure performance, he is easily the second best quarterback on the roster. I know he's a walk-on, but he's far from typical walk-on. Sufficed to say, you don't find many 6'5 walk-on quarterbacks with rocket arms. We should all be keeping our eye on this kid.

• Terry Grant is not an every-down back, and I've said that on many occasions. I think he showcased that yesterday, he's really a scatback and cannot run between the tackles. He's going to have to get his opportunities that you would typically expect from a scatback, and he's going to have to develop that into a third-down back who can pass block and catch the ball out of the backfield. Fortunately for Grant, and us, he did both of those latter two things really well on Saturday. And that is key for the amount of playing time Grant is going to get this Fall.

• Roy Upchurch started off quite nicely, and he did show some signs of an ability to run between the tackles. Unfortunately, he seemingly faded off late in the game, only further calling into question his consistency, which has always been the big question with him. Either way, though, he's had a nice Spring and should be noted as such.

• Nick Walker... developed into such a good receiving threat at tight end... still can't protect the football.

• Colin Peek had a good day, despite a drop, and was running with the first team. I doubt his appeal goes through with the NCAA, so he likely won't be able to play this Fall, but he's a fine football player and a very good receiver. I figure he is just as good as Nick Walker, and perhaps a bit better. That bodes well when Walker graduates and Peek becomes eligible in 2009.

• Mike McCoy is really breaking out, and his Spring has surprised me. He was never anything remotely close to a deep threat last year, but he has changed that this season, and looked very good yesterday. He looks to have made as much progress as anyone.

• Darius Hanks looked as good as advertised. He might not technically "start," but he's going to play a lot, and get a lot of catches. He wasn't a highly-touted player, but he is obviously a fine player.

• Earl Alexander looked really nice. When he got to Alabama, he had a lot of progress to make fundamentally at wide receiver because he had never played the position before. Going into his third years, he's developing very nicely. He's a physical beast at roughly 6'5 and over 215 pounds, and he is making strides on the fundamental side. He will play a lot in 2008, and catch a lot of balls. It's hard not to be highly optimistic when thinking of his future.

• Marquis Maze showcased some of the true athleticism and physical nature that gets you excited about his future. He is obviously a highly talented athlete, and he's a physical player too. He had a long touchdown catch where he smoked a defensive back, had another nice reception on a crossing route, and blocked well in the running game. I don't think it would be entirely fair to compare anyone to Tyrone Prothro, but I would be lying if I were to say that he didn't remind me of him in many ways. He's small, but highly athletic, and he plays tough as nails.

• Mike Johnson looked like he has made the transition to left guard quite nicely. I've said on several occasions that is a natural guard anyway, and it showed yesterday. He looked good in the running game, and his pass blocking looked much better when not having to face the highly athletic edge rushers at defensive end. At the very least, you can write it in the books that he will be an upgrade over Justin Britt.

• Drew Davis has obviously made some nice progress at right tackle. He was one I was really keeping my eye on, and he looked fairly impressive. He doesn't look overly special, but he generally looked fairly solid. At the very least, he's made a ton of progress this Spring. I still expect Tyler Love to come in and take the starting job at right tackle, but Davis will fight him hard, and in the end give us some quality depth.

• Lorenzo Washington had another nice day at nose tackle. He's not a big guy, but he does have great quickness and burst off the snap, and it pays huge dividends. He's honestly a natural 3-4 end, but he's a pretty stout tackle in his own right.

• Alfred McCullough was highly impressive to me. He's a big kid, and very quick. You can go ahead and write it down now, he's going to play a lot this Fall. He may not technically "start" -- I figure that distinction goes to Greenwood -- but he and Greenwood will split snaps almost evenly, and he will be featured in every major game we play. He has been one of the major surprises of the Spring.

• Josh Chapman is an absolute load at nose tackle. He is listed as 6'1, and that's a total crock. I'd be a bit surprised if he were even 6'0, he's probably more like 5'10 or 5'11. Still, though, that kid is stout as can be. He is very strong, and he has nice quickness, plus his lack of height helps him out with pad level. I was very encouraged by his development this Spring, and he looks to be right on the same level with Washington. I think he'll split snaps with Lorenzo almost evenly.

• Luther Davis has a lot of progress to make. It's great to have him back on campus, but he has a lot of work to do in the weight room. He had a pretty big gut, and he was honestly the biggest of all of the guys going through the defensive line drills. I think his lack of conditioning is probably his biggest problem right now.

• Eryk Anders was a big surprise on defense. He looked very good rushing the passer off the edge, and really looked to have improve. He's bulked up a fair amount, but is still quite fast. We should keep an eye on him.

• Jimmy Johns... He looked okay, and by that I mean just okay. When he hits you, it's like you got hit by a freight train, but that's not what it is all about. He still has a long way to go on the mental side of things, and looked to be confused on a few occasions. And he was seemingly always the first to come off of the field when we went to nickel packages. He's great physically, but mentally he still has a ways to go.

• Jennings Hester was absolutely smoked by Grant on the shallow crossing route that turned into a 75-yard touchdown. I know he's young, but he's not big, and he is obviously not very fast. Makes you wonder...

• Chavis Williams looked pretty impressive. He is a nice physical specimen, and you can tell he has been working hard in the weight room. I wouldn't expect a whole lot out of him in the interim, but for the long-term I think he's a good prospect.

• Justin Woodall... eh, I don't know. I want to see this kid do well -- particularly considering the MLB contract he gave up to come to Alabama -- but I just don't know at this point. He has obviously gotten a starting job locked up at the end of Spring, but realistically we really have no one behind him. He's essentially won the job by default. I was looking at him a good bit on Saturday, and honestly wasn't too impressed. I really cannot recall any play in which he really stood out and impressed me. He's probably looking better than Marcus Carter at this point, but at this rate I don't see him holding off Mark Barron for long.

• Rashad Johnson looked good, and has had a nice Spring. He has obviously added some weight, but is still extremely athletic. As long as he stays healthy, I imagine he will be on the All-SEC teams, and will probably be playing on Sunday this time next year.

• Marquis Johnson has developed nicely as well. He's bulked up a good bit since we saw last him last year against FSU, and overall just seems to be a better player. I doubt he starts this Fall, but he will provide some quality depth. He went out during the game with a mild concussion, but he is seemingly going to be fine.

• P.J. Fitzgerald had a nice yard per punt average, but still looked pretty shaky. He had a couple of nice punts, but by the same token he almost had a couple of short punts that happened to roll a long way. Obviously there were no returns allowed in the game, and I have a feeling those two short ones would have probably been caught in a live game situation, and dramatically decreased his average. I think he's made some progress over a year ago, but we still have a long way to go in the punting game.

• Leigh Tiffin looked good, and nailed a pretty long field goal. He also looked considerably improved when it comes to kick-offs. At the very least, it's nice to have such a consistent kicker on the roster, and one with good range as well. I think he has the potential to be the best place-kicker we've had at Alabama since Michael Proctor.

Bryant-Denny Stadium * 2:05pm * TV: CSS * Radio Affiliates * A-Day Central

Update [2008-4-12 22:8:57 by Todd]:
alextuscaloosa has some great shots from the scrimmage. Personal favorite:

Sports hernia, shmorts hernia.

From the Bama Beat:

Coger had yet to see playing time in his two years at Alabama, and a twisted ankle early in spring practice has kept him sidelined so far this year. Wherever he ends up, we wish him the best of luck in staying healthy and earning playing time.

The SEC is often accused of padding their schedules with soft competition and of not being willing to travel. It's a an accusation with some merit. Since the advent of the 12 game schedule, many SEC schools have often had eight home games. Before that, it was common to have a seven game home schedule. I was perusing the 2008 SEC schedules though and noticed an overall upward trend in both quality of non-conference opponents and a willingness to travel that we haven't seen in a long time. Only LSU has an eight game home schedule this year. Here's a quick look at SEC non-conference travel this year:

Alabama: Clemson in Atlanta
Arkansas: at Texas
Auburn: at West Virginia
Florida: Georgia in Jacksonville, at Florida State
Georgia: at Arizona State, Florida in Jacksonville
Kentucky: at Louisville
Mississippi State: at Louisiana Tech, at Georgia Tech
Ole Miss: at Wake Forest
South Carolina: at Clemson
Tennessee: at UCLA
Vanderbilt: at Miami (Ohio), at Wake Forest

I realize that several of those are standing rivalries and might be dismissed by naysayers, but travel to FSU, Louisville, Clemson can't be shrugged off because it's routine. Two games are neutral site (one conference, one non-conference), but it's still a forfeiture of revenue and home field advantage.

With the exception of the two Vanderbilt games and MSU at LaTech, all of these games are near locks for TV coverage (Ole Miss at WF is a bit questionable too...but it has a chance of regional coverage) Unfortunately this newfound sense of adventure is coupled with the nagging problem of scheduling 1-AA teams. Just about everybody's got one too:

Alabama: Western Kentucky, though I give us a bit of a pass on this one since they're in a transition year to being D1...though I don't know if this was known when the scheduling decision was made. WKU is playing 10 D1 opponents this year.
Arkansas: Western Illinois
Auburn: Tennessee-Martin
Florida: The Citadel
Georgia: Georgia Southern
Kentucky: Norfolk State, Western Kentucky (I'd be interested to know if both count toward bowl eligibility...)
LSU: Appalachian State
Mississippi State: Southeastern Louisiana
Ole Miss: Samford
South Carolina: Wofford

That's ten teams with 1-AA opponents, nine if Western Kentucky is counted as D1 since they're kind of homeless right now (they'll be eligible to earn a bowl bid in the Sun Belt next year.) I realize you can't play USC, Ohio State, Texas and West Virginia for your non-conference schedule, but we, as a conference, shouldn't be playing the 1-AA schools. I know those games serve the money machine, but I don't even care about them. Had Western Carolina not been Saban's first game and the opening game of the season, I wouldn't have gone last year. Actually, the most important factor in attending that game is that I lived within walking distance of the stadium. Without that, I would've skipped it entirely. I like the travel trend, but the 1-AA games have got to cease.