The Jumbo Package: 08.05.10

ed. - Now that the Monday Morning Required Reading is kaput for another season, we'll be doing a morning links post so you can all get your days started off right by goofing off at work with news of our beloved Tide.

Tide DB Woodson will transfer 'somewhere in Alabama,' mother says | Birmingham News

The big news yesterday was the "mutually agreed upon" release of safety Rod Woodson, leaving the secondary short handed once again after the good news about Dequan Menzie had us all feeling a little bit better.  Woodson's mother tells the Birmingham News that he will transfer "somewhere in Alabama" (South Alabama has become an island of misfit former Bama players recently so I wouldn't be surprised if he wound up a Jaguar, and if Troy can find a place for Jeremy Elder, well...), and hinted that an off the field issue was the reason for the transfer:

She was under the impression that her son's grades weren't a problem. There "might have been" an off-the-field incident recently involving her son, she said, but she declined to elaborate, saying she knew no details.

Also recall that Woodson, whom nearly everyone had penciled in as the starter opposite Mark Barron during the spring, wound up working with the second team behind Robert Lester on A-Day.  Apparently there's been some friction there for a while.

Meanwhile, we're still waiting on word concerning the eligibility of both Blake Sims and Deion Belue, Both are fighting for the last available spot on the 105 man roster, so at this point whoever the NCAA calls first is probably going to be it.  Both are highly touted types with Sims, a high school QB, widely expected to be moved to DB as soon as he sets foot on campus.  With all this uncertainty, it's no wonder Kendall Kelly is back working with the safeties.

Red Zone Efficiency Part of Early Work | Tuscaloosa News

kleph dropped the science yesterday on the Tide's red zone defense after Saban specifically touted it during his press conference, and today the Tuscaloosa News has a good write up on how the team focuses on red zone efficiency on both sides of the ball early in fall camp:

As fall camp opens for UA today, head coach Nick Saban has taken care to point out that the 2010 Crimson Tide is a new team in progress, and a separate collection from the group that earned the national championship last year. But efficiency in the red zone will have its place in preseason drills as the coaching staff begins to bring shape to the team.

"We have a teaching progression we go through," Saban said. "The things we do in the red zone probably require some fundamental teaching of three or four practice days before the players are ready to take that on, in the progression of how they learn fronts and coverages on defense as well as formations and plays on offense."

Let's hope the offense takes those three or four practices to heart this year.

SEC Teams Ranked By Forced Turnovers | Saturday Down South

Prompted by new Georgia DC Todd Grantham's stated desire to generate more takeaways this year, Saturday Down South ranked all of the SEC by number of forced turnovers over the past three years.  Alabama led the pack with 80 and was the only team to generate at least 24 in each of the past three years (It's almost as if something spectacular happened three years ago to turn the Alabama defense around...), followed closely by Florida with 78.  Don't read too much OMG FORCED TURNOVERS=SUCCESS into it, though, since Arkansas came in third with 76 and the Hogs definitely haven't had the same last three years as the Tide and Gators.

and etc...

Moore Gets Three Year Extension | Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL

Gene Stallings talks respect with education employees | The Times Daily | Florence, AL

Way Back Wednesdays: A Wild Night in Tuscaloosa - Arkansas Expats

MUSTACHE WEDNESDAY: THE WANNSTACHE AND DORK SABAN - Every Day Should Be Saturday

Star Jackson still rocking #2 | Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Atlanta, GA