Jumbo Package: How many rules are going to be named in honor of Nick Saban by the time he retires?

This is gross.

AL.com All-Access: You can't beat Nick Saban and Alabama with legislation | AL.com

Alabama's ability to hire quality coaches for relatively minor staff roles irks some people in the profession. Take Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, perhaps still bothered by his team's 2011 BCS snub, who took a shot.

"The mistake they're making is they don't have control of these analysts," Gundy told CBSsports.com. "It's ridiculous. I don't care what the number is, the analyst position is a good thing for coaches who got left out of the coaching search. We bring them in here and pay the $50,000. But there needs to be a limit. Why should one school have 15 and I have two?"

A question for Gundy: If they're cheap and there's no current limit, why do you have only two? Perhaps you should take that up with mega-booster T. Boone Pickens.

Did serial buffoon Mike Gundy just suggest that Nick Saban, of all people, has no control over something that happens on his team? That is laughably stupid even from a laughably cartoonish man like him. Nick Saban probably knows my schedule better than I do.

Seriously, the NCAA is now trying to regulate how many non-coaches a team can have on its staff. This seems to be their cheap and easy response whenever Saban plays within the existing rules: rather than teams joining him in innovating, rules committees sound the hue and cry to legislate away a perceived advantage. Knowing how competitive and vindictive the cash-starved smaller schools are and the coaching profession notoriously is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pass.

And, that’s really a damn shame since Alabama Last Chance U for Coaches has done such a great job sheltering the fallen and then releasing them back into the wild with healthy restored wings — Dan McCarney, Lane Kiffin, Mike Lockesly, Steve Sarkisian, Mario Cristobal and many others are instances of coaches that were fired, embarrassed, or otherwise shunned that Alabama brought in to the fold as analysts and non-coaching support staff who have then restored their careers, often at the highest levels.

I sure as hell hope that is mentioned as part of the calculus when this proposal comes up for discussion.

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Alabama Football's offense will look 'a little different' in A-Day Game Jalen Hurts Brian Daboll

“Just like more of a, it’s just a little different, you know,” Ridley said. “Lots of little differences. But not too much. I don’t know. I really don’t want to say too much, but not much different.”

While Ridley kept his cards close to his chest with reporters, the offense has experienced some noticeable changes this spring, even if they might not fit under the earth-shaking category.

The passing game, for starters, and starting quarterback Jalen Hurts have progressed since the end of last season. Improving Hurts’ accuracy through the air, especially down the field, was a point of emphasis this spring, and so far, it’s proving to be one of the strengths of an offense full of weapons.

There will be some changes this A-Day, but I tend to think they’ll be a bit less drastic than you would expect. That’s why poor Ridley was so tongue-tied trying to explain the change to offensive dynamic that Daboll has brought: expect to see those in September, not this weekend.

Big, strong, young Alabama lineman 'really getting after it' | AL.com

Only one Alabama player outdid defensive lineman Da'Ron Payne in any of the three primary strength lifts during the Crimson Tide's spring testing.

While Payne recorded the top numbers on the team in both the bench press and the power clean, the top squat was posted by redshirt freshman offensive guard Deonte Brown.

Only five Alabama players squatted more than 545 pounds. Brown did 675 pounds, 40 pounds more than anyone else on the team.

The former four-star recruit from Decatur also bench-pressed 500 pounds, tied for second on the team behind only Payne.

Poor Deonte Brown has a ton of raw skill and power, but it doesn’t seem like he’s the most disciplined — he showed up at camp last fall weighing over 350 pounds, and it’s not a lean 350 either. It has taken (and is taking) Brown a while to shed that and get in SEC playing shape, but he’s making substantial progress. I wouldn’t expect him to be in the mix this year for a job, not with his age and his conditioning. But another year of conditioning and practicing will do him wonders; he’s caught the coaches eyes a few times in Spring already.

Fourth-year Alabama Crimson Tide Football 'backer Christian Miller feeling 'very comfortable' at Sam

“Christian has done a good job,” head coach Nick Saban said earlier this spring. “I think he’s gained a little weight, gotten a little stronger. He’s been in the program for a while, so I think he’s really got a lot of good knowledge and experience.

“I think the thing we’ve always tried to do is get him strong enough that he can go out there and sustain playing at the point. I think he’s made an improvement in that area and certainly can help us in the pass-rush category. That’s something that getting a little bigger, helping him turn speed into power, and that’ll be certainly something that would help him be a more effect rusher.

“We’re pleased with the progress that he’s made.”

All I’m saying is that a certain website names Christian Miller as a player to watch on April 17 and then we see another feature from another site on April 19th about the same player. I wish I could remember who it was...

Snark aside, a nice bunch of quotables here about and from Miller and his role with the defense this Spring.

High hopes for defensive lineman and junior college transfer

We’ve still got to improve on certain things from a discipline ... I’m not talking about discipline personally, I’m talking about discipline to do your job all the time, rather than always trying to make the play. There’s a difference in that. You always want to try to make the play, but you’ve got to make the play doing your job. That’s what we continue to work on.”

Everything we read about Buggs speaks of his motor and his desperately wanting to make a play...often at the expense of maintaining gap discipline. Still, he’s getting there, slowly but surely. This is where veterans on the defensive line like Daron Payne and D’Shawn Hand need to become leaders — in stepping up and mentoring younger players.

Sacred Alabama football tradition 'just eroding away' with little hope of preservation | AL.com

Constant exposure to the weather and a lack of uniformity over the years took a toll.

"Honestly," said Alabama assistant athletics director for facilities Brandon Sevedge, "we try to not pressure wash them and try to leave them alone as much as we can because anything you do further degrades them and makes it harder to read them."

Damn, this is just a tragic story. Weather, sun, moisture, inconsistency of material are all taking a toll on the Walk of Champions, an edifice that turns 70 this Spring. Joe Namath is nearly gone; many others aren’t far behind, including luminaries from the 2009 season.