Aaron Suttles
TideSports.com Senior Writer
It's an unorthodox way to start spring practice, to open today before taking nine days off before the next practice.
It's not ideal for Nick Saban, but he's made peace with giving the players a week off for spring break and the Easter holiday.
Saban enters his ninth season as the Crimson Tide head coach, and he admitted he's ready to don his straw hat and hit the practice fields for the first time to run his 2015 squad through drills and game-like situations.
Former Alabama safety Landon Collins said senior cornerback Cyrus Jones will be the leader of the secondary.
There are new starters to be determined and young players to get ready. The challenges are many for Saban and staff, challenges that include finding a quarterback, replacing one of the best wide receivers and running backs in program history and replacing three starters on the offensive line. And that's just on the offensive side of the ball.
Maybe it's that new energy that has Saban so looking forward to coaching this group.
"I'm really excited about this team," Saban said. "They seem to have a great attitude, they've worked really hard and got a pretty good leadership group. I'm excited about it.
"I know we've got a lot of holes to fill, especially on offense. But we also have a lot of veteran players, who have played a lot of football here that are going to get the opportunity to maybe take advantage of having a greater role on the team."
Today marks the first of 15 practices/scrimmage, culminating in the annual spring game, A-Day on Saturday April 18.
During Alabama's Pro Day on Wednesday several former Alabama players named potential leaders to fill roles held by Blake Sims, Amari Cooper, Landon Collins and Trey DePriest in 2014.
Brian Vogler said he thinks senior center Ryan Kelly is ready to assume the leadership role on the offensive line. Jalston Fowler said players would follow junior linebacker Reuben Foster, a strong personality in the locker room that players respond to and fear a little bit.
"A lot of guys listen to Reuben Foster," Fowler said. "I think he can be a great leader for this team. He just needs to step up.
"To be truthful, I think guys just respect him. They just know he's crazy. You know you're going to respect the crazy guy. You don't want to (tick) the crazy guy off."
Fowler, who said he received feedback that he'll be drafted anywhere from the fourth to seventh round, said he'll be keeping a close eye on the running back group.
"I want to watch to see how Kenyan (does). The guy from Vigor (High School) Desherrius (Flowers). I'm interested to see Bo (Scarbrough)."
Collins said there is talent in the secondary, but it must be developed.
"Cyrus Jones will be the leader and I think Geno (Smith) and (Jabriel Washington) will step into it," Collins said. "They'll just have to come in and make sure they've got the defense down before everybody will really listen to them.
"(Hootie Jones) is an outstanding player. He's willing to learn. Looking forward to coming out and being the best player he can be. It's just something that's in his heart."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1745886#sthash.C2hoKTyd.dpuf
TideSports.com Senior Writer
It's an unorthodox way to start spring practice, to open today before taking nine days off before the next practice.
It's not ideal for Nick Saban, but he's made peace with giving the players a week off for spring break and the Easter holiday.
Saban enters his ninth season as the Crimson Tide head coach, and he admitted he's ready to don his straw hat and hit the practice fields for the first time to run his 2015 squad through drills and game-like situations.
Former Alabama safety Landon Collins said senior cornerback Cyrus Jones will be the leader of the secondary.
There are new starters to be determined and young players to get ready. The challenges are many for Saban and staff, challenges that include finding a quarterback, replacing one of the best wide receivers and running backs in program history and replacing three starters on the offensive line. And that's just on the offensive side of the ball.
Maybe it's that new energy that has Saban so looking forward to coaching this group.
"I'm really excited about this team," Saban said. "They seem to have a great attitude, they've worked really hard and got a pretty good leadership group. I'm excited about it.
"I know we've got a lot of holes to fill, especially on offense. But we also have a lot of veteran players, who have played a lot of football here that are going to get the opportunity to maybe take advantage of having a greater role on the team."
Today marks the first of 15 practices/scrimmage, culminating in the annual spring game, A-Day on Saturday April 18.
During Alabama's Pro Day on Wednesday several former Alabama players named potential leaders to fill roles held by Blake Sims, Amari Cooper, Landon Collins and Trey DePriest in 2014.
Brian Vogler said he thinks senior center Ryan Kelly is ready to assume the leadership role on the offensive line. Jalston Fowler said players would follow junior linebacker Reuben Foster, a strong personality in the locker room that players respond to and fear a little bit.
"A lot of guys listen to Reuben Foster," Fowler said. "I think he can be a great leader for this team. He just needs to step up.
"To be truthful, I think guys just respect him. They just know he's crazy. You know you're going to respect the crazy guy. You don't want to (tick) the crazy guy off."
Fowler, who said he received feedback that he'll be drafted anywhere from the fourth to seventh round, said he'll be keeping a close eye on the running back group.
"I want to watch to see how Kenyan (does). The guy from Vigor (High School) Desherrius (Flowers). I'm interested to see Bo (Scarbrough)."
Collins said there is talent in the secondary, but it must be developed.
"Cyrus Jones will be the leader and I think Geno (Smith) and (Jabriel Washington) will step into it," Collins said. "They'll just have to come in and make sure they've got the defense down before everybody will really listen to them.
"(Hootie Jones) is an outstanding player. He's willing to learn. Looking forward to coming out and being the best player he can be. It's just something that's in his heart."
- See more at: https://alabama.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1745886#sthash.C2hoKTyd.dpuf
