🏈 Jonathan Taylor commits to play at Alabama

[It Takes Eleven]

"I feel strong about this now, really strong, about all the criticism out there about every guy who is 19 years old and makes a mistake and you all kill them. And then some people won't stand up for them. So my question to you is, where do you want them to be? Want to condemn them to a life sentence? Or do you want a guy to have his children going to Princeton?"

I love Coach Saban, but this logic sounds eerily like an episode of Parks and Recreation with Ron Swanson:

Mark: …you’ve got hazardous chemicals over here.
Ron: Yea, which only I am breathing. It’s the same liberty that gives a me the right to fart in my own car. Are you going to tell a man that he can’t fart in his own car?

 

[bcracker]

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/01/alabama_football_player_jonath.html

 

[TerryP]

Call this a musing...

It was in the early part of December when I started realizing stories about Taylor to UA had legs; his visit the weekend after the SECCG pretty well set that in stone. I wasn't sure what to think at that point but didn't put any real thought into this until this week.

Here are my thoughts...at least, my thoughts where they stand this morning.

• I can't help but think about Saban's father. I'm drawn back to his story repeatedly; both with DJ and now with Taylor. The reason his name is on the field in W. Virginia is because of the relationship he had with his players and how he reached out to those who needed that push; that helping hand.

• I can't help but think about how Coach Saban looks to his father; how much he was influenced by his dad when it comes to his work ethic and other character traits. In this case, what's mentioned earlier about that helping hand in a community where it was needed.

• I can help myself from making a judgment on what Saban is thinking with Taylor. I don't know what his motivating factors are: I have my suspicions.

• Based on what I know about CNS, I believe he finds personal satisfaction in seeing results of kids he's helped along their way. I also believe he finds more satisfaction in helping those with a "bad hand," than those who've come up with a better family background and still stumble along their way.

• I suspect he looks at a guy like Taylor and sees a "project," someone that could benefit from his "process." Not the football side, but on the life side.

• At his stage in life, at his age, if kids like Taylor are something he finds motivating, is that something I should criticize? I realize, like a lot of you, that I feel like the football program is partly mine due to my time at UA as a student and now as a supporter. But, in the end, it's his program and I/we just share a small part, right?

• I keep falling back to "things aren't always as they seem to appear." I don't know what the story is with Taylor other than what's been reported. Anyone who takes things reported and doesn't look at them with a guarded type of pessimism isn't likely to have an open mind about everything in life.

What you know versus/compared to what you think you know.

[/musing]

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Mark Richt: 'I didn't get contacted' by Alabama about Jonathan Taylor

When Alabama this week signed Jonathan Taylor, a player dismissed from Georgia last summer and still facing a felony charge, Alabama athletic director Bill Battle said the Crimson Tide "thoroughly investigated numerous sources" concerning Taylor's situation.

Those sources apparently did not include Georgia head coach Mark Richt.

Asked this week whether Georgia coaches had talked with Alabama about Taylor, Richttold the Macon Telegraph, "I didn't get contacted." He did not elaborate.

Taylor was kicked off Georgia's team in late July after being arrested on a charge of felony aggravated assault and family violence. He was also one of four Georgia players arrested in March -- James DeLoach, Uriah LeMay and Tray Matthewswere the others -- on charges of deception for double-cashing meal reimbursement checks.

The felony case is in the pre-arraignment stage in Clarke County (Ga.) Superior Court. Taylor received pre-trial intervention on the March charge, but violated its terms with the July arrest, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.

Taylor, a 6-foot-4, 340-pound nose guard, spent the 2014 season at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College. He was one of eight signees to enroll for the spring semester at Alabama this week.

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

Asked this week whether Georgia coaches had talked with Alabama about Taylor, Richttold the Macon Telegraph, "I didn't get contacted." He did not elaborate.

I do not care.

 

[planomateo]

I do not care.

Not being contacted about him...certainly suggests that his opinion isn't needed or valued.

 

[bamaledge]

I've got a couple of opinions on this as well:
1. WWJD? Turn his back on this young man? I don't think so. How many chances has God given you?
2. I trust the coach and BB when they say they have set down the law and will dismiss him if expectations are not met.
3. I would hardly ever hit a woman unless he hit first.
4. Last, I love my wife to death and have never hit her. I have come closer than I care to admit because she knows where to draw the line and frequently crosses it. All kidding aside though, I , like some of you have admitted, have done some stupid things in my life and had it not been for some great people I probably would be dead or in the penitentiary, not from meanness but from alcohol and stupidity.

There is a big difference in committing a crime and not ever owning up to or paying the price for and getting help for what you have done. I think we should all give this kid a chance as coach has done and prop him up, not chop him down.

I know a little about forgiveness. When I was growing up, my father was in the Navy, which he retired out of in 1976, was one of the biggest hell raisers I have ever seen. He was an alcoholic, wife and child beater. He became a baptist minister and retired from that. I said it was not real and would never last, but it did and he is still living for the Lord , so I don't want to hear people can't change. I know they can.

 

[Bamabww]

HURT: It's not clear if Taylor decision is right

Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist

Before saying anything about the University of Alabama's decision to admit Jonathan Taylor, and Nick Saban's decision to offer him a spot on the football team (which, UA statements aside, is the reason he is in Tuscaloosa), I checked for consistency.

I went back to Sept. 16, when I wrote about Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. I went back a month, when I wrote about Saban and D.J. Pettway. In both columns, I advocated for second chances - with conditions - not just for Alabama players but, someday, for Rice, Peterson and others.

Included was an admonition about any school trying to position itself as "morally superior" in the college football world. Alabama fans who have fired away at Auburn (or Louisville or LSU) for some of the choices at those schools now have to yield the high ground, or some of it. The fact is every program, in every sports, has decisions to make.

So, having consistently advocated for second chances, which I believe, and having frequently reported on the positive aspects of Saban's stewardship of the Alabama program, I'd still say the Taylor decision gives me pause. To put it more directly, if it were my decision, I probably wouldn't do it.

Why? It's a fair question, especially given my support of the Pettway decision. There are a couple of crucial differences. First, Pettway had originally signed with Alabama. Saban and the Crimson Tide coaching staff knew him on a daily basis from high school.

They understood what he had done, down to the smallest detail. If someone was going to make an informed decision about whether or not to give him a second chance, Alabama's coaches were those people. Furthermore, his future was, in a certain sense, Alabama's responsibility.

All I know about Jonathan Taylor is what I have read: his height, his weight and his transgressions at Georgia. He was involved in a double-dipping check scheme (for which Mark Richt gave him a second chance) and then in a domestic violence incident that has yet to make its way into court. The details, in bare and ugly form, are that he choked and punched a female.

He was dismissed from Georgia and played in the fall at a junior college and was recruited be several schools, not just Alabama, as a defensive tackle.

I'm sure Alabama has done its due diligence. I'm sure Saban has seen success stories - Pettway seems on the path to being another. I've heard Taylor's high school coach and others say he has made a mistake.

But I am also interested in hearing more from Saban, and from the legal system. What are the specific requirements Taylor will meet? Do they include sitting out in 2015. I haven't heard that he will, just asking.

Until those answers are clear, introducing someone with an unresolved domestic violence issue onto a college campus is a cause for apprehension, football talent or not. That's not because it is a "hot button" topic that will cause a lot of talk. People are always going to talk. Sometimes, the best thing to do is not to listen and do the right thing anyway.

But in this case, no matter how much of a benefit of a doubt Saban gets, people are going to be watching very closely to be sure it is "the right thing" because, at best, there is no way to be sure that it is.

 

[BamaFan334]

He won't do much for us. He couldn't even get on the field at Georgia. We have way more athletic prospects that will see the field ahead of him.

He struck a woman and was a part of the check cashing fraud. This dude is garbage and I hope he doesn't see the field. I'd put two in his chest if he ever hit one of my sisters or daughter, so he better count his lucky stars he's being given a third chance by a guy that normally doesn't put up with crap like this.

 

[TerryP]

He won't do much for us. He couldn't even get on the field at Georgia. We have way more athletic prospects that will see the field ahead of him.

He struck a woman and was a part of the check cashing fraud. This dude is garbage and I hope he doesn't see the field. I'd put two in his chest if he ever hit one of my sisters or daughter, so he better count his lucky stars he's being given a third chance by a guy that normally doesn't put up with crap like this.

You're putting emotional reactions into evaluation. If there wasn't an extremely high upside we wouldn't be having this discussion because he wouldn't be here. The same applies to the fact other schools, like LSU, were recruiting him heavily for this class.

We're talking about a true freshmen who did see the field for UGA; played in almost every game for the Bulldogs in the 2013 season. I realize we can't forecast what kind of impact one player will make. But, to state he won't do much for the team...I don't see any reason to believe that.

 

[BamaFan334]

You're putting emotional reactions into evaluation. If there wasn't an extremely high upside we wouldn't be having this discussion because he wouldn't be here. The same applies to the fact other schools, like LSU, were recruiting him heavily for this class.

We're talking about a true freshmen who did see the field for UGA; played in almost every game for the Bulldogs in the 2013 season. I realize we can't forecast what kind of impact one player will make. But, to state he won't do much for the team...I don't see any reason to believe that.

You're right, it was an emotional response, but I feel a little more strongly about this than I did initially. I never liked the move to begin with, but the more it simmers and the more comments I hear and read I feel even stronger about it.

The guy is facing felony charges. To me, that should be something he should take care of before he attempts to move forward with his life. Something I read said he'll go to court in April.

Guys like him are a dime a dozen. We've had countless guys that could stuff the middle and I don't see where his skills outweigh his pending issues. Once again, we were all over Auburn for Nick Marshall, Cameron Newton, and many others, yet we're doing the same thing now. If you can graph natural progression in someone's bounce back campaign, sure, they deserve a second chance. But Taylor hasn't shown that, cleared hurdles regarding his criminal past, and somehow upgraded from Georgia to a Championship contender every year. I don't see where he has earned the opportunity. It's not on video, but he did exactly what Ray Rice did to a woman half his size. Ray Rice ain't that big, so stick a guy on that video type twice Rice's size and that's what he did. I will never cheer for the guy unless somehow the girl he hits says she lied and it never happened or something. Just how I feel about this whole mess. Let him go to LSU if he is wanted, fact is, we don't need him. And just because he played as a Sophomore doesn't mean he had an impact. We all know they don't develop players well, so their potential isn't to the standard we expect from our guys.

 

[psychojoe]

I understand the reservations many of you have expressed, and I have many of the same ones myself. As I said in an earlier post, wherever the line is on issues like this, he has to be close to it. The U of A is at least as aware as we are of his legal situation, and to me they must have reason to think that Taylor will not be going to jail for a felony on this issue, or they would have balked at accepting him. According to what I have read, there is a policy in place to deal with prospective students facing criminal charges. The public statements of the U of A indicate that these policies were applied to him as they would be applied to any candidate for admission. That is one reassurance that I have about this, that rules were not bent to get him in school because of his football abilities. The second assurance is that Coach Saban, over his eight years, has been genuine in his efforts to help his players succeed not only as football players, but also academically and in their ability to handle life situations. Third, CNS and the coaching staff are at least as aware as we are of what Taylor was accused of doing, and have laid out a course that he must follow. There won't be much tolerance at all if he strays from that course.

 

[BamaFan334]

I understand the reservations many of you have expressed, and I have many of the same ones myself. As I said in an earlier post, wherever the line is on issues like this, he has to be close to it. The U of A is at least as aware as we are of his legal situation, and to me they must have reason to think that Taylor will not be going to jail for a felony on this issue, or they would have balked at accepting him. According to what I have read, there is a policy in place to deal with prospective students facing criminal charges. The public statements of the U of A indicate that these policies were applied to him as they would be applied to any candidate for admission. That is one reassurance that I have about this, that rules were not bent to get him in school because of his football abilities. The second assurance is that Coach Saban, over his eight years, has been genuine in his efforts to help his players succeed not only as football players, but also academically and in their ability to handle life situations. Third, CNS and the coaching staff are at least as aware as we are of what Taylor was accused of doing, and have laid out a course that he must follow. There won't be much tolerance at all if he strays from that course.

Would a normal student get this kind of support from the school? They kick you out after a couple of underage drinking arrests or a small drug offense that warrants only a fine. I understand he's innocent until proven guilty, so he's not necessarily guilty yet, but what if he is convicted? It just makes you wonder if a normal every day Joe would be given this same courtesy?

 

[UAgrad93]

The normal everyday student that may have run afoul with the law wouldn't be in the news for anyone in the general public to know his or her legal issues. We have to take UofA admissions at their word that Taylor is being treated like any other prospective student is being treated in regards to his admission.

 

[psychojoe]

IMO if he is convicted he is gone. I don't 'know' this, but I strongly suspect that the U of A believes that he will not be found guilty of the felony charge. That means that there likely will be a plea agreement in the works to a lesser charge with probation.

Would a normal Joe get the same treatment- I don't know. I am not aware of any normal Joes applying for admission with these charges pending against them so I have no basis for comparison. The fact of the matter is that any scholarship athlete is going to get a higher level of support , and scrutiny, than the normal student, whether he/she has been accused of a felony or not. They, after all, are representing the university publicly. I am not crazy about this decision, but people that I trust have made it, and they have far more information and experience than I do in this area.

 

[planomateo]

Would a normal student get this kind of support from the school? They kick you out after a couple of underage drinking arrests or a small drug offense that warrants only a fine. I understand he's innocent until proven guilty, so he's not necessarily guilty yet, but what if he is convicted? It just makes you wonder if a normal every day Joe would be given this same courtesy?

I'll say yes. Bad things happen at colleges all around over the US and evidence suggests that those students still remain in college.

It's an understatement to say that Saban has intel and is prepared for whatever comes of Taylor's case.

 

[TerryP]

You're right, it was an emotional response, but I feel a little more strongly about this than I did initially. I never liked the move to begin with, but the more it simmers and the more comments I hear and read I feel even stronger about it.

To me, that in itself is a problem. It reads like your opinion is being swayed by the opinions of others who may, or more likely may not, know as much about this as you do.

Once again, we were all over Auburn for Nick Marshall, Cameron Newton, and many others, yet we're doing the same thing now.

Perhaps "we were" should be changed to "I was?" I can only speak for myself, though I realize there are others I can easily name here, but I know I've said on more than one occasion be careful who you're laughing at because it came easily, and quickly, come home to roost.

Guys like him are a dime a dozen. We've had countless guys that could stuff the middle and I don't see where his skills outweigh his pending issues.

Here's I can help but simply disagree. Finding a true nose in today's game is more along the lines of a needle in a haystack.

We only have two guys who fit his type of physique on the roster now; Darren Lake and Jaren Reed. We still don't know what we've got with Lake but hopes are he'll at least be as useful as Ivory has been. And, while Brandon was doubled at times, he's been defended with a single blocker just as much. A good offseason in the S&C area and he (JT) could start this fall in the same physical shape as Cody. At the least, he'll be able to fill a type of role like Reed did this season.

We talk about "breakout players" each off-season. I've seen more than one person, people I trust on evaluations, point to him as one of those types of players.

 

[riz]

IMO if he is convicted he is gone. I don't 'know' this, but I strongly suspect that the U of A believes that he will not be found guilty of the felony charge. That means that there likely will be a plea agreement in the works to a lesser charge with probation.

Would a normal Joe get the same treatment- I don't know. I am not aware of any normal Joes applying for admission with these charges pending against them so I have no basis for comparison. The fact of the matter is that any scholarship athlete is going to get a higher level of support , and scrutiny, than the normal student, whether he/she has been accused of a felony or not. They, after all, are representing the university publicly. I am not crazy about this decision, but people that I trust have made it, and they have far more information and experience than I do in this area.

I'd imagine if he's convicted, he'll do some time. Hopefully.

 

[BamaFan334]

To me, that in itself is a problem. It reads like your opinion is being swayed by the opinions of others who may, or more likely may not, know as much about this as you do.



Perhaps "we were" should be changed to "I was?" I can only speak for myself, though I realize there are others I can easily name here, but I know I've said on more than one occasion be careful who you're laughing at because it came easily, and quickly, come home to roost.



Here's I can help but simply disagree. Finding a true nose in today's game is more along the lines of a needle in a haystack.

We only have two guys who fit his type of physique on the roster now; Darren Lake and Jaren Reed. We still don't know what we've got with Lake but hopes are he'll at least be as useful as Ivory has been. And, while Brandon was doubled at times, he's been defended with a single blocker just as much. A good offseason in the S&C area and he (JT) could start this fall in the same physical shape as Cody. At the least, he'll be able to fill a type of role like Reed did this season.

We talk about "breakout players" each off-season. I've seen more than one person, people I trust on evaluations, point to him as one of those types of players.

Well I'm not being swayed by the opinions of others, because I am not wired that way. I meant that as I have seen a few different points that I initally didn't even think of or consider. So that's what I meant, not that a Georgia fan said something mean about us so I agree with them in order to make them and me feel better in the heat of the moment. The best point I saw was that he hasn't had to answer the consequences of his actions. He went from a Chevrolet Malibu to a Ferrari F460 Modena by coming from Georgia and landing at Alabama without earning it. He fell into a better situation. That's like one of my buddies back when he was 20 getting a DUI in Atlanta and his parents buying him a brand new Z-71 Tahoe a month later. He did bad, but somehow came out better than before he made his bad decision without facing any consequences and learning from his mistakes.

I have to think there are more people that did pile on Auburn than did not about the whole "second chance" program they run. A lot of it was simply because they were Auburn and people just had more ammunition to go back on them on. Others like myself piled on because we always thought our program was set to a higher standard. I don't want to sell out our reputation as a school and program in order to get a guy or a couple of guys to win a Championship. Too many people at the University of Alabama work/worked their asses off to make it a destination for scholars and athletes for a few to come in a ruin the reputation built my thousands of others. Would Gene Stallings or Coach Bryant put up with this stuff? Hate using that since I was really too young to understand their methods of coaching growing up, but after the stories I have read and ones from other fans I would have to say this university would not take these steps. We're not a juvenile rehabilitation center, we're a school of higher learning that also works at creating a great environment for student athletes to excel, which in turn enhances the overall opportunity the university can offer.

 

[UAgrad93]

Coach Stallings could have kicked David Palmer to the curb and back to the streets of Bham if he wanted for the DUI. Coach Stallings took some heat for it too. I spent a year on the team when Coach Stallings was here so I know that there were others that had "run ins" but weren't booted because he was trying to give them the chance to succeed that they otherwise wouldn't have.
I dove in on the Barn EVERYTIME they bring a kid of questionable character in WITH BOTH FEET!! I know it sets us up for "I told you so!" but that is part of it.
By the way, 6'4 335 with a high motor and quick first step don't come "a dime a dozen" either. Most of our Nose guys that @TerryP mentioned have been projects. That is, we sign them and then spend 2-3 years trying to mold their body into playing shape and teach them technique in hopes that the switch will come on and they will realize they can be successful at this sport.