| FTBL Nick Saban passionately defends D.J. Pettway's second chance, everyone who made it possible

[BAMANEWSBOT]

At first, it seemed that the highlight of Nick Saban's response about defensive end D.J. Pettway would be his comparison of Pettway's pass-rushing role to that of a middle reliever.

But his passionate speech was about standing up for a player who made the most of a second chance after a serious mistake and ended up graduating in three and a half years.

Pettway was dismissed from school in Feb. 2013 after an arrest on a robbery charge, but allowed to come back this January after a year in junior college. He's played a key role in No. 1 Alabama's national championship push, but he's done even better off the field.

"It's really, really good for me and I think for some of our administrators around here who, our President, who shakes hands with all of our players when they walk across the stage and graduate, when we give somebody a second chance and they do well and graduate from school," Saban said Saturday after practice.

"There's always a lot of criticism out there when somebody does something wrong, everybody wants to know how you're going to punish the guy. There's not enough for 19 and 20-year-old kids, people out there saying, 'Why don't you give them another chance?'"

And then Saban got real serious.

"So I'm going to give a speech right now about this," he said.

"Where do you want them to be? Guy makes a mistake. Where do you want them to be? You want him to be in the street or do you want them to be here graduating?"

He made reference to Muhsin Muhammad, who got in trouble while playing for Saban at Michigan State but turned into a success story after his second chance.

"Everybody in the school, every newspaper guy, everybody was killing a guy because he got in trouble and they said there's no way he should be on our team," Saban said. "I didn't kick him off the team. I suspended him. I made him do some stuff."

The receiver enjoyed a 15-year career in the NFL. He created a charity foundation called The M2 Foundation for Kids. Saban noted that Muhannad has seven children, and his oldest daughter is at Princeton.

"So who was right? I feel strong about this now, really strong, about all the criticism out there of every guy that's 19 years old that makes a mistake and you all kill them," Saban said.

"Some people won't stand up for him. My question to you is, 'Where do you want him to be?' You want to condemn him to a life sentence? Or do you want the guy to have his children going to Princeton?"

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

Suttles made a comment yesterday, via Twitter, that he thinks these comments were related to a certain on-going recruitment. I've not looked and can't really think of who it might be...one of those mornings.

There were MORE than a handful of fans, both Bama and rival fans, that chose DJ's situation to jump on their soap box. I haven't seen very many mention he's still got eligibility left and has his degree in hand.

I'm not one of those "Trust Saban in all things" kind of fans. However, this does prove one thing: he knows a lot more about these kids and their situations than the vast majority.

 

[TerryP]

Suttles made a comment yesterday, via Twitter, that he thinks these comments were related to a certain on-going recruitment. I've not looked and can't really think of who it might be...one of those mornings.

Ah...perhaps Taylor?

 

[bcracker]

What about the Barn commit RB? Kerryon (sp?)? He's visiting Bama soon, ain't he?

 

[BamaFan334]

I was one that wanted his scalp after what he was involved with. When Coach let him back on I was not the happiest person. I also knew this guy is the highest paid Coach in the country, won Championships, and gives major focus on turning boys into men, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. This one paid off and it makes me wonder if he knew something about the case we didn't or saw something in Pettway we didn't. The guy has made the most of his second chance and I respect that more than anything. It worked out all around it seems.

 

[MissingRing]

I think we all agree that what Tyler Hayes, Eddie Williams and DJ Pettway did, collectively, was heinous and inexcusable. The quality of a decision must rest on what was known - or what reasonably could have been known - at the time that the decision was made. For example, I could spend my last $100 on lottery tickets and win the jackpot, but that would not make my decision either rational or wise. That DJ Pettway made the best of his second chance does not, in itself, validate Nick Saban's decision.

By contrast, what would lend credence to the decision is some kind of exculpatory evidence related to Pettway's role in the assault. Maybe Pettway was a minor actor in the whole episode. Maybe that is why Saban championed the idea of giving Pettway a path back on to the team. I hope that this is the case.

 

[Max]

That DJ Pettway made the best of his second chance does not, in itself, validate Nick Saban's decision.

He's given a second chance, it's turned out to be the right decision based on how DJ has handled himself, and that doesn't mean the decision was right on Saban's part?

 

[Bamabww]

HURT: Draft, second chances hot topics for Nick Saban

Cecil Hurt
TideSports.com Columnist

The Nick Saban press conference on Saturday night ran to near-record length. That's not because the upcoming CFP semifinal against Ohio State is so compelling, although it is. But Saban took two opportunities to speak from the bully pulpit of college football's premier coach on topics that often inspire him to discourse.

First, it was NFL early exits. Then came second chances.

The two themes are not entirely unrelated. Both involve the possibility of players giving up the opportunity to continue playing college football. In the first instance, it is by their own choice. In the second, it can be the consequences of their off-the-field actions. In both cases, Saban spoke about the necessity to look at each individual case before deciding what the right choice might be.

In both instances, Saban comes down squarely on the value of playing college football. Let's talk about the cynical view of that first. It is easy to say, and many people do, that Saban, like all coaches, wants to keep as many good players on his team as possible. If they don't go pro, or he doesn't remove them for disciplinary reasons, then they are furthering his interests by helping his team win games.

Now, here are three points to consider on the other side. First, it's the holiday season so everything doesn't have to be looked at as cynical. If that strikes you as cheap sentimentality, consider this - Saban has never been one to urge what he calls "obvious" first-rounders (from Julio Jones to Dee Milliner to Ha Ha Clinton-Dix) to stay in school.

There were no specific names from the current team mentioned, since Alabama is currently involved in serious business, but no one expects Amari Cooper or Landon Collins to opt out of the draft - or expects Saban to encourage them to do so. His emphasis is more on curtailing the expansion of players who get later-than-second-round evaluations, otherwise known as "return to school" grades, from entering the draft anyway.

That was just a warm-up, though, for Saban's view of second chances. It was promoted by a question about defensive lineman D.J. Pettway, who left school after an arrest in an assault case, played a year in junior college, then returned, played this season and, last Saturday, graduated from Alabama.

"I feel strong about this, really strong," Saban said.

Many coaches do, although few articulate their feelings as emphatically as Saban. The "kick 'em off" mentality is a staple of debate between fan bases, usually between schools who have their own problems (as most schools do.) It is as old as college football, and every Alabama coach from Paul 'Bear' Bryant to Gene Stallings - who famously stated about star David Palmer that "he needs us more than we need him" - to Saban himself has had to deal with discipline. All try to be firm, but fair.

"Where do you want them to be?" Saban asked rhetorically. "Guy makes a mistake. Where do you want them to be? Do you want them to be on the street or do you want them to be here graduating?"

Not all cases are the same, of course. Sometimes second chances come elsewhere. Sometimes, if transgressions aren't in the public eye or the public record, no one but the coach and the players knows when a second chance has been granted. But there are success stories, and Pettway isn't the only example.

 

[planomateo]

Don't underestimate the timing or meaning of Saban's message to the team leading up to a big game. I'm glad Saban saved his comments on Pettway's situation until now, it was long overdue.

I wasn't too keen on Pettway getting a second chance at Alabama. But I do agree with the idea of a second chance.

 

[TerryP]

@planomateo I thought Ha Ha's tweet was telling as well. It undoubtedly goes back to the suspension he served with the loan and how Saban handled the entire ordeal.

 

[alabama mike]

All of us have been given "2nd chances" in life along the way. Some, have been more serious than others. I am thankful that some people did not give up on me. In a job where I deal with young people on a daily basis, it is easy to "get rid of them" but difficult to work with them and try to help. Sometimes, things work out and sometimes thet don't.

 

[rick4bama]

All of us have been given "2nd chances" in life along the way. Some, have been more serious than others. I am thankful that some people did not give up on me. In a job where I deal with young people on a daily basis, it is easy to "get rid of them" but difficult to work with them and try to help. Sometimes, things work out and sometimes thet don't.

We all had a second chance, But Ole Miss has got a hand full this this guy. It looks like he already had a second, third, fourth, fifth .... and on.

 

[alabama mike]

@rick4bama i was talking about Pettway not Kelly.

 

[MissingRing]

He's given a second chance, it's turned out to be the right decision based on how DJ has handled himself, and that doesn't mean the decision was right on Saban's part?

I guess I'm picking nits here, about what it means to make a good decision, but, I'll try again. I'm saying that the basis on which one makes a decision is at least as important as the consequences that flow from the decision. I'm trusting that Nick Saban knew things about Pettway's involvement in the student assault incident that justified his treating Pettway differently (more leniently) than he did the other two.

 

[TerryP]

I guess I'm picking nits here,

New one to me...

Carry on...

 

[psychojoe]

The 'second chance' is not something you can put into a formula and say that this guy deserves one while that guy does not. Any second chance given to a high profile player is going to be viewed as self serving by the cynical world around us. The point that Coach Saban raises is valid. Where do you want this guy, in school and working to straighten his life out or back on the streets. Bryant was big on second chances. Namath, Stabler, Parkhouse come to mind quickly, but I am sure that there were others. Stallings gave David Palmer a second chance. There is no way around it, guys 18-19 years old d stupid stuff. I am fortunate that some of my choices then did not kill me.

CNS obviously knows much more of the circumstances around Pettway's arrest and the subsequent handling of it, and I am sure he had chances to evaluate the character of the young man and the likelihood of him making his way all the way back. Ultimately he had to make a gut decision about what to do. His gut has a pretty good track record.

 

[rick4bama]

Sorry guys, I just got mess up about which one I was posting about. Forgive me.

 

[UAgrad93]

I agree @MissingRing! We don't know the actual extent of Pettway's involvement and CNS does. I would imagine that there were extenuating circumstances for Saban to allow him the 2nd chance while the others were disposed of like used toilet paper.