Bleacher Report - Articles by Patrick Davis

Life After College Football: Suffering From Offseason-Itis

Patrick Davis — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:26:39 -0400

If you’re like me, while watching a commercial for Prozac you’ll find that you’re experiencing most of the symptoms that they are describing.

Don’t worry, it’s just the offseason.

The first 75 days are behind us in the college football equivalent of mission control losing contact with a space shuttle as it drifts behind the moon, leaving a room full of scientists nervously waiting for their shuttle to emerge from the other side.

There’s only one thing that can take the edge off of a football fan who is suffering in the offseason: entertain yourself with whatever’s readily available.

If reports of stock market collapse and trillion dollar bailouts don’t provide you with the feeling of a college campus in the fall, take a seat beside me here at mission control; our shuttle is still a long 5 months away.

Now don’t confuse any of this with the idea that there’s nothing going on in the college football world right now, particularly the SEC.

Between battling for the signatures of 18-year-old high school recruits and the personality clashes that have come as a result of some controversial coaching changes, there hasn’t been much peace and quiet to speak of from around the SEC.

What was already a field of multi National Championship-winning coaches has become even tougher with the addition of future NFL Hall of Fame coordinator Monte Kiffin to the University of Tennessee and Gus Malzahn to Auburn University.

While looking at an updated list of the 12 SEC coaching staffs, it gives the feeling of being on the sidewalk of the college football version of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

I must admit that after looking at some of the salaries that a few of the coordinators were making I began to understand why everyone, outside the SEC, thinks we’ve lost complete control of our ability to establish healthy priorities.

Even though I think our priorities are perfectly fine, it will present an awkward situation when my daughter sits on my lap and tells me that she wants to grow up and marry a defensive coordinator.

The University of Tennessee and Auburn University find themselves in a similar situation in 2009. Each of the schools hired a new football coach that brought a lot of questions with them.

In both cases, it was the strength that was placed around the coaches that helped to ease the worries that some of the fans were having.

While Lane Kiffin may not have a proven name in the college football ranks, that is made up for by his determination to make one for himself at the expense of his competition.

He’s competitive, passionate and has developed the habit of using the media to confront his fellow coaches from 500 miles away.

This might be an unorthodox method of confrontation, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining.

With everything that Coach Kiffin has said, nothing has rung louder than how his Vols wrapped up their recruiting class on Feb. 4th.

The new staff, which had only been together for two months, was able to bring in one of the Top 10 recruiting classes in the country.

In a strange twist, on signing day, Kiffin was able to bring Janzen Jackson, a five-star defensive back and Louisiana native, from LSU to Tennessee.

Janzen had committed to LSU early in his senior year, but on signing day, he announced that he was going to wait until the next day before signing his paperwork and sending it in to LSU.

The paperwork never came.

The following day, Kiffin showed why every school in the SEC should take him seriously.

Janzen’s paperwork was signed and faxed to the University of Tennessee.

Kiffin had taken one of the best athletes in the state of Louisiana, and he did it right from under LSU's nose.

Kiffin repeated his performance earlier last week when he landed the No. 1 recruit in the country in Wichita, KS running back Brice Brown.

Brown chose not to make his decision on National Signing Day with the rest of the recruits, and instead took one last look at his remaining choices.

With the wait came much controversy.

Brown has a handler, Brian Butler, and some feel that a high school or college athlete who is involved with a handler is walking a thin line that when stepped over, brings the NCAA to your doorstep.

A “handler” isn’t an agent. An agent gets paid and, in return, makes sure his client gets paid. A collegiate athlete that gets paid is, in actuality, a professional athlete.

In the same way that Peyton Manning can’t bail out his alma mater by coming back to play college ball a high school player can’t play at any school, high school or college, if he's got an agent.

While the NCAA continued to look into the unique situation to make sure no violation have occurred, Brown made good on his promise to announce his decision by March 16th.

He chose to go to the University of Tennessee and become part of the message that Coach Kiffin is sending to all his critics from around the SEC: He can compete for the top talent in the country.

Brown ran for 1,873 yards his senior year, scoring 29 touchdowns, and will almost certainly make an immediate impact as a key player in Kiffin’s hopes of finding success at Tennessee this fall.

Kiffin’s ability to draw the best talent in the country to Tennessee isn’t limited to just high school athletes. He was successful in building a staff around him that was made up of the top coordinators and assistants from around the SEC.

He cherry picked his staff from almost all the other schools, taking whomever he wanted. One by one, he brought them to Knoxville, creating what appears to be one of the toughest staffs from top to bottom in the conference.

And then he began to talk about it.

Kiffin has shown he has no problem giving another team its "bulletin board material." As a matter of fact, it looks like the cork industry will struggle to keep up with production by the time fall gets here.

Kiffin decided to introduce himself to the SEC by openly accusing two-time and current National Champion coach Urban Myer of cheating at a televised breakfast for boosters.

Some coaches might be reluctant to pick a fight with a coach who has won two out of the last three National Championships while returning his Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback to play his senior year.

One thing’s for sure, Kiffin better be able to show something on the field that’s going to pay the debt for the money his mouth has already started spending. A coach like Urban Myer doesn’t appreciate being publicly accused of being a cheater, especially when it ends up being false, as was the case with Kiffin’s accusation.

Shortly after, reports from Alshon Jeffrey, South Carolina’s star wide receiver, surfaced about conversations he had with Kiffin the night before National Signing Day.

Kiffin not aware that he was on speaker phone said that Jeffrey’s would “end up pumping gas for the rest of his life like all the other players from the state who had gone to South Carolina”. Jeffrey was sitting with his coach and team mate when Kiffin made this final plea.

Jeffrey’s letter was faxed in to South Carolina early the following morning.

Though Auburn is in a similar situation, Gene Chizik has taken a slightly milder approach to establishing himself among the already-proven coaches of the SEC.

After a dysfunctional spread offense unraveled right before Tommy Tubberville’s eyes in 2008, athletic director Jay Jacobs was forced to make some changes with the coaching staff.

After firing “spread guru” Tony Franklin, Jacobs had hoped the bleeding would stop. When it didn’t, nobody’s job was safe, starting at the top.

The entire staff was fired in the offseason, except for linebackers coach James Willis.

Willis was let go, but fans breathed a sigh of relief when news began to spread that he would be asked to come back. He had played at Auburn in college and has had a successful coaching career down on the plains.

There was only one problem: Willis didn’t want to come back.

He would ultimately accept his job back but with two weeks left before National Signing Day, Willis took a position as a linebackers coach at another University, but not just any University.

He accepted a job with in-state rival, the University of Alabama.

Alabama travels to Auburn this year for the Iron bowl on Nov. 28. What was already a bitter meeting between the two teams will have a much more personal sting as Willis comes back home, dressed in crimson and white, choosing to stand on the opposite sideline as Auburns most hated opponent.

As for Chizik, this isn't his first time down on the plains. He spent the '02-'03 and '03-'04 seasons with the Tigers as their defensive coordinator.

But Chizik's welcome back was far from warm. Controversy almost immediately surrounded the University when it was announced that he was hired.

Fans were upset that Chizik, whose record at Iowa State was less than impressive, was hired while more qualified coaches were being passed up, namely Turner Gill.

Gill had taken the University of Buffalo from the doormat of NCAA football to the Mid-American Conference Champions in only three years and seemed very interested in taking the job at Auburn.

Chizik was 5-19 over his two seasons as head coach at Iowa State, but Auburn gave him the job.

Like Tennessee’s Kiffin, Chizik found success in pulling in a top ranked recruiting class with very little time to prepare.

He landed the Tigers a top 20 class and boosted the confidence of those who were feeling weary from the long year they had watched unravel.

When all of the dust has settled, out of the top five recruiting classes in the country, three of them will be playing SEC football this fall.

If that's not enough, one-third of America’s top 100 recruits chose the SEC to showcase their collegiate careers.

Only two schools in the SEC finished outside of the top 25 in the 2009 recruiting class and both of them, Kentucky and Vanderbilt, won their bowl games.

Trent Richardson will try to add to the reputation of that Alabama has established with their power running backs. Reuben Randle will attempt to live up to what everyone in Louisiana expects and hopes that he is. Chizik is looking to start fresh and hopes his reputation didn’t make the trip to Auburn with him.

Florida will go for its third National Championship in four years, and Lane Kiffin will begin the process of having to prove on the field what he promises off of it.

With 5 slow months ahead of me, the only hope I can cling to is a couple of televised spring games and the chance that spring practice will present a few opportunities for Coach Kiffin to get in front of a camera.

If not, then I’ll just take my seat back here at mission control, sitting with nerves that are shot, waiting for us to finally regain contact and wondering why it’s taking so long.

Well, We Fell Short: An Alabama Fan Comes to Grips with SEC Championship Loss

Patrick Davis — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:38:18 -0500

As I'm watching the Oklahoma vs. nobody game, it's 38-7. I don't think I'm going to stay up for the end. Florida beat the Crimson Tide tonight and, if anybody was wondering, the SEC championship lived up to its billing.

Just one week after people equipped with no soul were selling pieces of paper outside Bryant Denny Stadium with the words "Alabama 36, Auburn 0" on it for $5 dollars to helplessly adrenaline-filled fans, the Men in Crimson fell to the Florida Gators (the best team in college football), 31-20, covering the Vegas spread.

Mark Ingram did as good as a freshman could do along with Julio Jones (who made the game as close as it was) as Glen Coffee ran for well over 100 yards.

At the end of the game, the Gators had things well in hand, making the Tide faithful hope for a simple "score really really quickly/get onside kick/score really really quickly again." If you can get your opponent into that kind of situation, then there's a good chance your coach is going to smell like Gatorade on his bus ride home.

As it is, Alabama did the unthinkable. The Tide were supposed to win 9 to 10 games this season. If you look at it like that, it feels pretty good that we accomplished so much.

But as the season went on, our expectations changed; we no longer believed we were restricted to what ESPN said and felt that we were watching something really special happen right in front of our eyes.

That's why this loss hurts. Ask me preseason if I'd like to go undefeated, win the west, lose the SEC championship and go to the Sugar Bowl..."I'll take two, please."

Even though nobody picked us to even win 10 games, much less 12, it still hurts knowing that in the fourth quarter we had the lead and were 15 minutes from playing for the national championship.

The Tide had created an identity in the second half. It was the same identity they had established all year long, for that matter, but at this point in the game the Novocaine had started to take effect in the Florida defense.

They began taking long drawn out drives that ate up great amounts of time. It appeared that the Florida defense was gassed and the battle of the lines were creating holes for the Alabama running backs.

On 3rd down in the fourth quarter Florida desperately needed to keep a drive alive instead of the unlikely "three-and-outs" that the Alabama defense was able to impose throughout the game. It appeared that a stop hear coupled with a following touchdown by the Tide might put them in Miami on Jan. 8.

As the speedy back raced to the sideline to turn the corner Alabama stopped him three yards short of the first down and immense celebration around the south broke out...

... and then a yellow flag flew into the air.

After a brief conversation a slightly nervous official turned on his microphone and announced a facemask penalty which gave Florida the first down they desperately needed. A replay showed the fingers of Donta Hightower were indeed tugging on the side of the facemask while the Florida running back was brought to the ground.

It was at that moment that the momentum of the second half (unfortunately the most important half) changed for good.

It's worth noting that Tim Tebow goes against everything you learned from your little league ball coach. You were taught that you had to play as a team, that no "one" player can do it on his or her own.

Tebow could not be contained by an Alabama team that indeed played as one. Both should take pride in how they played the game. What took Alabama, as a team, to do in nine play would take Tebow two plays. He lived up to the title "first-ever sophomore Heisman Trophy winner."

If Mr. Tebow never takes another down for the University of Florida he would still go down as the greatest quarterback in the history of that program. He has been able to impose his athleticism and use his intelligence (showing up at the fieldhouse to watch film at 6:00am) to outsmart his opponent and then outwork them on the field.

With that being said, back to Alabama. It's worth mentioning that the team that was fielded by Alabama in this SEC Championship is the least talented team that coach Nick Saban will coach at the University of Alabama. He has proven that he will recruit and get the best talant available. Alabama has a lot to look forward to with him at the helm.

Nobody can comprehend just yet an Alabama team with 3 or 4 of Nick Saban's recruiting years. Hand written letters to highschool players in their mailbox on Monday congratulating them for what they did on the past Friday. Alabama will in the coming years boast of the depth that the Gators will take to Miami on Jan. 6th.

The Tide Have Come Home

Patrick Davis — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:51:32 -0500

It wasn't supposed to happen this year.

Alabama was supposed to start their season 0-1 after meeting Clemson in the Georgia Dome. They were returning only nine seniors, one of which was a quarterback most people felt couldn't graduate soon enough.

What followed the 34-10 victory over Clemson has been a series of battles that have progressively made them stronger. Soldiers standing not one in front of the other, but side by side. Moving forward each week, leaving their victories behind them.

They left Atlanta that night a team that knew the worst of the fighting was still ahead of them. They said goodbye to the Georgia Dome in hopes that they would find their way back. Now, 11 games later, the Tide have come home.

They come home to a worthy opponent. They come home to an opponent that is said to possess speed which is uncatchable and a quarterback that can't be broken. A team with depth so deep most teams would start their third stringers.

The Florida Gators are possibly the most offensively satisfying team I have watched play the game of football in the last few years. Alabama is the apple to this Florida orange in that their offense is generally only satisfying to men old enough to remember when television only had a single football game on Saturdays.

Now I'm not saying the high octane offenses that romance the pollsters of today are any better than 'Rockne's four horseman', but it's doubtful they nor the 'Junction Boys' would satisfy today's starry eyed BCS voters.

Their eyes glaze over making it increasingly hard to keep an unbiased opinion of teams they've ironically been given the responsibility of giving an unbiased ranking.

To be fair though, who could really stay unbiased when these kids have such cool names? Colt, Graham, Tebow... The life of a BCS voter is bombarded with predicaments just like this all the time. Who wouldn't be able to understand their frustration in not being allowed to let all of the flashy spread attack teams be No. 1?

Now don't get me wrong, Florida has earned their reputation. They have knocked their opponents out, light bulbs flashing as they slam the mat. Alabama continually gives their opponents kicks to the legs, like a lumber jack chopping at a tree, waiting patiently and relentlessly for them to fall.

Nick Saban has continually defined success this year as what his team will do when they are faced with 'tremendous adversity.' If looking for a chance to show their coach they're successful, they should look no further than December 6th. Tremendous adversity is what will be waiting on them.

It is there that the Tide will try to continue the story they began in late August. Hoping to add a statue of Nick Saban to the empty slot at the Walk of Champions outside Bryant Denny Stadium. A story most of the sports media still ignores while they spend their time thinking about how good Tim Tebow would look without a shirt on.

There has been many times the Tide was supposed to lose this season, and one by one the fans from the newly fallen team assure our Men in Crimson that they'll never get past 'the next team.' Leaving the job that it was theirs to do, hoping another team will do it for them.

No matter what happens this Saturday, when the Men in Crimson make their way back home, you can rest assured that the two best teams in the SEC are exactly who will be playing. It will be a game that, aside from what it assuredly means for whoever wins, will possibly be the best football game played in 2008.

I'm proud of this team. I'm proud of the adversity they have already overcome and I'm proud of the maturity they've shown while doing it. They are apart of something bigger than themselves, which is hard for people of any age to comprehend, much less a group of 18 to 23 year olds.

I was asked a question today. I was asked "Who has Alabama beaten this year?" The tone that the question was asked told me all I needed to know of the intent of the one asking it.

When thinking of the adversity that these boys have overcome this year as they have made their way back to where it all began, I feel good knowing that the answer to the man's question "who has Alabama beaten this year" is simply everyone who's stood before them.

Cocktails, Cajuns, and The Homecoming Queen: Road To an Alabama Championship

Patrick Davis — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:21:16 -0400

The Alabama Crimson Tide is in Miami and the 2008 BCS Title Game is about to kick off. Only problem, a few things have to happen to get us there. Let's back up a few weeks.

The SEC Championship Game

The question: Which SEC East team will be inside the Georgia Dome on the 6th of December?

The game that has been referred to as "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" very well could determine the East and with LSU losing their 2nd game of the season it is Alabama who looks to be the team who could greet the captains of Georgia/Florida at the 50 yard line in Atlanta.

Both Florida and Georgia are 1 loss teams. Both enjoyed recently hanging 50+ on the current National Champions. Both have Quarterbacks that will be early first round picks in the NFL draft. And both seem to be getting better as the season goes on.

If Alabama is going to have any hopes of a National Championship than they will have to be undefeated. If they have any hopes of being undefeated than they will have to be the best team in the SEC.

If they have any hopes of being the best in the SEC they will have to beat, for the 2nd time this season, a Georgia team that has something to prove to the state of Alabama or the reining Heisman winner who has led a Florida team to outscore their last 3 opponents 152 - 33.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I. I can't be thinking about the SEC championship. That's months away, let's back up a few more weeks.

Nov. 8 at LSU Baton Rouge, La.

The Tigers enjoy a couple of subtleties in life: Championships, Cajun food, and an unquenchable revenge for a coach that left their program 4 years ago.

You would think that a National Championship would quench whatever hard feelings one might have towards a coach who left for the NFL. You would think that thoughts of past championship winning coaches would disappear when your current coach goes out and wins you another one.

If you wear purple, you think a bit differently then most.

LSU started the year off on the wrong foot as their starting quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux, was kicked off the team. With two conference losses it doesn't look like they will be given the opportunity to repeat their hopes for back to back championships.

What they can do on the other hand, is ruin Nick Saban's chances. With a hotshot coach in Les Miles and a team that seems to follow in his footsteps, that might just be good enough. Nonetheless, if Alabama is going to get to continue their run for the 2008 National Championship they're going to have to dismantle the high octane defense of LSU and leave Baton Rouge 10-0.

But I'm breaking Coach Saban's rules again, aren't I. We don't play LSU for another 2 weeks. This week we play the Red Wolves of Arkansas State. That's right, it's Homecoming week in Tuscaloosa.

Homecoming game: Arkansas State University

But surely we couldn't lose to this team, right? Alabama's National Championship hopes couldn't dance on the string held by a 3 loss Sun Belt team. Could it?

As an Alabama fan, you might be familiar with the Sun Belt Conference. They are the conference that houses the team that you have undoubtedly been given more grief over than a 6 year drought in the Iron bowl.

Louisiana-Monroe.

A dismayed Alabama team was beaten 21-14 by the War Hawks a year ago. The Red Wolves are much better than Louisiana-Monroe. They are tied for 1st in the Sun Belt and have an opportunity this week to make a name for themselves the way their conference rival did.

If Alabama is going to dream of playing for a National Championship they are going to have to walk away with victories from all of these things.

They are going to have to win the SEC.

They are going to have to get there by finishing the season as strong as they started

They are going to have to beat LSU, Miss. State, Auburn, and force themselves to not play down to a team like Arkansas State, something they can certainly be accused of doing.

Alabama has given themselves an opportunity that nobody thought they could accomplish, at least not for another year. Even today, as #2 in the country, ESPN talks about #1 and #3. Nick Saban doesn't care and he says you shouldn't either.

Because the night of December 6th, if Alabama is 13-0, there isn't a thing that anybody can do about it. The Tide would be heading to Miami, probably an underdog, just as they were in 1992.

When nobody in America gave the Tide a chance, they decided the best thing they could do to shut the mouths of their critics was to not lose a single game and show America that if ESPN was a college football team, Alabama would schedule them for their homecoming game.

University of Tennessee Chattanooga: Someone Needs To Write an Article

Patrick Davis — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 11:06:50 -0400

I guess I'll do it; one will be coming shortly. In the mean time... question...

Chattanooga Moc(casin)s or Chattanooga Moc(king bird)s?

Bush Asking for $700 Billion Bailout of Auburn Football Program

Patrick Davis — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:18:04 -0400

WASHINGTON—Struggling to stave off football catastrophe, the Bush administration on Wednesday laid out a radical bailout plan with a jaw-dropping price tag: a takeover of a half-trillion dollars or more in an attempt to pay all of Auburn's existing offensive coordinators' buyouts that they still owe.

It's a task that is daunting and has struck fear in the eyes of many on the plains, but if successful it could possibly get Auburn's football program to a bowl game.

Relieved fans sent merchandise sales soaring at Anders bookstore. Toomer's Drug Store experienced a complete resurgence in sales the day before on rumors that the federal action was afoot.

A grim-faced President Bush acknowledged risks to taxpayers in what would be the most sweeping collegiate football intervention to rescue a failing football program since the '70s. But Bush declared, "The risk of not acting would be far higher. What is happening on the plains is nothing that resembles the game of football, and we have a moral obligation to clean up the mess."

The administration is asking Congress for far-reaching new powers to take over troubled buyouts from the cornucopia of offensive and defensive coordinators that have been fired under the quick-triggered Tommy Tuberville fingers.

Along with the coordinator buyouts, upgrades to Coach Tuberville's office to include an Internet connection to help in recruiting is apart of the money disbursement to help Auburn find its way to the next level. Administration officials and congressional leaders are to work out details over Auburn's bye week.

Congressional officials said they expected a request from the "BBQ gang" to buy some "new plastic garbage cans and such" for practice at a cost that will total in excess of $60 billion to the government.

When asked what they needed $60 billion worth of plastic garbage cans for, they were quoted as saying, "We like our boys to practice with garbage cans to get them good and used to what the degree will prepare them for when they leave Auburn."

Democrats were discussing whether to try to attach middle class assistance to the legislation to try to bailout the eagle-tigers, despite a request from Bush to avoid adding controversial items that could delay action.

Bush was quoted as saying, "What Coach Tuberville has done to this program and to the reputation of the successful spread offense is an atrocity. And it's not one that can afford a delay in Washington.

"It is an embarrassment to the sport of football, and it is embarrassing to put America's collegiate athletes in a position that they are responsible for 3-2 victories and losses to Vanderbilt and a rebuilding Arkansas. We can't allow ourselves to go down a road so dark," the President Bush added in regards to Coach Tuberville

Not all fans on the plains are happy about the government stepping in, citing them as enablers. "Mr. Bush, do you have any idea how many mallard duck hunts you can buy with half a trillion dollars?" Mary McMillan said.

"Every American should know that the federal government is committed to healing this black eye and restoring the reputation of the high school spread offense. This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end, but perhaps it's the end of the beginning," Bush said at the White House on Wednesday.

Alabama Football: You're Aware of the Name of This Ship, Aren't You, Mr. COB?

Patrick Davis — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 06:10:19 -0400

With 122 Navy midshipman standing in the rain, Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) called out for Mr. COB to tell him the name of the ship they were serving. When Mr. COB yelled back "Alabama Sir" all 122 enlisties, standing at attention, together yelled "GO BAMA, ROLL TIDE!"

You are correct if you thank that this is the greatest Naval movie of all time. What you may not know is the history behind the real U.S.S. Alabama and it's association with a college football rivalry that to this day is one of the greatest in the country.

The date was October 14th, 1980. The birth of a highly awarded Naval ship, bearing the name U.S.S. Alabama, was pressing the envelope for high tech nuclear submarines.

The Alabama would go on to be one of the most highly awarded naval ships of all time. With it's birth came a separation between the rest of the world and the United States Navy.

On the morning of the 14th, while the steel workers began building the U.S.S. Alabama, a few things were going on around the world: Ronald Reagan was making a promise to name a woman to the Supreme Court, Bob Marley had just performed the last concert he would ever play and the Alabama Crimson Tide were making their way up to Knoxville to play the Tennessee Volunteers.

Johnny Majors was the coach of the Volunteers and earlier that year he had hired an assistant coach by the name of Phillip Fulmer. He had obtained him from Vanderbilt. Phillip Fulmer had been a linebackers coach for the Vols in 1973 before moving to Wichita State University the following season.

While Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer were preparing for the Crimson Tide to make their way to Neyland Stadium, Paul "Bear" Bryant was in Tuscaloosa preparing his boys in hopes that they would continue their undefeated season.

Coach Bryant ran a smashmouth offense that liked to bloody the nose of his opponent. He would establish the run and then run it again for emphasis just to let you know he could. Then he'd punch you in the gut with it one more time for no other reason than to make sure he was earning his reputation.

The 1980 Crimson Tide were disciplined and aggressive. They were the identity of a Coach that had made his name being physical and teaching others to do the same.

That Saturday, the Crimson Tide celebrated in a Neyland Stadium locker room while Paul Bryant handed out cigars. In a 27-0 victory they headed back to Tuscaloosa with their undefeated season intact.

The Tide gave Phillip Fulmer his first loss to Alabama as an assistant coach. He would later become the head coach of the Volunteers in 1992 when Johnny Majors became ill and since then has returned the favor to the Tide 11 times.

It is now 28 years later to the day. If you were to stand along I-59 later this week you would see the 2008 Crimson Tide making their way up to Knoxville in attempts of continuing an undefeated season of their own.

Alabama's mountain of a man, Terrence Cody, will not make the trip to Knoxville. The Tide held Ole Miss to 3 points with the injured Cody in the game. Ole Miss scored 17 points with him out of the game in the 2nd half. Alabama will have to do what champions do if they want to claim the same success as Coach Bryant did in 1980, find a way to win.

They'll have to play through the adversity of a rivalry on the road. They'll have to play through the injuries that every team experiences, and they'll have to trade complacency for starvation. It's the difference between wanting to win and needing to win.

This Saturday Nick Saban's Crimson Tide will try to continue their undefeated season by defeating a Tennessee team that finds themselves "needing" a win as well.

28 years ago, on this day, the 122 crew members of the U.S.S. Alabama looked on as their ship began to take shape. The 2008 Crimson Tide will go to Knoxville this weekend and try to write their own name into the tradition rich history at the University of Alabama. It's with this desire that they will try to make proud those who have gone before them.

Alabama/Tennessee to Commit NCAA Violation This Saturday

Patrick Davis — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:01:23 -0400

A tradition that has been carried out for half a century... the victory cigar.

The good news: you don't have to buy a $150 gold-plated Davidoff lighter or a $90 cigar cutter. You don't even have to get a 12-month subscription to Cigar Aficionado.

The bad news: you have to win a football game on the third Saturday of October.

It was the late 1950's and Paul "Bear" Bryant had taken the position at Alabama. The Tide took a six-year drought in favor of Tennessee into the early '60s and Coach Bryant was about to add some tradition to the 60-year rivalry.

In a locker room full of men in crimson, Pat Trammell, along with his teammates, were handed a cigar from their coach.

Alabama had just beaten the Tennessee Volunteers 34-3 and inside a Legion Field locker room, a tradition was born that, make no mistake, will be continued this Saturday.

Along with a stiff tobacco policy, the NCAA prohibits "extra benefits" to be rewarded to college athletes and though it's not a new car, giving your players a stogie to celebrate a win falls into that category.

This was the case in 2005 when Alabama not only toasted up their cigars to celebrate their 6-3 win but turned themselves in to the NCAA for the violation right after the game.

The tradition has since become nonexistent, at least in front of a camera, but just as Col. Jessup would never think of ordering a "Code Red," behind closed doors is a different story.

The Volunteers are going through a year of mixed emotions. The questions that have been swirling around Knoxville asking when their team will be talked about on a national stage again haven't been given many answers in 2008.

The coaching staff is on the hottest seat in the nation. That's where the mixed emotions come in.

Phillip Fulmer has made the Volunteers National Champions over his 17 years as head coach, but he seems to have lost his edge in this era of the ultra competitive South Eastern Conference.

There is a loyalty to Coach Fulmer, and a lot of fans are torn emotionally, but in the end most are abiding by the always faithful rule of thumb: your rivals shouldn't hope that your coach stays at your school.

And then there is Nick Saban's Crimson Tide. A team that was supposed to be "two years away from being a national danger".

The Tide are mean, disciplined, and most notably 7-0, which is something that national championship winning coach, Nick Saban, has never accomplished in his career.

But this is the third Saturday of October, a rivalry of over 100 years that doesn't care who is favored and will define the seniors on both sides of the ball.

Both teams need to win. The Volunteers need a defining victory to save the season. The Crimson Tide are trying to continue an undefeated run that many said would never happen again in the SEC.

And with all of those things, both teams will be sitting in the locker rooms of Neyland Stadium before the game hoping that at the end of the day they will be on top when the play clock hits zero.

And with their teammates they will get to commit an NCAA violation that they'll never forget, and they'll do it one puff at a time.

Roll Tide: Tough Love

Patrick Davis — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:04:32 -0400

For those who had the confidence of titans when Alabama started climbing this mountain but have become worried now that we are getting near the peak. For those whose fear of failure is growing the closer we get to the success we set out to achieve. For those of you who now walk week to week waiting for it all to fall apart.

I'm not going to tiptoe.

I'm not going to tiptoe my way around just because the stakes are so high. I'm not going to feel uneasy because a loss would be devastating. I'm not going to bob and weave my way through the second half of the season with scared feelings in the back of my head of what would happen if we lost it all.

I am going to roll with the tide. I am going to understand that I don't have to be like a starving kid who sits down at a buffet. I don't have to worry about eating what's on my plate in fear of there not being any food left when I'm done.

There are those who have said to me: "This has happened before; remember 2005?" Trying to convince me that Alabama might fall based on the 2005 season is like my telling you we will win a national championship because of the 1992 season.

There are those who have said to me: "This is a trap game; you are underestimating them." Convenient how on Saturdays teams have a tendency to go from the "team we are underestimating" to being added to the list of teams that make up the statement "We really haven't played anybody yet."

I will look at Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Auburn not as upset games or trap games or anything other than the blood we need to stay alive.

We need them. They are our showcase, and they are our stage. I will not look at them as a chance to be disappointed but as a fact that the road to an undefeated season was built directly through them.

We belong on the field with anybody and will be there with reasons better than the fear of what would happen if we failed.

When I look at Ole Miss, I see the same thing as when I looked at the Georgia Dome. True freshmen look around in awe knowing they made the right choice. Deciding there, to contribute to a team that would give them the opportunity to play there again at the end of the season. A small group of seniors decided in fall camp to carry the state of Alabama on their shoulders and to show their teammates how to do the same.

I want Ole Miss to be tough as nails when we beat them. I want them to give our guys fits.

I want LSU to show us something we've never seen before.

I want it like I want our second string to fight for their lives because it makes both of the boys better and stronger for it.

I want the first 12 opponents to give us the wounds that our mistakes have allowed so that when they've healed we will be better for having gone through it.

I want to be there, inside the Georgia Dome, as our 13th opponent walks in. Our true freshmen look up at the lights and aren't intimidated because they know that this is where it all began and that the Tide have come home.