Is Nick Saban Building an NFL Training Squad At Alabama?

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, Fla.) Many have thought it but it was publicly stated at Rolando McClain's press conference with the Oakland Raiders of the NFL. A reporter asked McClain, who just left Alabama for the NFL, "Since Nick Saban runs the closest thing to an NFL program at Alabama, did that prepare you better for the NFL?"

That interview can be seen at: http://www.raiders.com/media-vault/index.html

The pipeline is now open now that players with several years of Nick Saban under their belt are becoming ready for the NFL. This year's bumper crop is just the beginning of the stream to follow.

So is Nick Saban running an NFL program down in Tuscaloosa? Will Alabama become a minor league NFL team?

Yes, according to both players who have made the transition and coaches who have taken them.

"Nick Saban doesn't run his practices like most college teams, there's an urgency of tempo and a pace that few colleges try and copy." said former NFL Coach Bill Cower. "And he runs an NFL type offense and defense that really prepares his players for life at the next level."

"There are no gimmicky kinds of offensive or defensive sets that can hurt a player. How many spread offense quarterbacks and running backs make it in the NFL, not to mention the linemen that don't learn regular blocking techniques?" Cower asked.

Singing a similar but slightly different tune was former NFL Coach Mike Ditka, who said, "When it comes to drafting players and you're in the late rounds, you can take comfort in taking someone from a school like Alabama, because you know the coaching he had there and the transition from college to pros is going to be a lot quicker for a player like that."

Are these quotes that Alabama will use on the recruiting trail for years to come. You bet they and many just like them will be used.

So will the fact that other schools, even the ones that Saban once coached, don't measure up to the standards going on at Alabama.

At one time LSU under Saban pumped much talent into the NFL, but since he's left, the talent has still been going in but it's not coming out to the NFL in the same way.

LSU has produced 35 NFL draft picks since 2003, but there are more stories of failure than success. Of those 35 players, nine of whom were first-round picks, only one has been selected for a Pro Bowl: Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai’s appearance as a reserve in 2007.

The handful of successes are overshadowed by players such as Oakland’s JaMarcus Russell and Dorsey — who have shown little evidence that, at least in their current situations, they’ll live up to their draft-day hype.

“I don’t think anybody has seen or heard from Glenn Dorsey,” said former NFL coach Jon Gruden, who drafted former LSU receiver Michael Clayton to the Buccaneers in 2004.

LSU is known as one of the last decade’s most successful college programs, winning national championships in 2003 and 2007 and helping elevate hungry and talented players into college superstars. But according to some outside the LSU bubble, NFL teams have learned the hard way that, at least lately, a draft pick who played for the Tigers isn’t a sure thing.

"Word has been out there that the guys aren't working real hard," said Chris Landry, former NFL Scout and now a consultant to almost a dozen teams. "It's been talked among scouting circles for a while. It's more: Buyer beware."

"It gives (LSU) a bad image. It gives an attitude of just, "What the hell is going on over there?"

At Alabama, nobody is wondering what the hell is going on. They know, and that is why Nick Saban may be preparing to flood the NFL with talent for years to come.