Tide coach remains mum regarding Bama's new offense
TUSCALOOSA -- Two months into his new job, Alabama football coach Mike Shula remains as vague about his plans for this fall as he was the day he was hired.
Shula hired three new coaches and promoted defensive coordinator Joe Kines to assistant head coach in the days following his hiring on May 8, but has revealed little about his team since meeting with his new coaching staff.
"I'm getting there," Shula said on Thursday, "although I will admit that every time you think you've got everything down on paper that you need to do, there's something that comes up each day that triggers two or three more things."
While some of his staff is on vacation this week, the team continues to go through voluntary workouts, which includes trips upstairs in the football complex to look over videotape.
What exactly is on those tapes is a secret that Shula is withholding from 2003 opponents.
"It's a lot of what everybody thinks it is going to be," tight end Clint Johnston offered, "but it's also a lot of what they don't think it's going to be."
Shula is at the mercy of his players -- NCAA guidelines prohibit coaches from interacting with the players at this point in the offseason--but believes the Crimson Tide is working hard at learning the new offensive and defensive systems employed by the coaching staff.
"We realize that anything these players learn on their own, based on the information they can come up here and get, for them to have to learn an offense by themselves is difficult," Shula said. "What we're going to do is probably spend a little more individual time in (preseason) practice than we might if it were a normal training camp."
The coaches leave tapes in the offensive and defensive meeting areas in the morning, then work in their office as players come up individually or in small groups to watch tape.
"It's hard because we can't meet with the coaches, so we're on our own to go in there and watch film by ourselves," Johnston said. "It takes determination and dedication, but we've all got a goal we want to get to and in order to reach it, we've got to do these things."
Shula remains vague when discussing the new offense, but said it includes some things from former coach Mike Price's offense installed in the spring.
Players report on Aug. 4, with the first day of practice starting the following day. The new guidelines require two practices in helmets and shorts, two in helmets and shells and a fifth day for pads. The first two-a-day session will take place on Sunday, Aug. 10.
Alabama will try to squeeze in all of the 29 practice opportunities permitted by the NCAA to overcome the coaching transition.
In the meantime, Shula is busy trying to learn the NCAA Manual and the names of his players.
"That's going to be the hardest," he said, "the names of some of the guys in the spring that were down on the depth chart or because I've been focusing on offense maybe some of the defensive players. But I'm getting better with that."
Shula has toyed with the idea of closing practice to keep his new schemes a secret, but he said he hasn't made a final decision. As far as the academic status of his players, he said "we're in pretty good shape" and wasn't sure any players would fail to meet academic requirements.
At least four incoming freshmen are questionable regarding their academics and Shula said he hasn't made any decision regarding options as Alabama battles through the second year of scholarship restrictions imposed by the NCAA for recruiting violations.
"We're looking at it right now," he said. "It would be preliminary to say what our thoughts are until we know exactly what's going to happen. But we are looking at our options, especially with only 18 (signees)."
New additions: Baldwin County defensive end Wallace Gilberry told the media he accepted a scholarship offer by Alabama in late June. Saks quarterback-safety Eric Johnson told the Anniston Star in a Thursday story he had accepted a scholarship to play at Alabama.
Johnson is the younger brother of former Anniston linebacker Quinton Caver, a former All-Southeastern Conference performer at Arkansas who is now playing for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWS/StorySportsBAMAFOOT.htm
Rick -- Yea, Alabama! Drown'em Tide!
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