Saban's extension signals end of Bear's shadow

Paul “Bear” Bryant’s lengthy shadow, which had hovered over the Alabama football program for nearly 2 ½ decades, finally has lifted.

It had begun to fade when the Crimson Tide lured Nick Saban from the Miami Dolphins at the end of the 2006 season to be their head coach. It completely disappeared Saturday when Saban signed a three-year contract extension on his original $32 million, eight-year deal. The extension supposedly will keep him in Tuscaloosa until 2017. Supposedly because we know contracts aren’t worth the paper they are written on these days, so it isn't a lock Saban will be around that long.

Even so, Saban, 57, is in control of Tide football for the foreseeable future. And he’s in command in a way no one has been since the Bear relinquished the coaching reins at the end of the 1982 season, which preceded his death in January 1983.

For too long, the Tide tried to continue Bryant's legacy by hiring some of his “boys,” such as Ray Perkins (his immediate successor), Gene Stallings (who won the Tide’s only national championship – 1992 -- since Bryant’s departure during his seven years on the job) and Mike DuBose (who turned out to be a disaster).

The outsiders -- Bill Curry, Dennis Franchione, and Mike Price -- didn’t stick around long. Curry couldn’t beat arch-rival Auburn and was forced to leave town. Franchione claimed promises were broken and departed without talking to his players, who he had asked to stay after the Tide went on NCAA probation for rules violations under DuBose. Price didn’t coach a game after his scandalous behavior led to his firing a few months after he had been hired.

Mike Shula, who was hired to replace Price, turned out to be in over his head as coach of a program with a fan base filled with unrealistic expectations and was fired after four seasons.

Saban, about to start his third season, replaced Shula and took charge the same way Bryant did, letting everyone know who the boss was. Now, he might be the most powerful coach in college football. “Saban Nation” is in full force with his influence stretching from the university administration to the alumni, to boosters and to fans. Few in the media dare cross him.

Even Alabama athletic director Mal Moore recognizes Saban's clout. Listen to what Moore had to say announcing the extension:

"Coach Saban has impressively led the Alabama football program back to national prominence in a short period of time. That success has been evident in all facets -- on-field results, his embrace of Alabama's athletics and academic culture, recruiting, and community service. In every way, Coach Saban has positioned our program among college football's elite."

In two seasons, Saban has led the Tide to a 19-8 record, including a 12-2 mark in 2008 when the Tide won the Southeastern Conference Western Division title, advanced to the SEC Championship Game, earned a trip to the Allstate Sugar Bowl and had a final ranking of 6th in both the Associated Press media poll and the USA Today/ESPN coaches' rankings.

The Tide is expected to contend for the national title again this season, entering their opening game Saturday against seventh-ranked Virginia Tech with a No. 5 ranking in the AP poll.

Saban can remain at Alabama as long as he wants – the same way Bryant did.

Suspension could leave Auburn grounded

Poor Gene Chizik.

He was already going to have a tough time convincing folks, especially Charles Barkley, that he was the right man to succeed Tommy Tuberville as Auburn’s head football coach this season, following Chizik's two disastrous years (5-19) at the helm of Iowa State, including a 10-game losing streak before Auburn came calling.

You might recall that Barkley was highly critical of the hiring because he wanted his former school to hire an African-American, particularly Buffalo head coach Turner Gill.

Now eight days before Chizik’s debut against Louisiana Tech he has witnessed the decimation of his receiving corps. The latest blow came Thursday when the NCAA suspended senior Montez Billings for the first four games of the season. Apparently, Billings, the team’s leading returning receiver, hadn’t done what he needed academically, although he received his degree in public administration after the spring semester.

Go figure.

Chizik took the news in stride (what else could he do?) “We’re going to respect the decision and move on,” he said. “We’ll be happy to get Montez back in Tennessee (on Oct. 3).”

The Tigers already were without oft-injured receiver Tim Hawthorne (broken foot) during preseason practice and Darvin Adams, another returning receiver, has been slowed by an undisclosed injury.

Perhaps, the go-to receiver in the opener will be Kodi Burns, who just moved to receiver after losing the battle for starting quarterback to Chris Todd. Burns finished last season as the Tigers' starting quarterback after Todd was shelved with shoulder problems. He threw for only two touchdowns however, so switching to receiver was probably a wise move.

"Not having been a receiver my whole life, it's a little bit different," Burns said. "But at the same time playing quarterback, I already know what the guys are supposed to do. I've just got to go out and execute it."

If the Tigers are forced to rely on Burns too much at his new position early in the season, they are in trouble. But how bad can it be? Auburn had one of the worse passing games in the Southeastern Conference in 2008. They ranked 10th in the league in passing, only 165.4 yards per game, and threw the fewest touchdown passes (7).

New offensive coordinator Gus Malzhan was brought in to give the Tigers some semblance of an aerial attack. But now they are scrambling for receivers and appear to be grounded once again.

At least their first four games are at home, so perhaps they can get airborne before going to Tennessee. If not, then …

Poor Gene Chizik.

Fishing trip lands Tide players in murky waters

Let me get this straight.

A man from Athens, Ala., takes two Alabama football players on a fishing trip earlier this year and now the players might be suspended when the fifth-ranked Crimson Tide opens the 2009 season Sept. 5 against seventh-ranked Virginia Tech at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff.

Did I miss something?

It sounds kind of fishy to me, but reportedly Curtis Anderson, a 56-year-old man from Athens, took Tide sophomore receiver Julio Jones and sophomore running Mark Ingram on a Gulf Coast fishing trip, which Anderson paid for. Anderson claims the players are friends of his.

The Alabama compliance department got wind of the fishing expedition and decided to investigate, as a precaution, for potential NCAA violations.

Following its probe, the university stated that Anderson is "not affiliated with UA. He is not a UA booster, fan or alumnus, and is not a UA season ticket holder," according to a statement by Deborah Lane, assistant to the president and assistant vice president for university relations.

Alabama has not self-imposed any penalties or reported violations, but has turned over findings for approval by the Southeastern Conference. It might do the same with the NCAA.

While all this is going on, Tide head coach Nick Saban has little to say. Responding to a question about the situation on Tuesday, Saban said: "I really can't comment on that. I think the institution has shown great integrity in the way they've handled the situation. It's in someone else's hands, and until it gets decided, I have no comment."

To me, this whole affair is absurd. I understand NCAA rules about giving athletes preferential treatment, but this seemingly is just a story about some fishing buddies -- despite their differences in age -- getting together for a little R&R while trying to land some bass or snappers or flounders or whatever. One report said the likely cost of the trip for Anderson, Jones and Ingram was fewer than $100 per person.

From what I read about the matter, no rules were broken, and if they were, simply let Jones and Ingram repay the man for the trip and get back to the business of football and Virginia Tech. I definitely don’t think this warrants any suspension (although stranger things have happened when it comes to the NCAA, especially as it relates to Alabama. Anyone remember Textbookgate?).

By the way, I wonder what their haul (of fish, that is) was -- if the fish indeed were biting.

College Sports Rule in Alabama

Pardon me for forgetting my Southern manners the other day. What was I thinking? I just started ranting without introducing myself or telling you what I'll be ranting about.

An introduction indeed is in order.

I am a lifelong Alabamian from Montgomery, a University of Alabama graduate (Class of 1979) and I've been writing about sports in this state for more than 30 years.

Without any major professional sports teams (we've tried and failed on numerous occasions to make that happen, becoming instead the minor league capital of the South with four Double-A baseball teams in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery), college sports rule.

College football is king thanks to Alabama and Auburn, but we have some other programs that bear watching, given the talent they have sent to the NFL in recent years.

Did you know that Troy has produced the likes of linebacker DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys), defensive end Osi Umenyiora (New York Giants), placekicker Lawrence Tynes (Giants), and defensive back Leodis McKelvin (Buffalo Bills)?

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White hails from UAB, Tennessee Titans defensive back Cortland Finnegan is from Samford in Birmingham, Indianapolis Colts defensive end Robert Mathis is from Alabama &M and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is from Alabama State, although I'm not sure how long he remain with the Vikings now that Brett Favre has come out of retirement.

These are just a few of the more prominent non-Alabama and non-Auburn players in the league.

I'll be blogging plenty about college football, but the other college sports also need mentioning, considering Alabama just hired its first African-American basketball coach (Anthony Grant, no relation), Auburn has produced its share of major league baseball players, such as Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas and Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson, Alabama is a national power in gymnastics and Auburn keeps winning NCAA swimming titles.

So, even though we don't have any teams from those alphabet leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), I'll still have lots for you to read.

Perrilloux Needs Dungy

Quick, somebody call Tony Dungy. He needs to hurry down to Jacksonville, AL. Another troubled football player, a quarterback no less, needs his mentoring skills.

A few days ago, Jacksonville State senior quarterback Ryan Perrilloux was suspended for violating team rules and will miss the Gamecocks' season opener Sept. 5 at Georgia Tech.

You might remember the only reason Perrilloux is at Jacksonville State is he was kicked off the LSU team by Coach Les Miles for several off-the-field incidents.

In announcing Perrilloux's suspension, Jacksonville State head coach Jack Crowe mentioned words such as "hurt" and "sad."

"I'm hurt by it, to be honest," Crowe said. ... "It's sad because I think there will be some things assumed about Ryan that shouldn't be, but that's the nature of the game."

Crowe shouldn't be hurt or sad. I don't know what team rules Perrilloux broke, but it appears Perrilloux is just continuing the self-destructing behavior that he displayed at LSU. Perhaps, it's just in his nature or character to run afoul of team rules (and the law) just like it is for so many football players (the names of Adam "Pac Man" Jones, Plaxico Burress and Maurice Clarrett readily come to mind).

No one questions Perrilloux's talent. If he had been at LSU last year, the Tigers might have won the 2008 national championship. All they needed was a dynamic quarterback. Instead, Perrilloux was at Jacksonville State, setting passing records for the Gamecocks.

Perrilloux obviously has enough skill to play at the next level -- Frank Cooney's NFL Draft Scout ranks him 13th out of 135 college quarterbacks for the 2010 NFL draft -- but character issues might keep teams from wasting a draft pick on him. He could prove to be a headache for a team and become another notch on NFL sheriff, er commissioner, Roger Goddell's belt.

Of course, Perrilloux could get some mentoring help by putting in a call for Dungy. After all, look what Dungy has done with Michael Vick, getting him back into the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles after he was released from prison earlier this summer for running a dogfighting ring.

If Vick can spare Dungy, Perrilloux sure could use him. Otherwise, his promising football career could end up on the ash heap.