Alabama Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The start to my collegiate football coaching career began ominously. I was lost within minutes.

Was I supposed to show up at the north endzone or the south?

Which direction was north?

I pulled out my iPhone and checked Google Maps. I was in the right spot, thank goodness. I couldn’t afford to screw up my first day.

Waiting in the corridors of Bryant-Denny Stadium alone, I checked my watch -- 15 minutes early. Apparently my fellow media coaches didn’t understand the Bill Parcells rule: if you’re on time, you’re already late. Certainly, Nick Saban would appreciate my effort and award me the play-calling duties.

I had a play dialed up and ready to go: take a knee and let the defense do the work. I’m not lazy, just an educated pessimist. I’ve seen Adrian Hubbard and Jesse Williams get after the quarterback, and if I were AJ McCarron I’d want nothing to do with them. It’s April, not October. Punt the ball and get my quarterback the heck out of there.

Surely, Saban would appreciate my concern for McCarron’s health and my regard for his defense.

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Former Tide star running back Trent Richardson takes Alabama fan and cancer survivor Courtney Alvis to her senior prom.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- When Adrian Hubbard hit the field on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, it was as if a light went on.

Game on. Ready to go.

The soft-spoken redshirt sophomore from Lawrenceville, Ga., lit up the Tide offense, scoring seven tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss at the A-Day scrimmage, impressing coaches and taking home the Dwight Stevenson Lineman of the Game Award for his work.

Last year Hubbard played in eight games as a reserve linebacker, backing up Courtney Upshaw at the jack position. But with his performance Saturday, the 6-foot-6, 248-pounder let more than 78,000 fans know he was ready to step his game up to another level.

Even after the game, Hubbard wasn’t satisfied with where he stood. With fall practice four months away, there’s still work to be done.

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Tucked inside the dark, arid visitor’s locker room, University of Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart knew what was coming.

A football field away, the Crimson Team, led by Alabama’s first-team offense, was getting ready in the home locker room for kickoff of the Tide’s annual A-Day scrimmage. Quarterback AJ McCarron and his veteran receivers prepared for the final hurrah of spring and new offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier got his play sheet together, intent on giving the Tide fans a show.

Smart flicked on the projector and laid it all out for the White squad, headed by the first-team defense. He told them to expect the offense to come out hot and fast. He wasn’t looking for last year’s offense that was often conservative and rarely explosive. He told them to be ready for a different look, one that would challenge their ability to limit the big play.

McCarron stretched out his arm under the warm spring sun at Bryant-Denny Stadium, completing 29 of 42 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns. Backup Phillip Sims, who has nursed a sore shoulder for two weeks, threw the ball 12 times, completing nine passes for 135 yards and two scores.

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Spring is a time for renewal. In college football, spring is also the time to look ahead to fall and the upcoming season. Saturday, Alabama holds its annual Golden Flake A-Day Game (ESPN3, 3 ET), which will give its fans a first look at the defending national champions.

Alabama captured its record-breaking ninth national championship of the major poll era in January. Once again, the Crimson Tide are expected to be one of the best teams in the country in 2012. But the Tide have been here before. Will history repeat?

In 2010, Alabama was preseason No. 1 in both The Associated Press and Coaches polls with 11 combined offensive and defensive starters returning from the team that had won the 2009 national title. The problem was the retention breakdown. Bama lost eight starters from a defense that allowed the second-fewest yards (244.1) and points (11.7) per game in the bowl subdivision. With QB Greg McElroy, the RB tandem of Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson and WR Julio Jones, the belief was that the Tide would score points and win games through their offense while buying enough time for their defense to jell.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida signed wing prospect DeVon Walker (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven H.S.) on Friday, quickly filling the scholarship of Bradley Beal, who departs for the NBA.

"[Beal] had an amazing, amazing impact on the program and the team, so I wouldn't mind copying him," Walker said just after signing his letter of intent during a ceremony at his school.

As he assisted Beal in assessing his draft stock, UF coach Billy Donovan made a late push for Walker, a well-rounded swingman who averaged 23.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a senior.

"He came a little bit harder towards the end when it got closer to signing," Walker said. "Coach Donovan said Brad was in the process of deciding to go to the league. But before Brad had even decided, [Donovan] had already told me I had a scholarship and everything was good. So I don't really think it came down to Brad leaving."

Walker, who has grown to 6-foot-6 1/2, 187 pounds and can play shooting guard and small forward, was at one point committed to Central Florida. He chose the Gators over Alabama, Florida State and Connecticut.

"It came down to Alabama and Florida, and I really loved both programs," Walker said. "Coach [Anthony] Grant at Alabama, he has something special going on. I feel that their program is one of the best programs in the country, and Florida is also.

"My decision came down to just being closer to home and being able to have my family come to a lot of games, being comfortable at UF's campus, because I've been up there the most times."

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Jalston Fowler isn’t a magician with the football in his hand. There’s no rabbit in his hat, no enchanted saw to split the defense in two.

When Fowler takes the handoff, he keeps things simple. Eddie Lacy can have his patented spin move. Dee Hart can keep his jump cut. T.J. Yeldon can hold onto his speed on the edge.

When Fowler takes the handoff, he doesn’t need those things. When he gets the ball and gets his wheels churning, he’s more bulldozer than sports car, more tractor-trailer than Speed Racer.

“I really don’t have speed but if I can get around the corner I’m going to get around there,” Fowler said, more self-aware than most junior’s you’d meet. “If I can make something happen outside then I’m going to try my best to make it happen.”

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