Karle's Korner

Do College Football Coaches Recruit Talent Over Character?

     With the college football season openers set to go this weekend, an interesting take to the world of recruiting came flashing by me during a taping the other night on Fox6.   Former Auburn center Cole Cubelic along with former Alabama linebacker Cory Reamer were in studio- they join me each and every Saturday at 10 am on our "Tide and Tigers Today" program. No doubt the Auburn Tigers have been in the news as Gene Chizik has now suspended and/or dismissed a number of players, from DeAngelo Benton to Michael Dyer to Reese Dismukes to Zeke Pike.

      I asked Cubelic, the former center who played for Terry Bowden and Tommy Tuberville about discipline issues, upon which Cubelic replied, "Chizik is like most coaches in America- the simple fact is that coaches recruit talent, not character.  They will tell you they want character guys on their team, but what they do is recruit the most talented person they can get and then try to mold their players' character into their value system."

     The problem with that, as you know, is that it doesn't always work.  While there have been many cases of rotten apples being turned around by coaches and made into better people, many times a rotten apple is a rotten apple:  Regardless of how hard a coach tries to mold the player into a character guy, it's just not going to happen.

     Cory Reamer agreed with Cubelic, saying that while Nick Saban, his former coach, tries to sign young men of character, those young guys have no hope of playing for the Tide if they don't have talent.  Talent indeed trumps character when it comes to college recruiting.

    On Tuesday, Gene Chizik defended his recruiting practices, saying that while any bad news reflects negatively on his program, his staff does backround checks and plenty of homework before signing a recuit. Let's face it- overseeing 100 testorone-filled young men can't be easy, heck- I have my hands full looking after my two kids.  But the fact remains that despite all the best speeches, warnings, guest speakers, youth pastors, and disciplinary notebooks provided young men today, problems do pop up. Don't forget, Chizik, Saban and all of the SEC coaches aren't the only ones who often side with talent over character- witness coaches like Jack Crowe, Reggie Barlow, Terry Bowden, Waton Brown and others who have gobbled up the bad boys of the SEC.

     Cubelic and Reamer will talk about this subject Saturday, September 1st on our "Tide and Tigers Today" program.  Their message? That while talent can win a coach some games, lack of character can cost a coach his job.  And while both are duly impressed with the job coaches everywhere do of keeping most players in shape, it might be time for them to do as much homework on their recruits as they insist their signees do in class.

Alabama vs Michigan: The Biggest Non-Conference Game Ever For Nick Saban?

    Welcome to Game Week! As we are now only a few days from the season openers, my co-hort Paul Finebaum said something in passing to me that got me thinking:  He said that he thinks this weekend's game against Michigan is Nick Saban's biggest non-conference game ever.  You know something? I agree with him- just look at how this one plays out.

     Since arriving in Tuscaloosa in 2007, Nick Saban has had some impressive results against big-time college teams that do not belong to the SEC:  Just look at the results of his biggest non-conference opponents since becoming the head coach:

2007:   FSU  (L)

2008:  Clemson  (W)

2009:  Virginia Tech  (W)

2010:  Penn State  (W)

2011:  Penn State  (W)

    An impressive record indeed, but why is this Michigan game so important? Because of what happened during the 2010 season that followed the Tide's national championship in Pasadena.  The Tide went 10-3 in 2010, falling flat against South Carolina, LSU and Auburn (the loss to Auburn still must make Saban toss and turn at night).  Saban, along with Bama fans everywhere, does not want a repeat of that season. As the Crimson Tide come off a national championship, Saban knows all too well the dangers of his players being over-confident, or entitled. While the coach waxed poetic at today's game-week newser about avoiding a letdown like the one that occurred in 2010, he knows all too well that if the ball does not bounce in the right direction, national championship hopes could be over.

     Will the Tide beat the Wolverines? I say if they played ten times, the Tide would win seven- but with Denard Robinson (he of the 3500 offensive yards and 36 TD's in 2011) at the helm of the Wolverines offense, event he most ardent of Alabama fans have to be a bit wary.

     Tomorrow I'll be blogging on the Auburn Tigers season opener against Clemson, a game that could turn what has been a trying few weeks into something positive.

     I hope to see you Friday night on for our first "Sideline" high school show, and twice on Sarurday:  At 10 am comes yours truly and Finebaum on "Tide and Tigers Today",  and at 10:30 that night comes "College Football Saturday" with Paul, Sheldon, and the entire Fox6 sports team.

     See you throughout the week, and remember to follow me at Twitter.com/RickKarle and/or Facebook/RickKarle.  

 

Good News For a Good Kid

     It was great to hear that Alabama football coach Nick Saban awarded his long snapper a scholarship this past Monday. If ever there was a Crimson Tide football player who has carried the team banner through tragedy and victory, Carson Tinker is the man.

   Late in the afternoon of April 27th, 2011, Carson Tinker held his beloved girlfriend as a devastating tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa.  His efforts futile, the tornado ripped Ashley Harrison from Carson's arms, killing the beautiful co-ed from Dallas.  Carson suffered injuries, and through faith and family (not to mention support from Ashley's parents Dave and Darlene), Tinker  has marched on.

     In the summer of 2011, the Harrisons travelled back to Tuscaloosa to receive Ashley's diploma during summer graduation.  Dave & Darlene, along with Carson, agreed to chat with me about their loss. What followed was raw emotion, and one of the most difficult interviews I have conducted in 32 years of broadcasting.  Particularly impressive was mother Darlene, a rock in the face of tragedy.

    It's been over a year since my story ran on Fox6, but viewing it again today may give you more perspective on what kind of strength Carson Tinker has exhibited, and what kind of high-character people the Harrisons have been since losing their daughter.

     If you would like to see the story, click on the link below- and tonight, remember to tell your children you love them.

http://www.myfoxal.com/category/240204/video-landing-page?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=7057543

 

Augusta National Greencoats Starting To Get Meaning Of The Word "Inclusion"

     Did you hear the big news from Georgia? For the first time in the 80-year history of Augusta National, a pair of females are finding themselves new members of the club. No, really! Birmingham native Condoleezza Rice, along with South Carolina businessperson Darla Moore will be made official members come October when thet are presented with green jackets.

   This has to beat great news for many of the current Augusta National members.  Down through the years, most of these guys have seen women only wearing aprons- now they get to hang out together, smoke stogies and reminisce about Gene Sarazen's double-eagle back in the 1930's.  I can hear them telling their wives, "Honey- I'm headed to the club to hang with Condi".  Not sure how that may go over with Mrs Club Member.

     Now before you start writing me and telling me I need to wise up, let me be clear: Augusta National has been and is a private golf club- members can include or exclude anyone they want.  I get it. Case in point? When I was 15, I hooked up with my buddies to build a tree house. The catch? I never let my little sister Betsy climb up into that that tree house because "It was a private club that I built." Looking back on that story today, I realize what a butthead I was:  I excluded my sister because she was-yikes-a girl! But my tree house was my private club, for crying out loud- I had a right to exclude her! 

     While the cost of that tree house and the cost of Augusta National are a bit different, the lesson learned here is obvious. Back then, I failed to do what was right- and the private club in Augusta, Georgia has failed to do what is right for decades.

    So while it took years for the greencoats to come around, at long last, they have done the right thing. I wish the best for Ms Rice and Ms Moore as they help break a long, dubious tradition of exclusion at Augusta National:  I only wish these two women the best while hanging with these powerful chauv... I mean, men.

   As for my sister Betsy? If she would have gone to fetch the hammer like I ordered her to, I might have let her hang in my tree house.

Who's The Best Tide & Tiger Players Ever? You Make The Call!

     With the college football season soon to be upon us, the guys here in the Fox6 sports office were sitting around thinking of who we would put on our list of the best Tide and Tiger football players of all time. That got me to thinking: What if my co-hort Paul Finebaum issued his list of the Dandy Dozen, i.e., the twelve greatest players of all-time from Alabama & Auburn?

    Here is what we have planned for you this fall.  Each week on our Saturday morning "Tide And Tigers Today" program, Finebaum will present one of the greatest ever from both schools. On the season premiere of the show come September first, we will tell you how to vote yourself!

     The bottom line? We will provide you with twenty names from each team- your job is to rank your Dandy Dozen from 12 on down to one. On Iron Bowl weekend, we will compile the viewers best and compare it to Finebaum's best.

     Some of the names from which you will get to choose:  From Alabama:  Johnny Musso, Mark Ingram, John Hannah, Don Hutson, David Palmer, Ozzie Newsome, Harry Gilmer, Derrick Thomas, Lee Roy Jordan, Bart Starr, Dwight Stephenson, Shaun Alexander and Ken Stabler.

    From Auburn: Carnell Williams, James Brooks, Aundray Bruce, Tucker Frederickson, Pat Sullivan, Cam Newton, Joe Cribbs, Ronnie Brown, Bo Jackson, Greg Carr, Takeo Spikes, Tracy Rocker, Ed Dyas and Brent Fullwood.

     The best players in Tide & Tigers history?  Look for our voting section at "TideandTigersToday.com"  No doubt picking #1 on the Bama list is going to be tough, but how about Auburn? Cam or Bo?

     See you September 1st at 10 am for "Tide and Tigers Today".  Cory Reamer and Cole Cubelic will be our in-studio analsysts each week this fall, we will have live reports from Dallas and Atlanta in week one, and Finebaum will be with me in studio to bring you Paul's Power Poll, Paul's List, and his trip around the SEC.  

    Hava e great football season, and remember- your feedback is always welcomed. Be sure to join me at Twitter.com@RickKarle!

Golf: The Gentlemen's Game Needs a Clue

     It was earlier this afternoon when I was looking over the low-lites from Sunday's PGA Championship.  Low-lites, that is, if you are Carl Petterson, the former golfer at Central Alabama Community College.  The likeable Swede saw himself get off to a poor start in the final round of the year's last major.  How poor? He lost two strokes on his first hole of the day thanks in part to one of many very silly golf rules.

     Petterson, hoping for a big finish and a major championship, found his golf ball in a hazard. According to "Golf Digest",  Petterson, as the official watched over him, asked if he could brush the grass with his club as long has he didn't put any weight on it. With the official's blessing, Petterson swung away. The catch? The golfer's iron tipped a leaf.  "Sorry, big fella- that'll cost you two strokes!".  Say what? Seems Petterson moved a loose impediment in a  hazard while his golf ball was in the same hazard.  Said Petterson, "The official said I could brush the grass- I wish I would have asked him about leaves, too.  I was just trying to hit the ball."

     I agree with much of what blogger Jay Busbee writes:  "Naturally, every time anyone broaches the question of whether maybe, just maybe, the rules of golf might be verging on the absurd, along come the usual troupe of bureaucratic ninnies to trumpet that golf is great because of its rules!  No, golf is great despite may of its rules... and will remain great no matter how hard the rules twits try to deny basic common sense."   Well put, Jay!

   The bottom line? Carl Petterson finished tied for third place in the PGA Championship. He shoots two strokes lower and he finishes in second place. All that was worth was nearly a half a million dollars. 

   My beef with the rules official was that he could have and should have included a tiny leaf in the same broad sphere as grass. A nit-picky rule cost a good guy a ton of money.  

     Have a great day,  and if you are a golf purist, perhaps there might be a day when you root for the golf world to lighten up a bit- and if you are stickler for the rules of golf, this is one rule that needs to be re-written.

     Thanks to blogger Busbee for opening my eyes to a Petterson deal gone bad.  You can follow him at Twitter.com@JayBusbee

 

Media Madness With Nick Saban: Is The Coach Being Fair & Balanced?

 Just how good is Alabama football coach Nick Saban at his job? Very! Of course being a major college coach means not only coaching up the players, but at times, coaching up (or at least trying to coach up) the media.  If there is a master at media intimidation and pitting good versus evil (the Bama fan base vs those newspaper and TV boneheads),  Saban is your man.

     The latest example of Saban spouting off came a few days ago when a few reporters mentioned (God forbid) the pre-season football poll.  If there is one thing the Alabama coach detests, it is any media type mentioning words like expectations,  predictions, hypotheticals, and "what-ifs".  Saban is all about "now" and not about the future (I don't blame him a bit), and his latest rant is a perfect example.

   Saban's response to a media gathering to yet another "can you predict" question: "All these predictions you make hi-jack the game.  I don't even know who our starting quarterback will be the sixth game of the season, and no one here can predict it either.  You people go vote and have your polls and all that and then want me to respond to it!"

  News flash for the coach:  Nick Saban has a vote in the Top-25 USA Today Coaches poll. That's the poll where coaches PREDICT how teams will finish this coming season.  So before the coach comes down on the media for thinking too far ahead and bringing unfair expectations to his team,  perhaps he should consider voting to do away with all polls- that way all expectations for the Crimson Tide will be over and done, those brain-challenged media types will no longer feel a need to ask Saban to predict a thing, and the game, in the words of the coach, will never again be hi-jacked.

High School Football Coach Points Finger at Nick Saban & Asssistant

   He's a big three-star offensive lineman, a kid who has been ruled academically ineligible to play for Washington High School in Pensacola.  Now, one of Darius Paige's assistant coaches is pointing the finger at Nick Saban and his assistant Jeremy Pruitt, insisting that Pruitt assured Paige that if he transfers to Foley High School in Alabama, Paige would be "taken care of academically."

     Assistant high school football coach George Schellang insists that Bama's Pruitt told Paige he'd be catered to- says Schellang, "I was shocked that a D-One coach would tell a kid he needed to transfer and they had people there to help him".  Schellang has reported his story to the Alabama High School Athletic Asssociation and the NCAA.

     A Nick Saban spokesperson says he will have no comment, citing NCAA recruiting rules, while Ron Ingram of the AHSAA would not confirm or deny to the Pensacola Journal that Paige had filled out transfer forms.

     Here's the rub from my seat:  Let's take this story with a grain of salt. The reputation of assistant coach George Schellang has been questioned through the years, Foley coach Todd Watson insists that no one at his school is in the wrong, and think of this: If indeed Tide assistant Jeremy Pruitt used the words "We will take care of you academically",  he could have simply meant that he knows from the Foley HS folks that Paige would be enrolled in an academic plan that could benefit the lineman.

     Stay tuned on this one. Regardless of how it turns out, the story has certainly added spice to the world of sports less than a month from the season openers! 

Standing Pat: Samford's Sullivan Continues To Do it Right

     "What's wrong with this picture?" I thought as I rolled into a pre-season football media luncheon on Tuesday.  A coach did not try to intimidate the media, did not try to mock, berate, embarrass or otherwise play the media off as bunch of no-good weasels with little knowledge (although I do know some of those types).  I was greeted warmly by a Heisman winner, a head coach, a grandfather and a local hero- and they all happened to be the same man.

     As I took my seat at Samford University, I was refreshingly reminded that there are indeed good people in our midst, and if there was ever a ranking for those good people, Pat Sullivan would be in the all-time Top-Five.  When it comes to the Samford football coach, what you see is what you get- and I hope we get more of him for years to come.

     Pat Sullivan is a hero to many, and he why not? Raised in Birmingham, he was a three-sport star at the old John Carroll Catholic High School.  He chose to play football at Auburn University- all he did was win the 1971 Heisman Trophy and go onto play for the Atlanta Falcons.  Oh, he's made his share of stops at big-time college propgrams, like Auburn (OC), UAB (OC) and TCU (head coach). But how he handled himself in 2003 was what made him complete.

     The prognosis was poor: Sullivan had contracted throat cancer- his future, and life, in doubt. Surrounded by his wife Jean and three kids, the football hero climbed back and found himself at Samford University. He's about to enter his sixth season as head coach, and his life is good.

     As I listened to coach Sullivan talk about his 2012 team, an attractive woman sat near the back of the room, listening to his every word. I turned, I realized:  The woman happened to be Pat's wife Jean.  Only at Samford would the wifeof the coach  stop by for a news conference. Only at Samford would Pat Sullivan get emotional as he thanked his wife for her support.  Only at Samford would a grandfather of eight take time to personally greet all that attended.

     "What's wrong with this picture?" I thought.  Not a thing.  I can only hope I get that feeling at the next news conference I attend.