Saban not sorry for giving Taylor a chance

Alabama Coach Nick Saban discusses Jonathan Taylor's dismissal, Geno Smith's second chance and other issues after spring NCAA football practice, Monday, March 30, 2015, at the Mal Moore Athletic Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Alabama Coach Nick Saban discusses Jonathan Taylor's dismissal, Geno Smith's second chance and other issues after spring NCAA football practice, Monday, March 30, 2015, at the Mal Moore Athletic Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Alabama football coach Nick Saban went on the defensive Monday night in his first news conference since Sunday's dismissal of defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor.

Taylor was arrested Saturday night in Tuscaloosa and charged with domestic violence third degree assault and domestic violence third degree criminal mischief. The 6-foot-4, 335-pounder was dismissed from Georgia last July following an arrest on felony aggravated assault and family violence.

"I'm not sorry for giving him an opportunity," Saban said after the Crimson Tide's sixth spring practice. "I'm sorry for the way things worked out, but I'm not apologizing for the opportunity we gave him. I wanted to try to help the guy make it work. We're sorry that there was an incident, and we're sorry for the people that were involved in the incident.

photo In this Monday, March 23, 2015, photo, Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor (53) participates in spring football practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
photo In this Dec. 6, 2014, file photo, Alabama defensive back Geno Smith (24) lines up during the second half of an NCAA college football Southeastern Conference Championship game against Missouri in Atlanta, Ga.

"But we're not apologizing for what we did, and we're going to continue to create opportunities for people in the future."

Saban also addressed senior defensive back Geno Smith, who was arrested for a second time on a DUI charge, but most of the questions dealt with Taylor.

Taylor enrolled in January after playing last season at Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College, where he had 44 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. According to the Tuscaloosa Police Department report, the 24-year-old female victim Saturday had minor injuries to her neck.

"You learn from every experience, and we've certainly learned from this one," Saban said. "I certainly don't condone that kind of behavior, especially when it comes to how females are treated. We try to create a lot of awareness with our players, and we would certainly be cautious with any player with any character problem, but especially something like this.

"We will continue to try and create opportunities for players and try to help them be successful. Even in Jonathan Taylor's case, if there is anything we can do to help him overcome his issues and problems, we will certainly try and help him be successful. But right now, the guy just cannot be on our football team."

Taylor underwent psychological profiling and psychological counseling in his short Crimson Tide stint, according to Saban, who added that he never missed a session and "did everything he was supposed to do."

After fielding several queries regarding Taylor, Saban pointed out that there are 125 other players on the team who are doing really well. Smith is not among those, however, after his arrest early Saturday morning.

Smith's first DUI arrest occurred in the summer of 2013, and he was suspended for that season's opener against Virginia Tech in Atlanta.

"He's going to have quite a bit of things he's going to have to do in the future, which I'm not going to be willing to share with anybody," Saban said. "It's kind of a private matter, but then he would be back on the field and we would allow him to practice again. Our focus right now is to try and help Geno in every way that we can."

When asked if he considered dismissing Smith, Saban compared disciplining players to disciplining children.

"You don't throw them out with the bath water every time they do something wrong," he said.

Smith did not attend the portion of Monday's practice that was open to the media.

As far as on-the-field developments, Saban said sophomore receiver Cam Sims tore his ACL in a recent workout and will be challenged to play this season. Sims is Alabama's only returning receiver who had a touchdown catch last year.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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