THROUGH THE YEARS
Some historical A-Day notes entering today’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium:› Paul “Bear” Bryant’s first A-Day game on April 27, 1958, drew a crowd of 15,000.› In 1966 and 1967, A-Day was held on a Friday night.› A-Day, which is free of charge, had a $3 admission fee in 1972 and 1973.› Alabama held A-Day at Birmingham’s Legion Field in 1987 and 1988 due to on-campus stadium construction.› The Crimson Tide replaced A-Day in 1991 and 1996 under Gene Stallings with Friday scrimmages that drew about 2,000 spectators.
Alabama's offense the past several weeks has been under the guidance of new coordinator Brian Daboll, who has NFL coordinating experience and was the tight ends coach of the New England Patriots before heading to Tuscaloosa.
Crimson Tide players have talked about "tweaks" Daboll has provided to a unit that averaged 455.3 yards and 38.8 points per game last season, but don't expect to see them during this afternoon's A-Day game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Not with Florida State first up on the Tide's schedule in September.
"It would be very foolish to do things new in our offense that would show opponents who we play early in the season," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Thursday night in a news conference.
Alabama, which has won three consecutive Southeastern Conference titles, is the only league team to have its spring game televised by ESPN. Today's A-Day matchup will start at 3 EDT, and it will be accompanied by the broadcast team of Joe Tessitore, Kirk Herbstreit, Joey Galloway and Laura Rutledge, giving it more exposure than other league games that have been aired on the SEC Network.
A-Day will consist of four 15-minute quarters with a running clock that will be stopped only after scoring plays, penalties and changes of possession. Regular clock rules will be employed during the final four minutes of the second and fourth quarters.
Quarterbacks and return specialists cannot be tackled, with each punt return spotted at the 30-yard line of the receiving team.
"It's the closest thing we have to a real game," junior receiver Calvin Ridley said. "We get to put on our jerseys. It's a lot of fun."
Despite the vanilla approach Alabama is expected to take, A-Day still offers a first glimpse at quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, both early enrollees. It also offers the chance to see whether returning quarterback Jalen Hurts has improved as a pocket passer, which has been one of Saban's chief objectives since January's loss to Clemson in the national championship game.
The White team today will consist of the first-team offense and the second-team defense, while the Crimson will contain the second-team offense and the defensive starters. That will result in first-teamers going head-to-head as well as second-teamers, with today's winners feasting on steak and the losers on beans.
"The format for A-Day is to create the best competition that we can," Saban said.
Redshirt sophomore safety Deionte Thompson, who turned himself into Tuscaloosa police last week as a result of an assault that took place last month in Texas, is not listed on the A-Day roster.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.