Jay GreesonSecond-guessing comes with the territory that is the upper crust of college football. Every big call is analyzed, every big play scrutinized.
Nick Saban knows this. He lives it every day.
Comes with the $7 million annual paycheck, the Nike coaching shirts and the love and trust of University of Alabama fans everywhere.
So he knows the blame is coming. He worked to get Jonathan Taylor a second chance, talking the university administration into admitting the massive five-star defensive lineman who was twice arrested while at Georgia and was dismissed from the Bulldogs.
Taylor was the headliner of a weekend to forget for Saban and the Alabama football nation.
After his run-ins with the law in Athens, Ga. - including a domestic assault charge that is still in the court system - Taylor was arrested last weekend for domestic assault.
He was promptly dismissed by Saban, and the rest of the country started mocking the Tide coach and his botched decision.
First, remember this is not funny. Sure, most of the time when your college football rival falls on hard times, the first reaction is to poke fun. And given that Saban and Alabama have been the model program for most of the last decade, well, with that pedestal comes the biggest gazes, the sharpest arrows and the largest target.
This, however, is no laughing matter. Beyond the sports hand-wringing and the headlines is a 24-year-old woman who apparently was assaulted by a 6-foot-4, 335-pound man who is comfortable handling himself in the mass hysteria and physical jungle that is the line of scrimmage in the SEC.
Yes, Saban and the Alabama administration deserve the pointed questions asked of them after agreeing to let Taylor in, but do not turn this into a punchline.
Let's turn this into a discussion about what is the future of felonious transfers in major college football? Where is the line in which a player's value does not cross the self-worth - and self-respect - of the program as a whole?
It's easy to forget that amid the excellence and excitement that is today's big-time college football, these are 18-to-23-year-old kids who are thrilling us on Saturdays and trying to find themselves and their way. With those steps come missteps, and with those missteps should come ramifications.
It's easy to say given his actions of the weekend that Taylor did not deserve the second chance he was afforded. It's easy to know now that Saban erred in extending himself and his reputation for a kid he knew could help his program and who he hoped would work out.
Now let's change the discussion.
This is not about second chances in life; this is about second chances in high-profile college football.
Second chances in life should be handed out and welcomed and accepted. No one among us is perfect, and we all need new beginnings in this walk.
But playing in the SEC with the spoils that come with it is not a God-given right, and it is high time college football's best league take college football's boldest step against violent crime.
It's time to leave your lasting mark, Mike Slive, as you prepare to conclude your hall of fame career as the SEC commissioner.
It's time, Mike, that you champion a culture change that forbids schools from recruiting or signing players with violent felonies on their record or with charges hanging over them.
Will it mean that the occasional Jonathan Taylor may not help an SEC team on Saturdays? Most likely, but the SEC is already attracting the best players from across the nation at a dizzying pace.
So while the league may have to say thanks but no to a five-star or three every recruiting cycle, it also means the entire league will not have to take the stage and justify the decision to let a habitual domestic assaulter into its program.
It also means that the league safeguards itself from its coaches and its crazy-high expectations. It also means that the almost certain lawsuit waiting against a university for allowing an alleged violent criminal onto its campus could be avoided.
It's time to strike back, Mike.
Jay Greeson's column will appear on Page A2 on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. His sports columns are scheduled for Tuesdays and Fridays. You can read his online column the "5-at-10" Monday through Friday at timesfreepress.com after 10 a.m. Contact him at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp.