By Michael Casagrande
sports@timesfreepress.com
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – In the past week, Alabama football coach Nick Saban has diagnosed his team with a case of the “poor mes.”
Then he saw a “woe is me” attitude at Saturday’s scrimmage.
By Monday, the Crimson Tide veterans had seen enough. A few potential captains stood up at the morning practice in hopes of stemming the perceived lack of effort.
It was time for “the talk.”
A year ago, linebacker Dont’a Hightower doesn’t remember Alabama facing these issues and Saban wasn’t questioning the intensity with which his team practiced on the way to the national championship.
“I think it’s new to the team this year,” Hightower said. “Last year we had a lot of veterans, a lot more maturity. Right now, there’s a lot more rookies. Like I said, we can’t take the easy way out and try to blame it on the rookies. We’ve all got to come out and lead by example and show a little bit more maturity than what we’ve been showing.”
There were many more veterans returning this time last year, and the August heat wasn’t setting state records in 2009 as it is this year. But, as Hightower said, excuses like that don’t fly in the Tide football complex.
So along with quarterback Greg McElroy, tight end Preston Dial and defensive end Marcell Dareus, Hightower got real with his teammates during the last two-a-day practice scheduled for the preseason.
“I was really displeased,” McElroy said about Monday morning’s practice.
“The thing that bothers me more than anything is not necessarily from a talent standpoint,” he added. “It’s just how much do you care about the team. What are you willing to give to allow the team to be successful? I think that’s something we all need to take a look in the mirror – as an offense, defense, special teams, everybody. We need to take a look and see what we’re not doing right and notice those problems and be honest with yourself.”
From McElroy’s perspective, the issues are no different from those faced this time every year. Still, he’s not fine with poor practice habits continuing into the final three weeks of preparation before the games start counting.
Most of the problems in Saturday’s scrimmage were on the defensive side, Saban said afterward. He also used the opportunity to question the desire of his team for the second time in a week. At issue was the intensity shown on days following an indoor practice, but Monday’s workout followed the team’s first off day since practice began Aug. 5.
McElroy said he didn’t think it was “a toughness issue,” but it was time for a little teammate-to-teammate chat.
“It was just kind of sort of planned, I guess you could say,” Hightower said. “Preston started it and guys just kind of followed in. I mean, we kind of realized that we set the tone. We’re getting close to the season. If you want to play, you’ve got to show up this week and get ready.”
One final 2:30 p.m. CDT practice is scheduled for today before shifting to the 3:30 p.m. time slot once classes start Wednesday.