Reuben Foster’s leadership helps Tide defense shine

Subtlety isn’t really Reuben Foster’s thing. Use any one of his 94 bone-crunching tackles this season as evidence. When the Alabama linebacker makes contact with an opposing player, he tends to make his message clear.

Lucky for Foster, subtlety isn’t exactly what Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is looking for. In fact, during Pruitt’s first year as the Crimson Tide’s defensive coordinator this season, Foster’s bluntness has been a welcomed asset both on and off the field.

“He’s real,” Pruitt said. “What you see is kind of what you get. He’s my type of guy. I like Reuben a lot. If he tells you he’s going to do something, he’s going to do it.”

A self-described head-knocker and the heartbeat of a defense said to be “hateful” by head coach Nick Saban, it’s easy to put Foster in a box and brand him as ruthless. That’s only part of his role as one of the Tide’s four permanent team captains this season.

Behind the hard hits, Foster has emerged as one of the Tide’s leaders off of the field as well. When asked about Foster’s character, Pruitt called Foster a “giver” and a “pleaser.” While Foster earned this year’s Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker, the senior hasn’t been involved in some Alabama’s flashier plays this season.

Foster cheered from the sidelines as Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown against Ole Miss. He was in coverage for Allen’s second fumble return of the season against Texas A&M. Foster has no interceptions and has not tallied any of the 10 touchdowns the Tide has scored on defense.

That’s perfectly alright with him.

“I don’t think about myself, I think about others,” Foster said. “I want everybody to shine on the field because if we all shine everybody looks good. I want everybody to shine so we can all be one heartbeat.”

That leadership hasn’t always come naturally for Foster. Before his breakout season last year, Foster was kept off the field by injuries as well as an inability to master the complexities of Alabama’s defense. That all changed during the spring of 2015 when he pledged to his fraternity Omega Psi Phi.

“I had to learn about all the history of Omega Psi Phi. I was like, ‘Dang, I’m learning all this but I can’t learn this defense,’ ” Foster said. “I said, ‘I might as well go ahead and take the chance and really learn this, the ins and outs of the defense.’ That’s how it clicked when I pledged, then I had to learn our history and our defense. After that it was easy.”

That added dedication proved handy this season when Foster and the rest of the Tide defense was given the task of shedding weight in order to become faster. Without batting an eye, Foster spearheaded the movement, cutting nearly 20 pounds and dropping from 240 to the low 220s he’s playing at now.

It wasn’t easy, but because his team needed it, Foster didn’t care.

“They had a plan for us,” Foster said. “We listened to our coach, we listened to our nutritionist, we listened to Coach (Scott) Cochran. They knew what was best.”

Not only did Omega Psi Phi give Foster an added work ethic, he also took the fraternity’s “brother-to-brother” motto to heart. Foster described the Tide as one big fraternity and said learning how to form a brotherhood is something that has contributed to his leadership.

“When one brother’s in need, you go out and help that brother,” Foster said. “I feel like that helped me a lot in my leadership with helping another brother on the team with their skills and mindset.”

Now, one of the most prominent voices on Alabama’s defense, Foster has the Tide on the brink of its second straight national championship. No. 1 Alabama will take on No. 4 Washington at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Peach Bowl in a College Football Playoff semifinal.

It will be one more opportunity for Foster to make another loud statement for his team.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Reuben Foster’s leadership helps Tide defense shine."