Mullen comments on Tide’s use of former players
Alabama’s use of former players on its scout team this season has created plenty of buzz recently.
That didn’t change Wednesday, as Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen was asked his thoughts on the Crimson Tide bringing back former players to practice and if he would ever think about using the process himself.
While Mullen didn’t condemn Alabama for using ex-players, he does not appear to completely understand the rule.
“If you can do it, it’s fantastic,” Mullen said during the SEC teleconference. “You get those looks, and I don’t know what they are giving those players to do that, but I don’t know if we have the ability to do that financially.”
Alabama assistant director of compliance Matt Self confirmed Tuesday that Alabama does not pay any of the players it uses and is not allowed to do so according to NCAA rules. Self said players are only given basic training materials such as Gatorade and equipment to practice with.
The rule that allows Alabama and other schools to use former players in practice is NCAA bylaw 14.2.1.6, which states, “A former student at the certifying institution (e.g., former student-athlete) may participate in an organized practice session on an occasional basis, provided the institution does not publicize the participation of the former student at any time before the practice session.”
Later in the day, Alabama head coach Nick Saban addressed the scout-team situation, stating that having former players return has been a positive for the team this season. The head coach said Alabama will have more players return for practice this week to help the team prepare for Mississippi State.
“I think all the players wanting to come back, wanting to contribute to the program shows their gratitude and appreciation for what they were able to accomplish here, what they were able to do and the opportunities it created for them,” Saban said during his Wednesday news conference. “I just love it that they all want to be back and they all want to be here.”
Depth dwindling at running back
After losing the team’s top two running backs from last year, including Heisman winner Derrick Henry, Saban said he knew depth might be an issue at the position coming into the season.
Now, with the loss of freshman B.J. Emmons to a foot injury, the Tide is down three primary backs, including sophomores Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough and freshman Josh Jacobs.
Scarbrough was limited during practice earlier in the week before returning to drills on Wednesday. The sophomore sprained his knee last week against LSU but came back into the game to finish with 52 yards on 11 carries in Alabama’s 10-0 win over the Tigers. Scarbrough is wearing a brace on his right knee during practice.
Despite being banged up at the position, Saban is encouraged from what he has seen from his running backs this season and said the team has benefited from being able to spread the ball to different backs.
“I think it’s always good to have depth at the running back position,” Saban said. “It’s the position that has the shortest shelf life in the NFL. When those guys have the ball, everybody’s trying to hit on them. We like having multiple backs that can play so that we can leave a little more tread on the tires as the season wears on.”
If the Tide loses one of its three remaining primary running backs, Saban said he is also comfortable handing junior Derrick Gore, who has played mostly on special teams this season.
Injury report
Offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor continues to remain missing from the media viewing period during practice this week and has not played since sustaining a concussion against Arkansas on Oct. 8.
Lester Cotton has taken over Taylor’s role at right guard on the Tide’s starting offensive line but has been limited the past two days during the viewing period of practice. Wednesday, Korren Kirven took over at first-team right guard, while Joshua Casher has also seen time at the position this week in practice. Cotton has previously been limited during practice this season without missing games.
Linebacker Reuben Foster is wearing a club on his left hand but does not appear to be hampered by it during practice. Saban said he doesn’t expect the injury to affect Foster this week against Mississippi State.
“He hurt his finger,” Saban said. “So to protect his finger in practice, they put this big club on there. Obviously, it’s helpful if you can use your hands when you take on blockers when you shed blocks. When you tackle sometimes you grab cloth. It’ll be much smaller in the game, so he will have some use, but I don’t think it will affect his play at all.”
Despite being having a few players banged up, Saban said there were serious injuries to report Wednesday.
“Everybody’s working in practice,” Saban said. “We got a couple guys that are a little nicked up, but this time of the year, I think that’s pretty normal.”
Saban skipped the election
While most of the nation tuned into their televisions Tuesday night to find out who was going to be the country’s next president, Saban claims he was too busy studying for Alabama’s matchup against Mississippi State to care about the election.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t even know yesterday was election day,” Saban said. “It was so important to me that I didn’t even know it was happening. We’re focused on other things here.”
Saban later said he doesn’t like making political statements, saying that no matter what he says, he is bound to upset his fans.
“I want what’s best for our country,” he said. “I’m not sure I can figure that out. I want what’s best for people who want to improve the quality of their life and I hope whoever our leader is will certainly do all that he can do to make our country safe and improve the quality of life of a lot of people in our country and I don’t think I’m qualified to determine who that should be.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2016 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Mullen comments on Tide’s use of former players."