Happy Thursday, everyone. The NCAA Tournament kicks off in earnest today, with Creighton and Louisville kicking off the festivities at 11:15am CT. Alabama, of course, does not play until tomorrow. Opponent Robert Morris is from Pittsburgh which will be convenient for them with the game being played in Cleveland. There is even a Nick Saban connection.
Robert Morris will take on Alabama on Friday in the NCAA Tournament thanks, in part, to the adoption of an athletic philosophy honed at Alabama.
You can’t make this stuff up, which is part of the magic and the madness of March.
The connection is Colonials Athletic Director Chris King, who used to be an associate AD for the Crimson Tide.
In addition to earning a ring for ’Bama’s 2009 football national championship, King’s time in Tuscaloosa included working with and learning from then-Alabama football coach Nick Saban, who has so many championship rings he’s running out of fingers.
“If you focus in on your sideline, your process, it doesn’t matter what they do,” King recalled Saban maintaining on one especially memorable occasion.
“I thought that was one of the greatest leadership lines I’d ever heard.”
Is there ever not a Nick Saban connection at this point?
Kalen DeBoer is setting clear expectations that 2025 must be better.
“Now we understand what this place is all about,” DeBoer said. “All together, the relationships now are there with our players; we can just really take it to the next level. Our guys understand that everything we ask of them is for their own good. Just that hard coaching that you can do has been really enjoyable.”
That hard coaching, and a better understanding of the surroundings, should yield better results this fall— nothing short of a College Football Playoff experience. Alabama was on the cusp a year ago. Breaking through this fall is more than just a hope. It’s what’s expected.
“(Last season) wasn’t good enough in any of our minds,” DeBoer said. “We need to be better, and we know that. We also know that Year 1 to Year 2, that jump should happen, and we expect that to happen.”
CJ Dippre was impressed with Kalen’s intestinal fortitude to follow the legend.
“I always told (DeBoer) that was a big respect thing for me,” Dippre said. “I remember when I went up and sat down with him for the first time, that was one of the things I said. And I was like, to come in and have the guts to fill those shoes, it’s tough. I mean, it’s easier to go into a broken program and try and rebuild it than come into a traditionally already winning already successful program and keep that success going.”
Jalen Milroe helped himself at Alabama’s Pro Day.
Alabama football QB Jalen Milroe ran the 40-yard dash at Pro Day on Wednesday, and according to SEC Network, his official time was a 4.40, with a 1.44 10-yard split, both of which are outstanding for a draft prospect of Milroe’s size and position.
Official Pro Day times, unlike the laser-timing at the NFL Scouting Combine, are derived from an aggregation of several hand timings by designated NFL scouts. The 10-yard split time is marked at the first 10 yards of a prospect’s 40-yard dash, which is a better indication of initial explosiveness. Per SECN, Milroe’s official 40 time came from the second of his two heats, while the 10-yard split came from his first clocking.
Jalen Milroe put on an absolute SHOW at Alabama’s pro day today and reportedly moved up “significantly” on a lot of QB needy teams’ draft boards.
To start, Milroe put up a 4.37 40-yard dash, which is the third-fastest 40-time a QB has recorded in NFL testing history.
Behind… pic.twitter.com/v6CCRE9TQb
— NFL Rookie Watch (@NFLRookieWatxh) March 20, 2025
That was a nice ball.
Malachi Moore said that Rico Scott is a name to watch this season.
Ryan Williams is the most well-known receiver on the Alabama football roster. Germie Bernard is the veteran. Isaiah Horton is the new piece, transferring from Miami.
But former safety Malachi Moore didn’t mention any of those players when asked to name a player on the roster who has grown the most and can “become a dude.”
Moore went with a lesser-known name. At least for now.
“The biggest one would probably be Rico Scott,” said Moore, a captain on the 2024 team. “I just seen him really take his game to another level. He’s always been a hard worker, though. He’s never really complaining about playing time or anything like that. He’s always kept his head down and do what the coaches ask him to do and come out and put the extra work in. He’s looking good.”
Last, Scott Cochran has now added Reggie Ragland to his staff at West Alabama.
Ragland is a former national championship-winning Alabama defensive lineman who logged a half-dozen years in the NFL as a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
A Huntsville, Alabama, native, Ragland won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs when they defeated the San Francisco 49ers.
His addition to Cochran’s inaugural UWA staff brings the count to six former Tide mainstays now as part of the Tigers. He joins former quarterback Blake Sims and star tight end O.J. Howard, as well as ex-running back Bo Scarbrough and Damion Square.
Those players are going to be star struck by their coaching staff.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
