"I don’t see no big deal like everybody else," he said later. "They’d say, ‘He’s the king of all of football.’ The guy ain’t nothing but 5-5. He’s a short guy. Everybody’s going crazy on Nick Saban."

During the visit, Saban touted Alabama’s graduation rate, its success in sending players to the NFL and playing Clowney at both defensive end and outside linebacker. Clowney and his family could hardly get a word in.

"Nick Saban’s going to take over and talk," Clowney said. "He talked the whole time he was there. I was dozing off. He can talk. A lot. He talked for a whole straight hour."
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"We’d love to have you," Clowney recalled Saban telling him. "You’d help our team out. You’re going to play as a freshman."

But Alabama’s 3-4 defense was a problem for Clowney. He believed he didn’t fit in the scheme.

"If Alabama ran a 4-3, I would have committed a long time ago," Clowney said during a Jan. 24 interview at his grandparents’ house. "They run a 3-4 and I’m thinking, ‘They expect me to stay 265, 270 (pounds).’ If I get up to 280, 290, I’d be playing defensive tackle up there. That ain’t my position. I like playing on the end and rushing the passer."

Jimmy Sexton/Pat Dye have signed DeMarco Murray, Julio Jones & Sam Acho for '11 Draft. Nice haul.

Nick Saban and Urban Meyer will be on-site studio analysts for ESPN in Glendale.

Boise State, ranked No. 3 behind Alabama and Ohio State, might not get that chance. It didn't last year when Alabama and Texas met in the BCS championship game. If Boise State had faced Alabama, it might have been the Broncos, rather than the Crimson Tide, that won the championship.

Ingram will definitely play per Saban: "He’s practiced all week and is taking reps, running fast and cutting good. He’s ready to go."

Hater's Guide to the Top 25

Pat Forde defecates on keyboard, insists it's a metaphor for BCS

ESPNU and ESPN will showcase the defending national champions, the University of Alabama football program, in the hour-long College Football Special: Alabama All-Access Wednesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU (re-air, midnight) and Thursday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Crimson Tide will provide ESPN with unprecedented access into the inner workings of a college football program, by giving viewers a first-time look at practices, team meetings and campus facilities for eight days, beginning today, Aug. 3.

Phillips, an agent who earned his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Alabama, can laugh away the association to a peddler of prostitution.

"The bad apples — the pimps — are spoiling the game," Phillips said. "It’s only going to mean more restrictions. What’s next? Me, as two-time alumni of that university and an agent, I can’t go to games because of rogue agents? It’s getting to the point where enforcing it is getting grossly unfair. You’ve got to protect your players if the NFL won’t do it and the states won’t truly find a way to bring these guys down."

Rookie nose guard Terrence Cody had a big day today, sacking Troy Smith and also rejecting one of his passes.

I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO HERE

You can spill a lot of blood sweat and tears as a parent/coach, but once your child/player is out of your house/program and on their own, what they do from there and how well they do it is on their shoulders.

The other thing is, name me a program that churns out players who all thrive at the NFL level. Miami had a pretty good run for a while, but there are not the kind of football factories that used to exist out there anymore, in large part because there are a lot more solid programs now.

LSU produces plenty of players ready for the NFL Draft. If they’re not ready to play when they get to the league, it’s hard to fault their college coaches.

On Monday, the Gators landed one of the crown jewels in the 2011 class when Jeff Driskel of Oviedo, Fla., said he planned to sign with Florida. The 6-foot-4, 224-pound Driskel is a mid-termer and plans to be on campus next January. He had everybody in the country after him, including Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

Alabama continues hot streak this morning with the commitment of Pensacola-Catholic DE DJ Pettway, the Tide's 11th commit of 2011. Pettway is Alabama's fourth commitment in three days and fifth in five days. Pettway had offers from LSU, FSU, Miami among 24 others.

"They wear down, especially when it gets in the fourth quarter," said Ingram, who had 1,075 yards after contact in 2009. "You can tell by their body language, and they don’t want to tackle you anymore. That’s how we play as a team. We want to wear teams down. The wide receivers play that way. The offensive line plays that way, and we play that way."

"I don’t know how you can game plan for two guys like Mark and Trent," Hightower said. "Most teams will have a big, power back and then another guy they bring in who’s a speed back, so you can get your defensive personnel on the field depending on who’s out there. But with Mark and Trent, you’ve got strength, power and speed with both of them. You can’t adjust on defense. I don’t see how you can stop them."

Gadsden City receiver Daryl Collins has committed to Alabama. He is the Tide's sixth commitment of the class of 2011.

The Sirius XM Sports Nation satellite channel has picked up Finebaum's popular sports-talk show and should begin airing it as early as Monday afternoon, Finebaum said Thursday.

There’s a reason the SEC hasn’t released the league schedule for the 2010 season. That’s because some games could be switching dates. Charles Bloom, an SEC associate commissioner, said Thursday that the league is trying to provide some relief for Alabama so that the Crimson Tide won't have to play six of their eight conference games next season when the opponent is coming off a bye week.