College football season returns on Saturday
College football season begins anew this weekend. Over two hundred thousand Alabamians will be traveling on the roads this weekend to watch their favorite college teams play and to tailgate with their friends and families before and after the games. Head football coach Nick Saban returns to the University of Alabama for yet another season, and the Tide is once again ranked high in the college football rankings. Bama had a respectable 11 and 2 finish in 2022 but were left out of the college football playoffs. The Tide watched the playoffs on TV last year as the Georgia Bulldogs repeated as national champions. Saban returns, but the Tide has a new offensive and defensive coordinator. Saban is also looking for a quarterback. Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young is now the starting quarterback for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Saban has not named a starter at the position, with four quarterbacks competing for playing time. Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner, and freshman Dylan Lonergan have all flashed at points in camp, but according to Saban, none of them have played so well that they have made him give them the job. Most observers seem to think that last year’s backup – Milroe, will be the starter, but for how long? Buchner has more experience, and he worked with the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame last year, before transferring to Tuscaloosa. Simpson and Lonergan both appear to have a high ceiling with more raw talent but would be riskier choices. The Tide’s season kicks off in Tuscaloosa on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night when the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders visit. Hugh Freeze is the new head coach of the Auburn Tigers. Auburn finished a disappointing 5 and 7 last year with Brian Harsin being released as head coach in the middle of just his second season on the plains. Auburn was decimated in the two years after Coach Gus Malzahn was fired, with dozens of players leaving the program through the transfer portal and Harsin’s recruiting classes being less impressive than what the Tigers’ fans were used to. Freeze went heavy into the transfer portal to quickly replenish Auburn’s depth chart with upperclassmen transfers from other programs. Freeze has named Payton Thorne as the starting quarterback, with Thorne having beat out Robby Ashford in fall camp. Auburn’s season kicks off in Auburn on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. with the University of Massachusetts coming to visit. Trent Dilfer is the new head coach at the UAB Blazers. Dilfer won his first game with the Blazers on Thursday night with a 35 to 6 win over North Carolina A&T. UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno was nearly perfect, completing 34 of his 37 pass attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. 13 different Blazers caught passes, and 9 Blazers has running carries for 177 yards on the ground. The Blazers defense held NCAT to just 16 yards through the air and 157 yards on the ground. Troy University also starts their season at home on Saturday with Stephen F. Austin at 6:00 p.m. Jon Sumrall returns as the Trojans head coach. With 12 wins last year, Troy had the most wins in its history since moving up in division. Gunnar Watson is the starting quarterback. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Three Alabama players picked high in the NFL draft
University of Alabama head football Coach Nick Saban was at the NFL draft in Kansas City on Thursday, and he didn’t have to wait long for his players to be taken in the first round. The Tide’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Bryce Young was the first player taken in the NFL draft. There were plenty of reports by media talking heads that NFL scouts were concerned that the 5-foot 10-inch 205-pound junior was too small to play quarterback in the NFL. Actual NFL scouts felt otherwise, and the Carolina Panthers traded up in the draft to get their quarterback of choice, and they selected Young. The consensus best defensive player, and arguably the “safest” pick in the NFL draft, was Tide pass rusher Will Anderson Jr. There were no questions about Anderson’s size at 6-foot 4 inch 243 pounds. There are discussions about whether Anderson will split time at linebacker and edge rusher or just play defensive end exclusively. The Houston Texans traded up to get Anderson. He was the first defensive player taken in the draft and the third player taken. Former Tide standout linebacker DeMeco Ryans is the new head coach at the Texans and is widely considered a defensive genius. The Texans had the number two pick in the draft, and many draft analysts debated whether the Texans would take Anderson or Ohio State Quarterback C.J. Stroud. The answer was actually both, as the Texans took Stroud with the second pick in the draft and traded up to get Anderson with the third pick in the draft. Most analysts thought the Tide’s first-round night was over once Anderson and Young were both drafted, but that was far from the case. The Detroit Lions chose Tide running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th overall pick. Gibbs, who rushed for over nine hundred yards at Alabama, is also a dual-threat back who was very involved in the passing game. Gibbs was the second running back taken in the NFL draft. The NFL collective bargaining agreement limits the amount of money that rookies can make in their first NFL contracts. However, Young is expected to sign a four-year deal worth $41.2 million, including a $26.9 million signing bonus, according to Spotrac’s projections. Sportstrac estimates that Anderson will receive a $35.2 million deal with a $22.6 million signing bonus. Jaymyr Gibbs should get a $17.8 million deal, including an $8.4 million signing bonus. Former Tide/Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts did not get drafted until the second round, where the money and the guaranteed money are a lot more limited. He went on to beat Carson Wentz out for the starting job at the Philadelphia Eagles. He took the Eagles to the playoffs in his second season. He won the division and took the Eagles to the Super Bowl. The Eagles rewarded Hurts on Monday with a $255 million contract extension, with $179 million of it guaranteed. The NFL has a hard salary cap where the most that a team can spend on player salaries is $224.8 million in 2023 – that is up $17 million from 2022. Hurts is the second highest-paid player in the NFL behind only Lamar Jackson, who signed a new $2 million a year higher deal on Thursday. College football has also changed. Not long ago, players got a scholarship to go to school, an assigned room in a student dorm, healthcare, textbooks, some shirts and shoes, and three meals a day at a cafeteria. If they made it, the NFL was the first time they could make money. Young was paid over a million dollars in his name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals. Notre Dame Quarterback Tyler Buchner was reportedly offered a lucrative NIL deal to leave the Fighting Irish to join the Crimson Tide. The on-the-field money is only part of the payoff for being a high-draft pick. Young has recently negotiated endorsement deals with Jordan Brand, Snickers, Beats by Dre, and sports drinks Body Armor and Celsius. Since 2005, 41 Alabama players have gone in the first round and have made $1.3 billion in combined career earnings – and that does not count Hurts, who was taken in the second round. That is more than any other school during that time period. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
