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  • Alabama will have Co-Defensive coordinators for 2024 season

    Brandon Moseley|Feb 1, 2024

    On Monday, University of Alabama head football Coach Kalen DeBoer announced that he will not have one defensive coordinator; but two in 2024. DeBoer announced the decision that he has hired Maurice Linguist and Colin Hitschler to serve as co-defensive coordinators and secondary coaches. "We are excited to have Maurice and Colin join our staff at Alabama," DeBoer said in a statement. "Maurice brings both head coaching experience and an established record of success coaching defensive backs....

  • The Greatest of Our Generation Maybe Any Generation!

    Jan 1, 2024

    The earth shook in the college football world as Nick Saben announced his retirement on January 11. First the stats: At Alabama his record was 201-29 with seven national titles. Saban and Bryant are the only two head coaches to win national titles at different FBS schools. He dominated the SEC with a record of 107-18. He has sent more players to the NFL (123) than any other head coach, those players amassing over $2 billion in player contracts. These stats were not built on money but on a disciplined style of coaching that focused on...

  • A New and Different 2021 Football Season is Dawning

    Stan Hurst|Aug 1, 2021

    We are rapidly approaching a new and different College Football season. Hopefully we will step into a new normal, and will it be mask free? It sure looks like it from my vantage point. We have Coach Saban doing public services announcements encouraging Alabama fans to get the COVID-19 vaccine – we’ll have to see if that prods folk along. This will be the new normal for the foreseeable future. How many SEC fans will get vaccinated so that all the seats will be filled? Make no mistake, this...

  • Heisman Who?

    Stan Hurst|Jan 1, 2021

    For the first time in 29 years a receiver has won the coveted Heisman Trophy. With one exception in 1997, Devonta Smith won this most impressive award dominated by quarterbacks and running backs. Devonta Smith – “Smitty” a humble and unassuming Crimson Tide receiver has brought home another award for Coach Saban’s bunch in Tuscaloosa. In is extemporaneous acceptance speech, Devonta gave credit to his family, his friends and supporters at home. His honest assessment of himself, as too...

  • New Season, Same Saga Plays Out on the Plains

    Stan Hurst|Nov 1, 2020

    It’s an all too familiar story that’s mushrooming up again at Auburn. The “we need to fire the head coach” anthem is growing stronger each week. For more seasons than I can count, this thing seems to bubble up as the losses pile up. So many times, the blame sees to get focused on the offensive coordinator. So let me see if I can get this straight. During the past four years, Auburn has had four different play callers, offensive coordinators; Rhett Lashley, Kenny Dillingham, Head Coach...

  • The Most Charismatic name in Auburn Football History

    Ed Jones|Jan 1, 2020

    That will not change. He battled cancer for years, continuing to coach until he could not stand up. Pat Sullivan, dead at the age of 69. “The most charismatic name in Auburn football history.” That is what Coach “Shug” Jordan said about Pat Sullivan in 1971. There is no question that this was true in 1971 after Pat won the Heisman Trophy. It is also true today. Even after Bo Jackson and Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy, Pat Sullivan is the name that Auburn people revere over any other....

  • Spot-on Pre-Season Predictions!

    Ed Jones|Dec 1, 2019

    In the April 2019 edition of the Alabama Gazette, the following article appeared... Ed Jones pre-season predictions...and, boy, were they on target! Take a minute to review what Jones said in April......

  • 2019 PROJECTIONS VERSUS REALITY

    Ed Jones|Nov 1, 2019

    As the last five weeks of the college football season unfolds, let’s look at my pre-season projections for 2019. My choice of Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan and Clemson was looking good until Michigan lost its second game to Penn State 28-21 on October 26. Their chance of getting back is zero. Also there was quite a surprise on the same day when mediocre Kansas State beat Oklahoma 48-41. With one loss, Oklahoma can climb back into the top four by winning out, and by getting help from Ohio State...

  • THE ROAD AHEAD

    Ed Jones|Oct 1, 2019

    No other state in America has two football teams ranked in the top ten this year. Alabama has reclaimed number one as Clemson came within one play of losing to North Carolina on September 28th. At press time, Auburn is holding on to the number seven spot with a road trip to Gainesville staring them in the face. Florida is number eight and should be a slight favorite. Prior to the season, I wrote that Alabama would be favored in every game in 2019. I also wrote that Auburn would be underdogs in...

  • TOP 50 PROJECTIONS FOR 2019

    Ed Jones|Sep 1, 2019

    These 2019 projections are based on schedule difficulty, final regular season record and position that national polls will place each team at the end of the regular season. For the first time in 40 years of making these pre-season projections, there are no teams in the top 50 projected to finish 7-5. The reason seems to be that, this year, the schedule of the best teams are not as difficult as normal. You can contact me after the season to criticize or congratulate. I have experienced both. 1....

  • MUCH ADO ABOUT MALZAHN

    Ed Jones|Aug 1, 2019

    Auburn is heading into the seventh season under Coach Gus Malzahn. Over the last six years, no coach in America has been under scrutiny as much as Malzahn. Some of this just comes with the territory. Most of it comes from the Auburn fan base made up of alumni and faithful supporters of the Auburn football program. Some of it comes from sports writers who have never worn a jockey strap. All of it is detrimental to the success of the program under the direction of Gus Malzahn. Not all of it is...

  • SEC AT A GLANCE

    Ed Jones|Jul 1, 2019

    Another football season is bearing down on us again. To me, it seems as if I watched the “beat down” that Clemson put on Alabama in the national championship game last month. This year my non-football months were more interesting than before, due to the success of the Auburn basketball program and the Auburn baseball team. For the first time in my life I have watched almost all of the NCAA Baseball Tournament to see who will be national champion. The College World Series ended on Wednesday,...

  • Who's It Gonna Be?

    Ed Jones|Apr 1, 2019

    ALABAMA There is no controversy this year in Tuscaloosa as to who the quarterback will be. Tua Tagovailoa will be at Alabama at least one more year. The runner up for the Heisman trophy is well entrenched as the Alabama quarterback for 2019. The real problem at quarterback is who will be Tua’s backup. Mac Jones, a 6’- 2”, 205 lb. sophomore was number three last year. Gone is the multi-talented Jalen Hurts. He will be vying for the Heisman as the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners, who...

  • What I Don't Like About Football

    Ed Jones|Mar 1, 2019

    This column will be devoted to the many things that I don’t like about modern day football. As addicted as I am to the sport, there are certain trends that do not enhance the game of football. Even worse, these trends are in some cases very bad for football. Most football fans do not see those trends, or care about their impact on the game. However, as a traditionalist, they are an abomination to me. What is so frustrating is that there is little that can be done about them now. When you make...

  • The Playoff

    Ed Jones|Feb 1, 2019

    While the national championship in college football is still on our minds, it seemed to be a good time to discuss the pros and cons of our current playoff system, and the possibility of an eight team playoff system. First off, the four team playoff has been highly successful pitting the four best teams against each other to determine the national championship on the field rather than subjectively voting on a champion. In each of the six playoffs, the number one team and the number two team has...

  • Tigers Roll Tide Clemson 44- Alabama 16

    Ed Jones|Jan 1, 2019

    The magic is gone. Tua Tagovailoa is human after all. Coach Dabo Swinney had his Clemson Tigers so prepared for The National Championship Game with Alabama, there was nothing Nick Saban could do that would stem the onslaught of the Clemson defense. Alabama had the football inside the red zone enough times in this game to have won it. But, the inept play selections and the adept Clemson defense turned the Tide away over and over again. Meanwhile, freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence did his...

  • Perfection in Crimson?

    Ed Jones|Dec 1, 2018

    Alabama has had a special season so far, even measured by Alabama standards. They started the season ranked number one and have maintained the ranking every week of the 2018 season. If the Tide can beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, win two games in the four team national championship playoff, it will accomplish a feat that not many teams have been able to do. They will have gone through the entire season from start to finish ranked number one. They also will be 15-0, a record that has...

  • $49M...Really?

    Ed Jones|Nov 1, 2018

    There has been a resistance on my part to address my concerns about the Auburn football program under Gus Malzahn. One of the reasons for that is my belief that he is a good man with a good family. He has the best interests of his players foremost in his program. Malzahn has done well in recruiting, flirting with the top 10 each year. He has worked diligently and tirelessly to take the Auburn football program to the heights desired by the alumni, the fan base, former players and the...

  • Eligibility Chaos

    Ed Jones|Oct 1, 2018

    Since Auburn first played Georgia in 1892, there have been many changes in the way the game of football is played. Many rule changes have been instituted since that time. Technics of playing the game have been altered as well. For example, blocking technics today would have brought down wrath from my coaches in the 50’s. Use of the helmet has been taken out of the game except for serving as protection for the offensive player mostly. The NCAA has morphed into a cumbersome monolithic rule make...

  • TOP 50 in 2018...and Ed's Projections Of Where They Could Finish Up!

    Ed Jones|Sep 1, 2018

    Never in my forty years of doing pre-season projections on how the top college football teams will finish their regular season, have I seen how the scene looks this year. Seven teams have a good chance to finish undefeated. As far as I can remember this has never happened and it is not really expected in 2018. Some of these teams will have a bad game and drop out of the undefeated category. Clemson has the best avenue to an undefeated season because of their schedule. The Tigers play at Texas...

  • QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY?

    Ed Jones|Aug 1, 2018

    For the last seventy years, my attention has been on the game of football, especially college football. To my knowledge, during this time, never has there been such an obsession with who the quarterback will be at Alabama for the 2018 football season. Alabama fans are apoplectic. Some are actually being counseled for this unusual disorder. A number of sports writers in the state are providing fodder for this addictive behavior. What makes the quarterback situation at Alabama so puzzling is that...

  • To Go or Not to Go That is the question (Too Late for Pettway, Holland, Scarbrough)

    Ed Jones|May 1, 2018

    Believe it or not, coaches are not just money hungry, self centered opportunists. They are not heartless, uncaring individuals who only care about winning. They are not manipulators who use players to advance their own agendas. With few exceptions, coaches become emotionally attached to their coaches and their players for life. For the players this occurs from the beginning of the recruiting process through graduation, through professional careers, through connections with their families and...

  • The Quarterbacks

    Ed Jones|Apr 1, 2018

    Ah, Spring, where young men’s thoughts turn to...football. Alabama and Auburn are hard at work in their spring practice, or spring training for the older fans. Auburn took spring break off from practice to give the players a break and give the coaches more time to evaluate players, especially those who have moved to different positions. It seems that most of the players took the break to energize themselves for the grind that always awaits during the last half fo spring practice. This is when...

  • TOUGH AND TENDER

    Ed Jones|Feb 1, 2018

    During the course of a lifetime, one will encounter someone who has character, conviction, determination and a sense of purpose that influences your life more than most. Such a man is admired, respected, loved and imitated in word and deed. Such a man was Coach Raymond Boykin. He was the same as a player, as a coach and as an educator. His personality was always the same. He made time for others. He was interested in your successes, your failures and your pain when life was difficult. He was...

  • Saban Catches "The BEAR"

    Ed Jones|Jan 1, 2018

    Freshman Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa Delivers for BAMA! Nick Saban may have done the best coaching job of his career at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on the night of January 8, 2018. Trailing for the entire game, Saban made a tough decision at halftime down 13-0. He pulled Jalen Hurts and started Tua Tagnovailoa in the second half. Hurts has been the quarterback for 25 wins and only two losses in two years. However, those losses were devastating. One was in the national championship game last...

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