The Battle Plan
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
The 2015 A-Day Weekend
With another A-Day Weekend upon us, it's a time for reflection, as well as reunion. While the focal point of attention for most people is tomorrow's Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, there are many things that make the weekend one of the most enjoyable and memorable of the year.
Frankly, there are not many times on the calendar when so many former letter winners and alumni are back at campus. And, most importantly, it's also a time that is perfectly suited for us all to reconnect with each other and get caught up on how life is going. It seems we're always in such a hurry these days that we don't make the most of these opportunities to visit and restore those relationships.
So, I hope that all of you who are coming to town this weekend will make an extra effort to take your time, enjoy the company of old friends, and enthusiastically support our University and our Athletics Department. Although the weather forecast isn't too promising, we can all still make Saturday a great day to be a part of the Crimson Tide.
Our Spring Game is another chance for our tremendous fans to continue to show the college football world why our fans are the best in the game. As you know, we have led the nation in average attendance at this event for the last several years. The best way to show your support is simply to show up and fill the stadium.
The Student Athlete Experience
It certainly seems that all we see, hear and read lately about college athletics is focused on the hardships that our student athletes face as collegiate athletes. Just to be clear, I agree that making the student athlete experience as fulfilling, enjoyable and useful as possible should always be our top priority. To the best of my knowledge, it has always been so at Alabama.
There is much that we do at Alabama to enhance the experience our student athletes have. From our training table to our academic services to our career counseling to providing the best in facilities, the daily business of supporting our student athletes in every way is the primary reason we have an athletics department of the size and dimension we see today. This is not atypical in college athletics.
This A-Day Weekend provides an interesting opportunity to view all aspects of student-athletes lives. Not only can we see our current students in action as students, athletes, and fans, but we can also enjoy seeing successful former student-athletes return to campus to bask in the glories of the past.
Building the Total Athletics Program
I'll resume an update of how our current teams in action are doing in the next blog, but I wanted to share with you some facts about our athletics program from a broad perspective. These are the kinds of things that we seem to take in stride as they are happening, but we don't fully appreciate until we look back several years later.
Sometimes we don't appreciate how special something is when it is happening. With that in mind, we are currently witnessing a golden age of Alabama athletics. Last year, we had five national championship head coaches on our staff at the same time, a truly amazing fact. Overall since 2008, Crimson Tide teams have won nine national championships in five different sports and 19 SEC championships in seven different sports:
Team Championships Since 2008
9 National Championships
- 3 in Football (2009, 2011, 2012)
- 2 in Gymnastics (2011, 2012)
- 2 in Men's Golf (2013, 2014)
- 1 in Women's Golf (2012)
- 1 in Softball (2012)
19 SEC Team Championships
- 4 in Gymnastics (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015)
- 4 in Softball (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)
- 3 in Football (2009, 2012, 2014)
- 3 in Men's Golf (2008, 2012, 2013, 2014)
- 2 in Men's Cross Country (2008, 2009)
- 2 in Women's Golf (2010, 2013)
- 1 in Women's Tennis (2014)
Competitive Excellence
- We have won two SEC team titles so far this academic year - football and gymnastics
- Last year we won four SEC team titles (gymnastics, women's tennis, men's golf and softball). That tied for the most in a single academic year (2009-10).
- The 2013-14 academic/athletic year was one of the finest in our athletics history, and the 2014-15 year has also been outstanding.
- Last year, seven of our teams finished in the top 10 nationally, and four other teams finished in the top 20 nationally.
- Individually, seven student-athletes brought home eight NCAA championships in 2013-14 - the most in a single year in Alabama history. This year, we have had two individual NCAA champions: Kristian Gkolomeev in men's swimming (100-yard freestyle) and Remona Burchell in women's indoor track (60-meter dash).
- 7 of our 17 sports teams (2 men's, 5 women's) are currently ranked in the top 30 nationally:
Teams Currently Ranked in Top 30
| Sport | Rank |
|---|---|
| Men's Golf | 21st |
| Women's Golf | 25th |
| Gymnastics | 5th |
| Softball | 6th (USA Today/Coaches); 7th (ESPN.com) |
| Women's Tennis | 13th |
| Men's Outdoor Track | 10th |
| Women's Outdoor Track | 19th |
Top 25 National Finishes (Completed Seasons)
| Sport | NCAA Finish or Rank |
|---|---|
| Football | 4th (AP); 4th (USA Today/Coaches) |
| Men's Swimming | 10th |
| Women's Indoor Track | 17th |
2014-15 SEC Finishes (Completed Seasons)
| Sport | Place |
|---|---|
| Football | 1st |
| Men's Basketball | 8th |
| Women's Basketball | 14th |
| Men's Cross Country | 6th |
| Women's Cross Country | 3rd |
| Soccer | 7th |
| Men's Swimming & Diving | 5th |
| Women's Swimming & Diving | 9th |
| Volleyball | t-4th |
| Men's Indoor Track | 6th |
| Women's Indoor Track | 8th |
Academic Success
- As good a year as we had athletically in 2013-14, our student-athletes were even better in the classroom. That trend continues going strong in 2014-15.
- Our Graduation Success Rate (GSR) jumped to a 91 this year, which leads the SEC. The GSR spans the period covering student-athletes who attended the University during 2004-07. We are extremely proud to lead the Southeastern Conference in this vital area. This is just another example of the balance between academic and athletic excellence that we strive for every day.
- In addition to leading the SEC with its overall GSR, the Crimson Tide was first, or tied for first, in seven different sports, including its two-time defending NCAA champion men's golf team which led the league with a perfect GSR score of 100.
- Our 2014 football team was recognized as one of the nation's top academic programs, ranking third in the annual academic rankings of the top 25 college football teams produced by New America, a Washington D.C. think-tank. Of all the teams participating in postseason bowl games in 2014, Alabama led the nation with seven players already having earned their master's degrees while tying for the national lead in number of graduates on the roster.
- In 2015, Levi Randolph became the first men's basketball player in our history to earn First Team Academic All-America honors.
- In December, 22 student-athletes received their degrees, including 14 members of the football team led by Arie Kouandjio, who was named a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2014.
- Junior Lauren Beers was named the 2015 NCAA Elite 89 Award winner for the sport of gymnastics at the NCAA Championship Banquet in Fort Worth, Texas, this past Wednesday night. It is Lauren's second consecutive Elite 89 Award and the Tide's sixth in a row in gymnastics. Alabama is now a perfect six-for-six in the award that made its debut in 2010. The Elite 89 goes to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average at the final site of each of the NCAA's 89 championships. The Tide is also the only program across all sports to sweep the award.
- With Lauren Beers' honor this week, Alabama has moved ahead of Stanford for the most NCAA Elite 89 Award winners in the six-year history of that honor with 14.
- In 2013-14, we led the nation in Capital One Academic All-Americans with a school-record 13, three of our student-athletes earned the prestigious NCAA Elite 89 Award and we led the nation with seven NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.
- Alabama also leads the SEC, and is second only to Stanford, with 20 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships over the past four years.
- We rank fourth nationally since 2000 in Academic All-American honors with an SEC-leading 91.
All of this success has been built on the foundation of our tradition of excellence and our legacy of champions while following the tenets of our ongoing Mission - to recruit and develop student-athletes to compete at the highest levels in intercollegiate athletics; to educate and prepare our student-athletes to compete at the highest levels in life after graduation; and to accomplish all this with honor and integrity.
The Total Program
- Gymnast Kim Jacob won the 40th annual Honda Cup as the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Athlete of the Year last July. The 2014 NCAA All-Around Gymnastics Champion and the Honda Award winner, Kim was one of 12 women from 12 different sports under consideration for the prestigious accolade that honors the best collegiate NCAA Division I female athlete in the nation over the past academic year. She is the first Crimson Tide student-athlete to be a finalist and the first to win the Honda Cup.
- There was a piece on ESPN.com last fall in which the Crimson Tide leads the nation in a rating of college football programs judging the ability to balance academic results and on-field outcomes called "ESPN Grade", a new way to evaluate college football polls.
- The ESPN Grade report determines a top-25 football program's ESPN Grade by combining its ranking in The Associated Press and USA Today coaches polls, then adding its position in a top 25 sorted by football graduation rates. Alabama ranks number one in that assessment.
- It is another testament to the incredible job that Coach Saban and his staff, our student-athletes, and our Academic Services staff are doing in fulfilling our Mission.
How Can You Help?
We hope that those who are able will consider financial gifts as we continue to build championship-level facilities and build endowed scholarships for our teams. The capital campaign from 2002-07 paved the way in facility improvements that has been a key factor in our latest run of championships.
While we are proud of everything we have accomplished, we are always mindful that our competition is fighting hard to duplicate our success. Getting athletic and academic facilities to championship levels is one thing, keeping them there is another. If we're not moving forward, we're falling behind. Our goal is to provide our coaches and student-athletes with the resources they need to compete for championships and build champions on and off the field for life.
NCAA Boosters & Prospects: Do's and Don'ts
The Alabama Compliance Office is regularly asked, "What kind of things may I do for, or with, prospects or Alabama student-athletes?" Guidance for each situation is often dependent on the specific facts presented, and the best course of action is to continue to contact our Compliance Office with questions. With that in mind, here are some basic rules.
Boosters are not allowed to do the following:
- To contact a prospect in an attempt to recruit or encourage attendance at Alabama. This includes telephone calls, letters, emails, and facsimiles, along with any face-to-face contact on or off the Alabama campus;
- To post messages on a prospect's website or social media platform (Facebook, Twitter or other similar platforms) encouraging attendance at Alabama;
- To invite a prospect, prospect's family, student-athlete, or their family to any booster function or alumni event. This includes informal events such as tailgate parties or meals after games;
- To provide a prospect, prospect's family, student-athlete, or their family with transportation, meals, lodging, gifts, entertainment or expenses for any type of service such as legal fees or financial advice;
- To make contact with a prospective student-athlete or his/her parents when the prospect is on campus for official or unofficial recruiting visits (for example: inviting them to a tailgate party, asking about recruitment);
- To contact a prospect to congratulate him/her on signing a National Letter of Intent to attend Alabama;
- To obtain film/videotape or transcripts from a prospect's educational institution in an effort to evaluate the prospect's academic eligibility or athletic ability;
- To employ or arrange for employment of a prospect before the completion of the prospect's senior year of high school. After graduation, a booster may employ a prospect as long as the compensation is for work actually performed, the prospect is paid at the going rate and commensurate with experience, and the Compliance Office is notified;
- To arrange for money or any other benefit to be funneled to a prospect's coach, school, teachers, non-scholastic team, or other persons involved with the recruitment of the prospect for the purpose of encouraging a prospect to attend Alabama.
Boosters are allowed to do the following:
- To send information (news articles, game programs) concerning a prospect to the appropriate coaching staff;
- To attend a high school or community college event, provided they do not contact prospective student-athletes or their families, coaches, counselors, or high school administrators in an attempt to recruit the prospect;
- To continue pre-established friendships with a prospect, prospect's family, the student-athlete, or their family provided that the contact with these individuals is not arranged by Alabama coaching staff members, nor is the contact an attempt to recruit the prospect;
- To attend public events (banquets, fundraisers, or dinners) at which prospects are in attendance. However, NO contact or attempt should be made to recruit the prospect, including contact with the prospect's parents or coaches.
Upcoming Action
Here's a summary of athletic events over the next several days (times listed are for the location of the event: CT is Central Time. ET in Eastern Time):
Saturday, April 18
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 p.m. CT | Football | Golden Flake A-Day Spring Game | Bryant-Denny Stadium |
| 5 p.m. CT | Softball | at Auburn | Auburn |
| 6 p.m. CT | Gymnastics | at NCAA Championships (Team) | Fort Worth, Texas |
| 7 p.m. CT | Baseball | at Missouri | Columbia, Mo. |
| All Day | Track & Field | at John Jacobs Invitational | Norman, Okla. |
| All Day | Men's Golf | at SEC Championships | St. Simon's Island, Ga. |
| All Day | Women's Golf | at SEC Championships | Birmingham, Ala. |
Sunday, April 19
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 p.m. CT | Baseball | at Missouri | Columbia, Mo. |
| 1 p.m. CT | Softball | at Auburn | Auburn |
| 6 p.m. CT | Gymnastics | at NCAA Championships (Individual) | Fort Worth, Texas |
| All Day | Men's Golf | at SEC Championships | St. Simon's Island, Ga. |
| All Day | Women's Golf | at SEC Championships | Birmingham, Ala. |
Monday, April 20
No Events Scheduled
Tuesday, April 21
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 p.m. CT | Baseball | Mississippi Valley State (DH) | Hoover |
| 6 p.m. CT | Softball | Troy | Rhoads Stadium |
Wednesday, April 22
No Events Scheduled
Thursday, April 23
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 p.m. CT | Softball | Tennessee | Rhoads Stadium |
Friday, April 24
| Time | Sport | Opponent/Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:30 p.m. CT | Softball | Tennessee | Rhoads Stadium |
| 6:30 p.m. CT | Baseball | at Ole Miss | Oxford, Miss. |
DH - Doubleheader
Where to See, Listen and Follow Alabama Sports
Here's how to follow Crimson Tide teams via TV, radio, rolltide.com, Twitter and Facebook:
Baseball
Listen: 99.1 FM (http://player.listenlive.co/22751)
Live Stats: Gametracker via RollTide.com
TV (Friday - online only): SEC Network +
TV (Saturday & Sunday): SEC Network
Twitter: @AlabamaBSB
App: TuneIn
Men's Golf
Twitter: @AlabamaMGolf
Women's Golf
Twitter: @AlabamaWGolf
Gymnastics
TV (Saturday - Online only): ESPN.com
TV (Sunday - Online only): ESPN.com
Radio: WVUA-FM 90.7/RollTide.com
Live Stats: RollTide.com
Twitter: @BamaGymnastics
App: Watch ESPN App
Softball
TV (Friday & Saturday): ESPNU
TV (Sunday - online only): SEC Network +
Radio: 95.3 FM (http://953thebear.com/listen-live/)
Live Stats: Gametracker via RollTide.com
Twitter: @AlabamaSB
Track & Field
Live Results: http://www.cfpitiming.com/
Twitter: @AlabamaTrack
Catch Alabama Athletics on the SEC Network
Here's a summary of our athletic events to be televised over the next week on The SEC Network and its platforms. Read this schedule closely as some events can be seen via SEC Network +, which is available online via ESPN3 here. If you can't make it to our games in person, catch us on radio or TV.
(All times listed are Central Time)
Saturday, April 18
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 2 p.m. | Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game | SEC Network + |
| 5 p.m. | REPLAY: Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game | SEC Network |
| 7 p.m. | Baseball at Missouri | SEC Network |
Sunday, April 19
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 12 p.m. | Baseball at Missouri | SEC Network & SEC Network + |
| 1 p.m. | Softball at Auburn | SEC Network + |
Monday, April 20
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 12 a.m. | REPLAY: Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game | SEC Network |
| 8 a.m. | REPLAY: Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game | SEC Network |
Tuesday, April 21
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 2 p.m. | Baseball vs. Mississippi Valley State | SEC Network + |
| 5 p.m. | Baseball vs. Mississippi Valley State | SEC Network + |
| 6 p.m. | Softball vs. Troy | SEC Network + |
Wednesday, April 22
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 8 a.m. | REPLAY: Golden Flake A-Day Spring Football Game | SEC Network |
Thursday, April 23
No Alabama Events Scheduled
Friday, April 24
| Time | Event | Network |
|---|---|---|
| 6:30 p.m. | Baseball at Ole Miss | SEC Network + |
| 6:30 p.m. | Softball vs. Tennessee | SEC Network + |
Our teams need your support, so please plan to attend to do your part! A rising tide lifts all boats and it's up to all of us to Keep the Tide Rising!
Roll Tide!
