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By Clint Hamilton
clint@piedmontgazette.com
TUSCALOOSA, AL -- Last week, Jimmy Barnes' made the decision to leave the University of Alabama football program. According to his father, it was due to the summer humidity and the long workouts Coach Saban was making the players go through.
"To be honest with you, it's the way Saban treated him," said John Barnes, a longtime head football coach at Los Alamitos High in Southern California. "What Jim told Saban was that he was not going to give up his ice cream, sodas and Ring-Dings for anyone. He also said he was not going to kill himself in the weight room or running gassers out in that damn Alabama humidity."
Saban said earlier this week that John Barnes' statement "doesn’t shock him".
"First of all, Jimmy is fat," Saban said. "I look at him and I see the lackadaisical attitude that we are trying to eradicate from this program."
The elder Barnes did not elaborate in detail on his statement but did say that Saban's verbal treatment of his son since he was hired in December "finally broke Jim down. Last Wednesday, Jim was eating a Pop-Tart during his workout and Saban proceeded to berate him like he was some kind of dog. This isn’t Navy Seal training or Celebrity Fit Club; it's football, and football shouldn’t be hard. I know, I have been a coach for a long time."
Saban said Jimmy Barnes, who came to Alabama as a highly touted recruit, told him of his decision to leave during a face-to-face meeting. "I asked him if there was any reason he was leaving," Saban said. "He started crying and couldn’t really talk. I told him to pull his pants up, wipe the Twinkie cream off the side of his mouth and start acting like a man. Then I told him he might want to go to a I-AA or Division II school. I told him we were glad he was leaving."
"We have no room in this program for players that do not want to put in the work to be champions," Saban said.
Defensive end Wallace Gilberry said Barnes "is a great guy and comes from a great family." But Gilberry said he doesn't agree with John Barnes.
"One thing he (Saban) is really big about is hard work," Gilberry said. Quarterback John Parker Wilson added that "working hard is a big thing around here."
Barnes, who was recruited by former head coach Mike Shula, redshirted in his first season at Alabama and began last season behind Wilson and backup Marc Guillon on the depth chart. The 6-foot-5, 239-pound Barnes moved up to the backup position after Guillon left the team in October. Barnes was 6-of-11 for 45 yards with a touchdown pass against Florida International and also played six snaps against Louisiana-Monroe.
He suffered a knee injury during practice on Dec. 2, missed the team's appearance in the Independence Bowl and was limited to non-contact work during spring practice.
"I don't know Jimmy very well, and honestly, I don’t care to" Saban said.
Freshman Greg McElroy worked as the backup to Wilson during spring practice. Incoming freshman Nick Fanuzzi of San Antonio is the only other scholarship quarterback currently expected to be with the Crimson Tide this fall.
John Barnes said his son worked hard to rehab his injured knee and was cleared to play several weeks ago. He also said his son didnt like the fact that he was about to be 4th on the depth chart.
It's a strong possibility that Barnes will sign with a Division I-AA school - possibly in the Western-based Big Sky Conference - and be eligible to play immediately.
John Barnes added that his son really misses Mike Shula. "Don Shula called me on Monday and said Mike was telling him that he thought Jim could play in the NFL," he said.
Clint Hamilton covers the University of Alabama for the Piedmont Gazette
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