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By Clint Hamilton
clint@piedmontgazette.com
TUSCALOOSA - Most of what Alabama walk-on defensive end Dawson Witter had heard about new Tide coach Nick Saban were confirmed at the first team meeting.
He cusses a lot? Yep.
"Put it this way, I've heard less cussing in the Katt Williams Pimp Chronicles. He doesn't use a lot of the really bad words like the F-word, but he will throw out the S-word in a hurry. Most of the offensive guys are not used to the intensity Coach Saban brings, but the defensive guys were a little more prepared, because of Coach Kines, and the way he acts on the field. Coach Saban is always in your face, but his breath doesn't stink and he doesn't spit on us much, so most of the guys don't mind."
Well prepared? Yep.
"During that first meeting, he laid out the next 4 years of this program. Even down to our meals over that time. He said he like to eat Debbie cakes, but if he caught us eating anything like that we were off the team. He even went over the uniform changes he was making. The thing most of the guys are excited about is the fact that we will wear white cleats this year. He said that white looks more crisp and athletic. He hates black shoes."
A coach? You bet.
"When Coach Shula was here, he would mostly sit back and watch practice and let the other coaches do the coaching. Sometimes he would walk up to a quarterback and tell them they had to throw the pass on a line and not rainbow them, and one time I saw him trying to teach John Parker how to lick his fingers like a Montana or a Brady, but for the most part, he was just an observer. With Coach Saban, he is running all over the field coaching. He knows a lot about football; that's for sure."
Good with names? Nope.
"He calls me Puddin' Ass. During practice Saturday, he said he could tell I hadn't put a lot of work in during the off-season because my ass jiggled like a bowl of pudding. From then on he has called me Puddin' Ass. He has nicknames for some of the other guys, but you probably couldn't print most of them."
Motivational? Yep
"In our second meeting, we watched the movie 'Southern Comfort'. I don't know if you have ever watched that movie, but its about some national guardsmen that go down to the Louisiana swamps to train for Vietnam. While they are down there training, they tick off some Cajuns and then the angry Cajuns beat the hell out of those National Guardsmen.
“Coach Saban said that at the moment, we were like the National Guardsmen in the movie and the rest of the SEC were those pissed off Cajuns. He said that if we didn't come together as a team and dedicate ourselves to winning, we would get our asses kicked just like those National Guardsmen.
“It really opened our eyes to where we need to be as a team."
Clint Hamilton covers the University of Alabama for the Piedmont Gazette
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