5 Reasons Why Alabama Facing an Opponent on A-Day Won't Happen: All Things CW
The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh regularly appears with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
You may have seen that the new coach in the southeastern part of the state is again promoting the idea of replacing spring games with exhibitions against other college teams.
"I think everybody would get out of it exactly what they want," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said Monday about something he was also advocating for at Ole Miss. "And let's adopt a charity to give all the proceeds to.
"Let Alabama play Troy and we play UAB or vice versa, I don't care. People will come see that."
When going into some of his reasoning, he added: "You're decreasing your injury possibilities by 50 percent. Coaches are smart enough to control (the physicality) — we're not going to hit each other's quarterbacks.
"I just think it would be great for the sport. I think it would be awesome. NFL gets to scrimmage against each other, high schools get to scrimmage against each other, and for the life of me I don't understand why we haven't gotten to the point where we can pull that off."
In a way it sounds good, but is probably not in Alabama football's best interest or something that athletic director Greg Byrne will be eager to explore even though UAB and Troy were quick to say they'd be in favor of the idea.
Of course they would.
Auburn has played UAB once, in 1996, and won 29-0 at home. It has yet to schedule Troy.
The Crimson Tide has played UAB and Troy in football exactly zero times.
Alabama didn't even want to re-start the Iron Bowl rivalry in 1948 because it believed there was nothing to be gained in the series, that the advantage would be all Auburn's (at the time, the Tigers had never finished better than third in the SEC).
Meanwhile, if Alabama and Auburn were playing exhibitions against UAB and Troy, which of those teams do you think would be gearing up to go all out in such a matchup, even if it was for a spring fling?
Here's five reasons why Alabama won't be looking do so:
1) It's against NCAA rules
We'll get the obvious one out of the way, although there is some talk that the rules could be changed down the road. Starting next year, Division II teams will be allowed to conduct scrimmages in the spring against each other.
Yes, there are some forms of organized scrimmages between teams at both the high school and NFL level, but with the latter in particular it's during training camps and the preseason.
2) Injuries
Freeze suggests that there would be fewer injuries per team as you'd only be playing half of the players. A lot of other coaches would probably disagree, because you're really no longer talking about a scrimmage, but a game, and the intensity would be higher.
3) Teaching
The whole point of spring football is to provide players a way to learn and gain valuable experience, while also giving coaches proper time to evaluate and teach. If you're taking half of the opportunities away in the marquee event, doesn't that go against the purpose of what you're trying to accomplish?
4) Potential embarrassment
If Alabama and Auburn were playing UAB and Troy in spring games every year, sooner or later the smaller schools would win. Imagine what kind of impact that could have. Better yet, think what that might do to not only the next recruiting class, but the athletic department's fundraising for that year.
You think Alabama's going to potentially mess with that?
It should be noted that Nick Saban has already had a taste with this. During his first season at LSU in 2000, the homecoming game was against UAB. The Blazers won 13-10 for their first win in program history against an SEC opponent.
Granted, the coach came back pretty strong, but he still hears about it and the 2007 loss to Louisiana-Monroe from his inaugural season at Alabama.
A lot of coaches couldn't survive that kind of setback, even if it was in an exhibition. At minimum it would mean roughly five months of getting pounded on social media, something that didn't really exist like it does now during those previously mentioned setbacks (Twitter was founded in 2006).
5) Money
Freeze's suggestion to give any money raised to charity was really funny. Who knew he had such a sense of humor.
Oh wait, he was serious?
First off, Alabama doesn't charge its fans to attend A-Day. That doesn't mean the school doesn't make a few dollars off the event, but by in large is considered a thank you back to the fans.
Consequently, if Alabama played another team for A-Day, it would almost certainly charge for tickets. Since the visiting teams would presumably cancel their spring games, they'd obviously want a cut.
Second, who would pay the visiting team's expenses? This assumes Alabama remained a host every year. Sooner or later they'd have to make a return trip, wouldn't they?
Finally, we're talking about the University of Alabama here. It's not exactly known for its financial generosity. It even makes its employees pay for their parking so they can go to work each day.
Joint practices and scrimmages aren't necessarily a bad idea, especially in the fall when college football doesn't have the equivalent of a preseason. If they ever happen, one can be pretty certain that they'd be held in a controlled setting, and closed to media and fans alike to minimize exposure, sort of like the "secret" scrimmages held in basketball.
But to do so in the spring would completely change the dynamic and purpose of offseason practices, and not for the better — especially for a program like Alabama.
See Also:
What Do We Know About Alabama's Offense? Both A Lot and Very Little
5 on 5: What We're Hearing About Tommy Rees and the Alabama Crimson Tide
College Football Desperately Needs to Adjust Calendar Overload
