UB football coach Pete Lembo discusses leaving South Carolina and his connection with Lance Leipold. The agreement between the schools and EA Sports is for the next four iterations of the game, per Liberman, and "schools will receive additional payments based on the success of the game" and will receive a "10 percent royalty on sales." Iowa, Oklahoma State and Utah may not be considered powerhouses in the sport, but they have consistently been ranked in the Top 25 enough to land in Tier 1. Tennessee's Payton Gottshall entered the game in the circle for Nowgoal Livescore Karlyn Pickens in the sixth inning, not allowing another Alabama run to score.
Kristen White got things started in the top of the first with a lead-off single, advancing to third off of a fielding error. White crossed home plate follow a wild pitch, giving Alabama the 1-0 lead. The Crimson Tide added another run and went up 2-0 in the top of the second inning behind a Riley Valentine single to score Marlie Giles, who reached base after being hit by a pitch. Even in retirement, former Alabama football coach Nick Saban keeps himself busy. After spending just a couple of months back home with the Iowa Hawkeyes, Proctor changed his mind and announced his intentions of returning to the Capstone to play for new Alabama football coach Kalen DeBoer.
Following Nick Saban’s retirement, Blackshire joined fellow former Crimson Tide players Isaiah Bond and Amari Niblack in transferring to Texas to play for former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian. Jonathan Allen is one of Washington's longest-tenured players has seen a lot of change and experienced a lot of losing. The team has been known as three different names, he has played in just one playoff game and he's on his fourth coach. Smith seemed in line to receive a bigger role in 2023 before injuries forced him to miss most of the season. Now, with significant shakeup at defensive back, Smith could have an opportunity to start at the Husky defensive back spot, which is essentially the nickel defensive back in Wommack's defense. Having long waited for an opportunity like this one, Smith is in a good spot to have a breakout season if he wins the starting job.
In the regular season series against Tennessee, Alabama only scored one run total in all three games. Centerfielder Kristen White led off the game with a single down the left field line. Rylie West couldn't corral the ball, and White was able to reach third on the play.
This would have been an epic Camp Randall Stadium night game, right up there with the best atmospheres in recent memory. It’s a different Alabama team with Nick Saban retiring during the offseason. Yet it’s still a formidable team likely to open the season ranked in the top 10. Fickell will have an opportunity to earn a signature win during his brief time at Wisconsin.
"That first weekend felt a little touch and go, but since then Kalen DeBoer has done just about everything right as he tries to replace the greatest of all time. Nick Saban left DeBoer a pretty spectacular roster, and DeBoer added to it with some of his favorite former Washington players. Initially losing players to the transfer portal Caleb Downs (to the Ohio State Buckeyes), Isaiah Bond (to the Texas Longhorns) and Kadyn Proctor (to the Iowa Hawkeyes… temporarily), there was fear that a mass exodus would follow.
The natural next step will be a salary cap that will undoubtedly be litigated, intended to create parity within those two. Nick Saban is launching a career development program for former Alabama football players, he announced at his annual Nick Kids Golf Tournament on Thursday. The project is a joint venture with the University of Alabama and aims to help former Crimson Tide players develop the skills to find jobs outside of football. In ESPN’s latest transfer portal rankings (subscription required) from the 2024 offseason, Proctor ranked as the top overall player. UB hired Lembo three days before the start of the spring semester Jan. 24.
In Week 2, Alabama will host the University of South Florida Bulls for the final matchup of the two programs’ home-and-home series. In 2023, Alabama survived an ugly game that featured a benched Jalen Milroe, a torrential downpour that caused a weather delay and a surprisingly tough USF team that showed up to play. This offseason, the Bulls revamped its roster and got significantly better. USF knows it can defy the odds and take down Alabama and the team may have some added desire to know that they would be upsetting the Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium. If you are a fan of Alabama football and feel 100% confident about this game, I would do a little bit more research on this season’s upcoming USF team. There is still a question of whether athletes should be deemed employees of their schools, something Baker and other college sports leaders are fighting against.
The Friday edition of "The Joe Gaither Show" covers a number of different topics as we prepare for a Memorial Day weekend. In addition to all of the drastic changes the Crimson Tide is undergoing and feeling the effects of, the team has a rather difficult schedule in the 2024 regular season. Milroe is a great candidate for a counselor position, as in his first year as Alabama's starter this past season, he completed nearly 66 percent of his pass attempts for 2,834 yards, 23 touchdowns and six interceptions.