Tide, Tiger fans can back Saban’s plan for better Iron Bowl

April 24, 2008

By Ken Rogers

How to make college football’s most intense rivalry even better?
Alabama head coach Nick Saban shared a quick thought on the Iron Bowl before meeting with several hundred Crimson Tide fans Thursday night at the Crimson Caravan stop in Dothan.
Asked how many questions he anticipated fielding from the audience about the Auburn game, the coach said, “They did’t ask about it at the last one,“ referring to Tuesday night’s Caravan trip to Mobile. “We’ll see.
“I know it’s an important game and it’s a great rivalry. Probably the best thing that can happen to that rivalry is that one of us were (No.) 1 and one of us was 2 when we went into the game.“
It’s not like he’ll be pulling for the Tigers. But Saban isn’t a guy who thinks bad news for Auburn is good news for Alabama.
“So tearing the other one down doesn’t necessarily help us be any better,“ Saban said. “We try to focus on what we need to do to be the best we can be.“
That starts with talent. Recruiting for 2009 hasn’t stopped, even though Saban and all head coaches can’t visit high schools.
“This is a recruiting time for spring evaluation,“ Saban said Thursday night. “We spend a lot of time on that. It’s important to next year’s recruiting we do a good job making good decisions now.“
The Tide has picked up three big early commitments from Darius McKeller of Jonesboro, Ga., Kellen Williams of Snellville, Ga., and D.J. Fluker of Mobile. Big as in large bodies. McKeller is a 6-foot-6, 280-pound lineman. Williams is 6-5, 288. Fluker is listed at 6-6, 327.