(Writer’s note: before I begin, I just want to say this is the greatest photo of Nick Saban ever --------------->)
With the potential of an NFL lockout on the horizon, Alabama coach Nick Saban is going against his usual policy to make sure his stellar junior class considers all their options before immediately bolting for the pros.
Alabama running back Mark Ingram, wide receiver Julio Jones, and defensive stars Marcell Dareus, Mark Barron and Dont’a Hightower are among the Crimson Tide standouts considered to be NFL-ready, and Jones could be a first-round draft pick. Yet, Saban told the media he is cautioning his players about entering the league a year early.
“This year is different,” Saban said Monday. “With the labor situation and the strike [potentially] coming up, it could really affect how much a guy could develop this year if there is no minicamp, there is no training camp. It will be much more difficult for guys to learn the system and make an impact.”
Saban, who has coached in (and bolted from) the NFL, knows a thing or two about talent, and under normal circumstances, has said that he advises projected-first round athletes to duck out a year or more early.
Of course, 2011 may not be an ordinary year.
“But at the end of the day, it comes down to what’s in the player’s heart for what he wants to do,” Saban said. “There’s a tremendous value for kids staying in school and getting an education.”
Contrary to Saban’s comments, ESPN’s Joe Schad also reported that an unnamed pimp agent advised juniors like Ingram and Jones to leave early for the draft “as soon as possible because of the possibility of a rookie wage scale that could limit players’ earnings in the first few years of their careers.”
“I tell them, ‘You need to get into the system as quickly as possible,’” the agent said. “‘You’ll need to get to that second contract as soon as you can.’”