College Football
Alabama Training Days 2018 Episode 1 Review
College football is only a few weeks away. Like most college fans, I find myself chomping at the bit at every piece of news I can get on my favorite team. When headlines aren’t enough, I find myself surfing through Youtube watching highlights of teams or players that interest me. I caught the first episode of the Hard Knocks: Training Camp series (this year with the Cleveland Browns) and afterward the Alabama Training Days video popped up in my suggested videos. Of course, I am in the football mood, so today will be the Alabama Training Days 2018 Episode 1 review.
Opening Scenes
The opening scenes of the Alabama Training Days episode begin with a few highlights of the previous season when ‘Bama won the NCAA College Football Playoff. We get an inside look at the Alabama program. Some players are videoed talking. Nick Saban answers many questions about the QB situation. Sort of the same stick Hard Knocks runs on camera. Nick Saban having a sense of humor is a nice touch; I figured he’d be closer to Patriots head coach Bill Belicheck’s personality.
Move-In Day/Saban Home Cookout
The next scene after the ESPN infomercial bit closes in on a couple of players talking about what life is like being a player on campus, not necessarily being recognized by the public, and what they are bringing to move-in day. The next scene finds the players gathering at Nick Saban’s house enjoying a cookout and having fun. The players discuss the “calm before the storm” aka start of training camp. Saban goes on to discuss how he tries to help the players loosen up and seems to enjoy himself with them on the water watching them jet ski and tube.
Day 1
Early in the morning, one of the staff goes through the hallways of the dorms blowing an air horn giving the players a hard time. I give the staff member about a 6 out of 10 for comedy. Slinging “coconuts and pineapples” is easily the most memorable line, then ripping on one of the QBs (Tua Tagovailoa) for sleeping with a teddy bear([go ahead and laugh; we all did).
Nick’s Kids Foundation
Another soft spot on the head coach himself. Saban discusses one of the causes he puts on an annual basis and how it is in honor of his father. Certainly hard to keep in mind that this guy is a villain in college football from all the success he has. Apparently, Nick’s Kids Foundation actually started before his time at Alabama while he was at Michigan State. I’m always for charitable efforts, so it is always nice to see someone of status using their brand to help others.
State of the Union Address & Coaches Meeting
Nick Saban addresses his players and thanks them for participating in the Nick’s Kids Foundation luncheon. Saban then goes on to talk football and gives a speech on setting the standard for football and toughness. Listening to his speech, I can understand why players want to give it their all. The next morning, Nick Saban addresses the coaches and discusses the upcoming training day. Saban hammers on points the coaches need to do in their meetings with the players.
1st Workout
Players rush into the gym ready to go. We see players start exercising and the Strength and Conditioning coach, Scott Cochran, says a few words about the workout program he has the players doing. Players put in their two cents about the Strength and Conditioning coach. After the intense morning workouts the players head to meetings.
Meetings
Our first meeting we get to watch is the quarterbacks room. The QB coach goes over a defensive play in detail. Then we get into player comparisons by…another player on the team. The player describes both QBs (Hurts and Tagovailoa) as cool, competitive, and humble. I thought it was neat to hear from a player perspective on the obvious elephant in the room.
1st Practice
Nick Saban sports his trade mark Jurassic Park looking hat and browses around the practice field doing coach stuff. Players talk about going through the rigors of training camp and every day competition. At the end of practice, Saban rounds up the players and gives his thoughts on the practice and challenges them moving forward. Then the ending scenes consists of the media coverage of the QB situation that made news the past few weeks and camp highlights.
Overall Thoughts
I thought the Alabama Training Days episode was alright. Maybe it is because ‘Bama isn’t my favorite team, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Hard Knocks series. I certainly recommend it to fanatics that LOVE getting an insider’s view of the program they follow, but for fans of the Hard Knock series, I wouldn’t say it is on par.
What do you think? What team would you like to see similar to the Alabama Training Days episode?
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