Saban eager to move past latest brush with NCAA

BIRMINGHAM | Although he couldn’t comment on the latest round of penalties issued by the National Collegiate Athletic Association against the University of Alabama athletics department until after the formal teleconference and disclosure by the Division I Committee on Infractions, football coach Nick Saban took a few moments to address reporters Thursday morning.

“I think there’s probably three things that I feel,” he said. “First of all, I think the University of Alabama, Dr. (Robert) Witt and Mal Moore did a great job demonstrating institutional integrity in the way this was handled internally. I’m really happy for the players that we have in the program, the future vision of the program, that this is not going to affect their future there or the players that we’re recruiting.”

The coach backed the university president and director of athletics before participating in his annual fund-raising golf tournament for Nick’s Kids, along with wife Terry.

Later in the afternoon, the Committee on Infractions issued its report, finding Alabama guilty of failure to monitor and of student-athletes receiving impermissible benefits. The athletic program was placed on three years of probation and will vacate all football wins in which seven football players identified as “intentional wrongdoers” participated during the 2005-2007 seasons.

Alabama was not penalized any scholarships.

“We’re always happy to move on and we’re looking forward to the future and are excited about the things we can accomplish,” Saban said. “As I said, I don’t think this is going to affect the vision of the program or the student-athletes in the program or that we’re recruiting.”

After the textbook scandal was discovered on Oct. 17, 2007, Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Marlon Davis, Marquis Johnson and Chris Rogers were all suspended for four games near the end of Saban’s first season with the Crimson Tide. The other two players have yet to be identified.

“Nobody likes to deal with unfortunate situations, but you learn from it, you deal with it, you go on and do the best you can to deal with it in a positive way,” said Saban, who was on the golf course when the NCAA report was made public.

When asked if he was concerned with the national perception of Alabama, Saban responded: “I think it’s a positive that we made tremendous progress as an institution academically, proud of the progress we’ve made in the athletic department as well as the football program. I see the University of Alabama as one of the hot schools in the country. We’re more getting more merit scholars and have done a great job in terms of improving the academic quality for the students in the state of Alabama. So I think there are a lot of positive things out there to talk about in terms of what we’ve done and what we’re doing, and there a lot of people responsible for that. I’m happy to be a part of that.”

Reach Christopher Walsh at christopher.walsh@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0196.