Morning Bama News Update

Thankfully, yesterday was a quiet one with not too much going on. We definitely needed a little break. Here are a few updates to some things you guys may have missed during the day yesterday and also some that came out late last night.

Yesterday, Coach Saban was in attendance at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL and spoke to AL.com’s Andrew Gribble about was asked a question concerning Vinnie Sunseri’s decision to enter the NFL Draft this year. He spoke in general terms but never specifically mentioned Sunseri. The topic seems to be the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge (no pun intended).

"“We try to give every one of our players the best opportunity to make a good decision about whether they should stay in school or come out for the draft,” Saban said. “My philosophy is very clear to our players. If you’re a first-round draft pick, we’re very, very supportive of you coming out for the draft because of the business decision, the amount of money. But if you’re not one of those guys, we certainly feel that you should come back to school, graduate from school, use your senior year to develop as a player and try to enhance your draft status for the next year. That’s the advice we give to each and every one of our players.“This year, we had a couple of guys that probably don’t fit that category, made the decision to do it and we’ll be very supportive of them.”"

From all indications, it appears FSU QB Jacob Coker will transfer to Alabama. Coach Saban and Coach Thompson met with Coker in Mobile AL yesterday and everything went outstanding. Drew DeArmond of AlabamaIntel and also BamaOnline confirmed the meeting. DeArmond reported back in October that the transfer was already a done deal. Kevin Norwood also appeared to let the cat of out the bag during an interview with Ryan Fowler of Tide 99.1 FM in Tuscaloosa. You can hear that interview here. Skip to around 12:50.

AJ McCarron also explained to AL.com his reason for not playing in the Senior Bowl. As some of you may remember, a picture surfaced of McCarron in a walking boot as he arrived in Atlanta to open the season against Virginia Tech. That injury apparently caused him problems the entire season, resulting in McCarron having to have a minor procedure done right after the Sugar Bowl. He also injured his shoulder in the Tennessee game as he dived for the pylon but that injury did not require surgery although McCarron said that the shoulder had a tired feeling and progressed till the end of the season.

"“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the Senior Bowl in my hometown,” McCarron told the Alabama Media Group. “But my body was banged up during the year. I wanted to push through it and finish out the year for my teammates.“When it came time to decide, I asked the advice of our team doctors, who are some of the best in the country. They said I should stay out of the game and get my body back to 100 percent healthy.”“When my toe got stepped on, the nail on my big toe cracked and the doctor had to cut off most of it,” he said. “It never healed all season and kept getting infected. We thought the nail would grow back together, but a new nail grew under it. So after the Sugar Bowl I had a procedure to cut the nail out again. I was in a boot for a week after that.”"

On the recruiting scene, 5* OLB Rashaan Evans will take an unofficial visit to UCLA the weekend before National Signing Day. It was first reported by AL.com. UCLA has told Evans they would like to give him a look as a wildcat quarterback as well as wide receiver. Here is what Evans’ father had to say.

"“It was a great visit with Coach Mora,” Evans’ father Alan Evans said. “Coach Mora said he feels Rashaan could come in and compete for the starting job vacated by Anthony Barr from day one. He said Rashaan was a dynamic player that could come in and take over the Pac-12.”"

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