2008 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

Before the season

During the 2007–2008 campaign, the Crimson Tide completed a 6–6 regular season record with their most notable wins coming over No. 16 Arkansas and longtime rival Tennessee. The Tide went on to win their final game against Colorado (30–24) in the Independence Bowl to finish with a 7–6 record. In June 2009, the NCAA Committee on Infractions sanctioned Alabama for "major violations" of NCAA policies as a result of athletes who received improper benefits in 16 of 19 NCAA sports, including football. As part of the penalties imposed, the football program was forced to vacate five victories from the 2007 season making the official 2007 record 2–6.

In February 2008, Alabama signed the No. 1 recruiting class according to both Rivals and Scout. Spring practice began on March 13 and concluded with the annual A-Day game on April 12. Before a crowd of 78,200, the Crimson team defeated the White team by a score of 24–14 in Bryant–Denny Stadium. For their performances, Alfred McCullough earned the Dwight Stephenson Lineman of the A-Day Game Award and Terry Grant earned the Dixie Howell Memorial Most Valuable Player of the A-Day Game Award.

Returning starters

Alabama had 18 returning starters from the previous season, including nine on offense, five on defense, and all of the special teams. The most notable departures from the previous year were D. J. Hall and Justin Britt on offense and Wallace Gilberry, Darren Mustin, Keith Saunders, Ezekial Knight, Simeon Castille and Marcus Carter on defense.

Recruiting class

Alabama's recruiting class was highlighted by seven players from the "ESPN 150": No. 2 Julio Jones (WR); No. 19 Burton Scott (ATH); No. 30 Courtney Upshaw (DE); No. 33 Tyler Love (OT); No. 99 Jerrell Harris (LB); No. 109 Mark Ingram, Jr. (RB); and No. 144 Chris Jackson (ATH). Alabama signed the No. 1 recruiting class according to both Rivals and Scout.

Schedule

The Sagarin computer ratings calculated Alabama's strength of schedule to be the sixth most difficult out of the 245 Division I teams. The Cosgrove Computer Rankings calculated it as the eighth most difficult out of the 120 Division I FBS teams in its rankings. Alabama's 2008 schedule was officially released on January 4, 2008. It featured six pre-season AP Top 25 teams, five of which were ranked in the top 10, eight of which made bowl games in 2007.

In accordance with conference rules, Alabama faced all five Western Division opponents: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. They also faced three Eastern Division opponents: official SEC rival Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky. Alabama did not play SEC opponents South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Although not on the regular season schedule, Bama met Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Alabama also played four non-conference games. The non-conference schedule included games against Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Tulane of Conference USA and both WKU and Arkansas State of the Sun Belt Conference. For the 2009 Sugar Bowl, Alabama played Utah.

Coaching staff

Prior to the 2008 season, Alabama made several changes to its coaching staff. Alabama lost their tight ends and special teams coach, Ron Middleton, on January 4, 2008, when he was hired as assistant head coach for Duke and their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Major Applewhite, on January 16, 2008, when he was hired as running backs coach for Texas. During the following weeks, Saban named former Michigan State head coach Bobby Williams as his team's new as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator, and Jim McElwain from Fresno State as the new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

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Rankings

Entering the 2008 season, the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll and was not ranked in the Coaches' Preseason Poll. After their upset victory over Clemson in week one, Alabama moved into the No. 13 position in the AP and No. 17 in the Coaches' Poll. The Crimson Tide continued to move up in both polls each week through week seven when they reached the No. 2 position in both polls after their victory at Georgia. The Crimson Tide remained in the No. 2 position over the next four weeks until No. 1 Texas was upset by Texas Tech in week nine. In the polls released after the Texas loss, the Crimson Tide moved into the No. 1 position in both polls. Alabama remained in the No. 1 position until their loss in the SEC Championship Game to Florida when they dropped into the No. 4 position prior to their bowl game appearance. They then ended the season with a final ranking of No. 6 in both polls after their loss to Utah in the Sugar Bowl.

After the season

In the week following the Sugar Bowl loss, several changes were made to the Alabama coaching staff. Alabama lost their defensive head coach, Kevin Steele, on January 10, 2009, when he was hired as defensive coordinator for Clemson, and their linebacker coach Lance Thompson on January 16, when he was hired as linebacker coach by Tennessee. The following week, Saban named Sal Sunseri from the NFL's Carolina Panthers as his team's new assistant head and linebacker coach, and James Willis from Auburn as the new associate head and linebacker coach. As part of the A-Day celebrations on April 18, the 2008 team captains John Parker Wilson, Rashad Johnson and Antoine Caldwell were honored at the Walk of Fame ceremony at the base of Denny Chimes.

Final statistics

After their loss against Utah in the Sugar Bowl, Alabama's final team statistics were released. On the defensive side of the ball, of the 119 FBS teams, the Crimson Tide was ranked near the top of all major defensive categories nationally and in conference. Nationally, they ranked 2nd in rushing defense (74.14 yards per game), tied for 3rd in total defense (263.50 yards per game), 7th in scoring defense (14.29 points per game) and 30th in passing defense (189.36 yards per game). In conference, they ranked 1st in rushing and total defense, 2nd in scoring defense and 7th in passing defense. Individually, Rolando McClain led the team with 95 total tackles, 47 of which were assisted, and 48 solo tackles. McClain was also tied for 12th in conference and 1st on the team with 12 tackles for loss. Bobby Greenwood was 17th in conference and 1st on the team with 5 quarterback sacks. Rashad Johnson was tied for 37th nationally, 6th in conference and 1st on the team with 5 of Alabama's 15 total interceptions of the season.

On offense, of the 119 FBS teams, Alabama ranked 30th in rushing offense (184.64 yards per game), 35th in scoring offense (30.14 points per game), 63rd in total offense (355.79 yards per game) and 97th in passing offense (171.14 yards per game). In conference, they ranked 3rd in rushing offense, 5th in scoring offense, 6th in total offense and 9th in passing offense. John Parker Wilson led the team in passing offense and completed 187 of 323 passes for 2,273 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Julio Jones led the team with 58 receptions for 924 yards and 4 touchdown receptions. Glen Coffee led the team with 233 rushing attempts for 1,383 yards and Mark Ingram led the team with 12 touchdown runs.

Conference

Following the victory in the SEC Championship Game, the conference named its award winners. Nick Saban was named SEC Coach of the Year and Julio Jones was named SEC Freshman of the Year. Andre Smith, Rashad Johnson, Antoine Caldwell, Glen Coffee, Terrence Cody and Rolando McClain were named to the AP All-SEC First Team. Mike Johnson, Julio Jones and Javier Arenas were named to the AP All-SEC Second Team. Five players were named to the Coaches' All-SEC First Team, including Caldwell, Cody, Rashad Johnson, McClain and Andre Smith. Arenas (as both a cornerback and kick returner), Coffee, Mike Johnson and Jones were named to the Coaches' All-SEC Second Team. Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, Dont'a Hightower and John Michael Boswell were named to the 2008 Freshman All-SEC Team.

National

After the season, a number of Alabama players were named as national award winners and finalists. Andre Smith became Alabama's second Outland Trophy winner as the best interior lineman by the Football Writers Association of America. Smith was also a finalist for the Lombardi Award and Antoine Caldwell was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy. Nick Saban captured several coach of the year awards that included: the AP Coach of the Year, the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, the Home Depot Coach of the Year, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, the Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year and the Walter Camp Coach of the Year.

In addition to the individual awards, several players were also named to various national All-American Teams. Andre Smith, Antoine Caldwell and Terrence Cody were named to the AP All-American First Team; Rashad Johnson was named to the AP All-American Second Team; and Rolando McClain was named to the AP All-American Third Team. Andre Smith was named to the Walter Camp All-American First Team. Andre Smith, Caldwell, Cody and Rashad Johnson were named to the AFCA All-America Team.

NFL Draft

In the spring that followed the 2008 season, Alabama had four players selected in the 2009 NFL Draft. The first round selection was Andre Smith (6th Cincinnati Bengals); and the third round picks were Coffee (74th San Francisco 49ers), Caldwell (77th Houston Texans) and Rashad Johnson (95th Arizona Cardinals). John Parker Wilson with the Atlanta Falcons, Bobby Greenwood with the Kansas City Chiefs, Marlon Davis with the Cleveland Browns, Nick Walker with the Minnesota Vikings and Travis McCall with the Buffalo Bills each signed as undrafted free agents. In the years that followed, an additional 22 players from the 2008 squad were drafted into the NFL.