Alabama Crimson Tide football news: Week in review

July 12, 6:33 PMAlabama Crimson Tide ExaminerVince Ferrara

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In case you may have missed any Alabama football news recently, let's hopefully get you caught up.  Here’s a look at the Alabama Crimson Tide football stories from the last week or so.

Kirschman & Cardwell reportedly out
There were reports last week that two more Alabama football players won’t be back with the team for the 2009 season. BamaOnLine reported that reserve linebacker Charlie Kirschman won’t return. The Press Register also reported that backup offensive lineman Evan Cardwell would not come back. Neither was going to be much of a factor for playing time this season. Both reportedly have earned their degrees. Jennings Hester earlier in the summer had reportedly decided to not return as well. The exits of Kirschman, Cardwell and Jennings have not been announced by head coach Nick Saban, as of yet. If those guys are gone in addition to Prince Hall and Corey Smith dropping off previously, where does that put Alabama’s scholarship numbers? With incoming freshmen and the 85 limit in place, it’s a popular topic among fans and the media. Chase Goodbread from BOL has the full story on the players and takes a look at the numbers, in his story you can read here.

True freshman Michael Bowman is in
Another member of the 2009 #1 ranked recruiting class for Alabama football has qualified. Michael Bowman, a big 6’5, 220 pound wide receiver from Rossville, GA confirmed that to BamaOnLine’s Chase Goodbread this week and said he was enrolling at Alabama for the second summer session. Michael is the younger brother of former Oklahoma St. wide receiver Adarius Bowman, who now plays in the CFL. Read quotes from Michael Bowman by going to the full story here.

Bolton, Lewis & Dial doing well in CC
Two players that are sometimes left off of the Alabama football 2010 verbal commit lists and thus forgotten at times by fans and analysts are Devonta Bolton and Brandon Lewis. Bolton and Lewis were 2008 signing class mates for Alabama and now are teammates on the same defense at East Mississippi Community College. Both are on pace to be eligible and stick to their commitments to Alabama. Quinton Dial was part of Alabama’s 2009 class and he is also at East Mississippi CC. Tommy Deas from the Tuscaloosa News has the full story on their progress and when we may see them at Alabama here.

Kirby Smart speaks
BamaMagazine was on hand for an annual speaking event in Mobile recently, where Alabama Defensive Coordinator Kirby Smart spoke. He previewed the 2009 season and said some interesting things. He spoke highly of two local Mobile kids, Mark Barron and Robert Lester. He said Barron was competing for a starting spot and Robert Lester was someone they hoped could contribute on special teams. Read all of Kirby Smart’s quotes in the BamaMag.com story by A.P. Steadham here.

A projected depth chart before camp
We likely won’t see a depth chart from the U. of Alabama until camp begins on August 6. The Tuscaloosa News this week jumped in the fun and released their projected depth chart including incoming freshmen. Check out the interactive Alabama football depth chart from TideSports.com here.

Bama/Va Teach a sellout
In what’s hardly a surprise, the 2009 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game between Alabama and Virginia Tech is already sold out. Both fan bases sold their entire ticket allotments for the 2009 season opener September 5 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The ABC prime time matchup features two teams that have already been appearing as Top 10 teams in preseason polls with the more official ones still to come. Christopher Walsh of the Tuscaloosa News has the full story with some perspective on early season non-conference matchups here.

Nick Saban for charity
Nick Saban is involved in another charity event according to the Tuscaloosa News. “An evening with Coach Nick Saban” will benefit the Jeremiah Castille Foundation later this month. Get on the details on the event and how you can participate in Christopher Walsh’s story here.

AJC’s Tony Barnhart speaks on UA/NCAA
And finally, here’s an interesting assessment of Alabama’s appeal of punishment from the NCAA in the textbook case by Tony Barnhart of the Atlanta Journal Constitution and CBS. This was passed along to me by Brent Beaird from Rivals.com and Samsportsline.

Tony Barnhart on the Alabama appeal: I thought there was no way the school would appeal. What happened was still against the rules and Alabama should have had the mechanisms in place to prevent the abuse. And as soon as the school found out in 2007 it suspended the players and basically shut down the rest of the season. It was a pretty severe punishment. The problem Alabama has now is that burden of proof on the school for overturning a ruling by the Committee on Infractions is much higher than it used to be. Schools must now prove that the COI has “abused its discretion” in handing down its ruling. The NCAA Infraction Appeals Committee recently did rule in favor of Alabama State, cutting its probation from five years until three. The appeals committee did rule that the COI had abused its discretion.

I’ll have extensive coverage at SEC Football Media Days coming up July 22-24. I’ll have plenty of interviews, story lines, opinions and photos from all 12 teams in the SEC during the three day event down the road in Hoover, Alabama. Leave me a comment below or drop me an email at VinceF8@gmail.com. If you get a chance to share or link my work, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thanks.