The Alabama Crimson Tide football team hosted its annual Fan Day on Aug. 8. Fans from all over came to watch the Tide’s open practice and get autographs from players and coaches. They also were able to get a first-hand look at the newly renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium, which will seat more than 101,000 people.
The Tide practiced for more than two hours in shells (shorts, shoulder pads and helmets) working on different offensive and defensive drills. Fans even got to witness how differently head coach Nick Saban acts at practices. After practice, Saban’s autograph line had more than a thousand fans waiting for his signature.
“I am an Alabama fan, and I wanted to see what my team has prepared to show me this fall, and I wanted autographs,” Alabama alumna Candace Inghram said. “I want to see us win our 14th national championship.”
Other fans at the festival were more interested in seeing the personnel on the field.
“I wanted to get a look at what the team would look like this season, especially the defense,” Don Person, a senior majoring in math, said. “We have the best cornerback in the nation in Dre Kirkpatrick. I think we will have another undefeated season this year with a repeat as national champions.”
Tide players and coaches were just as excited for the event as the fans were.
“I think it is great for the fans to be able to come out here on a Sunday and watch us practice and see how we do things,” junior offensive lineman William Vlachos said. “To be able to spend time with them after practice and sign autographs was great. When I was a little kid I loved to come do things like that, so we are certainly happy that they care about us enough to take time out of their day to come watch us practice.”
Saban said one of his goals is for his players to always be improving from practice to practice and not settle in a rut.
“It’s so easy at this time when you’re practicing every day when you get into camp to endure the practice and not really focus on what you need to do to improve every time you get an opportunity but just try to get through it,” Saban said. “That’s what we want to challenge our players to do, to win every day. Winning every day right now is everybody making personal improvement, everybody making individual improvement that’s going to help us continue to get better as a team.”
The Tide is on its way to being prepared for the regular season opener against San Jose State on Sept. 4 in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Other notable games for the Tide this year include Penn State, Florida and in-state rival Auburn, all of which are home games for the Tide.
