Wide receiver Henry Ruggs III not tipping hand on future

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Fun Spot was the location and Alabama and Michigan’s football teams were both on hand to spend time with Orlando Boys & Girls Club kids and ride rides. Shortly after the teams arrived, Crimson Tide players Miller Forristall and Henry Ruggs III addressed the media.

Ruggs, a junior, was asked if the Citrus Bowl against Michigan would be his last in an Alabama uniform.

“I don’t know,” Ruggs replied. “I mean, it’s the last game of this season. That’s all I can say.”

Ruggs also didn’t tip his hand about the future of his younger brother Kevontae Ruggs other than to say, “I can’t really speak on it too much. He’s just going through his recruitment and he’ll make the best decision for him.

“He’s considering multiple schools.”

Alabama is thought to be one of those schools looked at by linebacker Kevontae Ruggs, who lettered as a freshman at Ole Miss before transferring to East Mississippi Community College. Like his brother, Kevontae Ruggs prepped at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery.

When told that Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown called Alabama’s receivers group the deepest he’d seen, Ruggs said: “It’s a testament to our hard work. We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the years, throughout the summer, spring, fall camp. Even during the season, we try to get better.

“For people to compliment the things that we do, it just shows that our work is paying off. We’re brothers. We’re a pretty close group. We talk every day about things like that: the past, the present and even the future. Like I said, we’re brothers and we’ve got another chance (to play together).”

This time a year ago, Ruggs’ position coach was current Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis.

“He did his job,” Ruggs recalled. “(Gattis) was a pretty good coach. He helped us out with a lot of things, made us look at things a different way. All coaches have a different style of coaching. His style was just a little different but we learned from him and it made us better.”

A reporter wondered whether the Alabama team can have more fun in a bowl game environment outside of a championship game scenario.

“You don’t want to go into it thinking that just because it’s not a playoff game that you don’t want to take it that serious,” Ruggs said. “We’re here for a week, so we have a little time to just hang out with the team and bond and play around with some of these guys it’s their last time. It’s our last time together; it’s our last road trip. We have fun while we can, and when the game comes we treat it just like any other game, whether it’s a playoff game or whether it’s a bowl game; it’s still a football game.

“Regardless of any circumstance, you never want to change who you are or what you do. Things didn’t work out the way we wanted to. The season didn’t end the way we wanted, but we’ve got the opportunity to end it the best way we can.”

When Asked to assess the progress of young Alabama receivers John Metchie III and Xavier Williams, Ruggs replied, “They’re just mature. In a group like that, we just do what we can to try to be the best leaders, the best brothers. I feel like throughout the year we’ve done that and they just kind of follow our lead.”