Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: 2007 A-Day

When the team busses were pulling up to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, April 27, 2007, players already had a good idea that they were in for something special.

Not only was the traffic worse than anything they had ever seen before in Tuscaloosa, but scores of fans were already waiting, for both them and to get their first glimpse of seeing Nick Saban at the helm of the University of Alabama football team.

“I made a comment to Rashad [Johnson] that maybe Florida or Tennessee was in town,” senior defensive end Wallace Gilberry quipped. “It was definitely a sight for sore eyes, but it was a good sight. My hat goes off to the fans who made the trip. I hope they like what they saw.”

Although the atmosphere was similar to a high-profile regular-season game, it was simply to watch A-Day, the final of 15 practices to conclude spring practice. Coming in, school officials expected maybe 50,000 to show, and planned for a record-breaking 60,000, but like the players were pleasantly blown away by the volume.

Before long, people were being turned away by the hundreds, if not thousands, at the gate because Bryant-Denny Stadium had exceeded its capacity of 92,138. Inside, the lower bowl was full, followed by the western upper deck, the contingency northern upper deck, and finally the eastern deck, which was supposed to remain empty.

The fans didn’t care if they could find an empty seat or not. They kept pouring in, and the lone single-file line went from section to section until finally all the stands were full, not to mention the ramps where some could overlook the field and ongoing scrimmage while taking advantage of the shade.

“I thought it was awesome,” starting quarterback John Parker Wilson said.

“It’s ridiculous,” cornerback Simeon Castille added. “I never could have imagined that there would be that many people, but it made it more fun for both teams. We just wanted to go out there and show how hard we’ve been working.”

For the two-hour scrimmage, the Tide was split into two squads, Crimson and White, depending on the depth chart. Specifically, the starting offense (White) always faced the first-unit defense (Crimson), and the backups did likewise but on opposite sides.

No single facet was able to dominate, but the final result was 20-13 victory for the White, which benefited from having the starting offense, which, except for the backfield, returned nearly intact from the previous season.

Afterward, Saban’s message was that he was pleased, but not satisfied (which became the norm). However, when it came to the turnout, even he was pleasantly shocked, making sure to call it a “special day,” to which more than 92,000 people were sure to agree.

“It shows what kind of passion and support we have at the University of Alabama,” Saban said. “It certainly makes me feel great about being here as the coach. I just hope we can continue to channel all that energy in a positive way so we can get to where we want to go and continue to build this program into something special.”

Saban later commented that it was the moment he knew he had made the right decision to leave the NFL and say yes to Mal Moore's job offer.

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books