Scarblog: Does this Alabama football team have a discipline problem?

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KevinScarbinsky/status/781610349363601409

Maybe the arresting officer was a transplanted LSU fan still angry that Baton Rouge native Tim Williams chose to play his college football at Alabama. You never know where you might encounter an unhappy Tiger with a badge and a grudge.

Or maybe Williams just stopped at a Tuscaloosa Publix after midnight in search of a snack because he was famished from spending time at an open-all-night shooting range.

We know target practice is a popular pastime. Even Les Miles told us the other day, "I enjoy shooting the gun. I don't necessarily like pointing it at animals."

Whatever it is, there's probably a perfectly reasonable explanation why Williams, who's less than a year away from a big NFL payday, just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time early Thursday morning when he got arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a permit.

Maybe it was all Brandon Chicken's fault.

The arrest of Williams smells a lot like the May arrest of Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones in Monroe, La.

As is Saban's goal in these matters, those consequences, which included ride-alongs with the Tuscaloosa police and drug education.

As is Saban's preference in these matters, those consequences did not include the loss of any playing time.

Never mind that a lot of coaches and parents will tell you the most effective form of discipline/punishment is to take away something that really matters from your players or your children. It's hard to find something that means more to a college football player than playing time.

The lack of it often leads players to leave one school for another in search of it. See Blake Barnett.

Saban often argues differently.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/aldotcomSports/status/782438672520122368

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KevinScarbinsky/status/781610349363601409

Kevin Scarbinsky ‏@KevinScarbinsky Oct 1

Looks like Tim Williams got one of those Saban one-half suspensions.