Jumbo Package: Nick Saban ready for a big recruiting month, Justin Thomas wins PGA Championship

Happy Monday, everyone. As you already know, softball season ended prematurely for the Tide this year. Baseball is still going, but odds are that their season will end whenever they are eliminated in Hoover. A year after winning the CBS Best in College Sports award for all around performance in the 2020-21 school year, the beginning of 2022 has seen unceremonious endings across the board.

Oh, well. We can celebrate Justin Thomas, anyway.

Thomas, the World No. 9, won a three-hole playoff against fellow American Will Zalatoris after both had finished at 5-under 275 although that doesn’t begin to tell the whole story of a dramatic denouement.

The 29-year-old, who started Sunday seven shots back from leader Mito Pereira, arrived in a playoff after carding a final-round 3-under 67 in tough conditions at Southern Hills in Tulsa.

That was a whale of a comeback for Justin’s second major victory.

June is going to be a huge recruiting month for the Tide.

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that Alabama’s future quarterback will be on campus the weekend of June 10. Manning and Holstein, the country’s first- and eighth-ranked signal-callers, will get closer to their college choices on a return trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium. Manning is slated for a trio of official visits in June, starting with Georgia, then Alabama and Texas, per 247Sports Steve Wiltfong. Both Louisiana quarterbacks are coming off strong spring performances amid national recruitments. Georgia and Texas appear to be the top contenders for Manning, while LSU is in contention for Holstein.

“Jackson State offering towards the end of my recruitment does nothing to their chances,” Woods told On3.com. “They can take a seat up there right next to my Top 3/4!”

“HBCU culture is 2nd to none, and there’s something special about what Coach Prime is building there, which is why the #1 player in the ‘22 class chose them. I’ve been waiting for this offer, and feel like I would 100% gel in this program. #IBelieve!”

Alabama badly wants Woods. Hopefully he is just showing some love to the HBCU program before ultimately committing to play alongside former high school teammate Jeremiah Alexander.

The Athletic staff collaborated on an interesting study of the Fisher/Saban relationship through the years, which may never have been as rosy as many thought.

Saban’s offensive philosophy in those days was about shrinking the game, reducing mistakes and allowing his defense to win it. And Saban likes to manage every little detail. They’d often agree on the amount of snaps for a certain formation or a certain amount of runs, and sometimes Fisher would stray from that. The problem was Saban could remember exactly what they were supposed to do.

“If it didn’t happen, you could hear him chirping in the back,” Collins said. “Well, he wasn’t chirping. He was barking and growling.” Because while Saban stressed thinking about the larger game and the best use of players, Fisher was trying to prove his abilities.

“Jimbo wanted to run all these fancy plays,” a staffer said. “Jimbo is an ‘offensive guru.’ … He wanted to showcase his playbook, and that was the biggest argument between those two.”

It also mentions that Fisher longed to work for the Bowdens even all those years ago, which likely explains his handling of Jameis Winston and managing an inexplicable loss or two on a near annual basis. Bobby Bowden was a great coach, but not much of a disciplinarian.

Steve Spurrier weighed in on the flap.

“I don’t think Saban told any lies in there, so I don’t know what [Fisher] was mad about,” Spurrier told DawgNation. “Since [Fisher] beat him last year, I guess he can talk now. He hasn’t beat much of anybody, but he beat Saban last year. But they haven’t won the division or anything since he’s been there.”

“... Did Saban say something that wasn’t true?”

No, Steve. He did not.

Last, Bo Scarbrough had himself a day in the USFL.

With CJ Marable sidelined by a knee injury, former Alabama standout Bo Scarbrough stepped up at running back and helped the Birmingham Stallions remain the USFL’s only undefeated team in Week 6 of the football league’s inaugural season.

Last week, Marable ran for 114 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries and caught two passes for 17 yards in Birmingham’s 30-17 victory over the Philadelphia Stars.

On Saturday night, Scarbrough ran for 105 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries and caught two passes for 15 yards in the Stallions’ 33-17 victory over the Michigan Panthers at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

That man loves to tote the football. Hopefully he gets another shot in the NFL.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.