Jumbo Package: Alabama icon Eddie Conyers passes away, targeting rule debated
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Happy Gump Day, everyone. Unfortunately we open this one with sad news.
He developed close relationships with all of Alabama’s coaches, including Nick Saban and most recently Kalen DeBoer. During his radio show in 2013 Saban joked, “Let me say this about Eddie, he is a part of the Alabama football tradition. He’s been doing this for 53 years. But this guy is a double agent. You have to take the flag out and throw it if it’s against the offense. Now he’ll throw them against the defense. I’ve had to threaten him ever since I’ve been here.”
Alabama sports medicine director Jeff Allen memorialized Conyers by writing, “We lost a true Alabama legend today. Eddie Conyers was a remarkable man who was a part of this program from Coach Bryant’s first years until this season. I will always cherish the conversations we had at practice for the past 19 seasons. He loved Alabama and he loved our players.”
Eddie was an icon in Tuscaloosa. He will be missed.
Charles Bediako has proven to be a difference maker for the basketball team, and his court case gets more ridiculous by the day.
“Neither Mr. Bediako nor his counsel have any doubt that this Court would preside over the present matter with anything other than fairness and impartiality,” the document read.
Bediako’s defense argued that since the University of Alabama is not a party to this lawsuit and Judge Roberts has no “financial relationship” with Bediako, the court isn’t violating judicial ethics.
The plaintiff response also pointed out that the NCAA’s motion was built on media scrutiny, including a variety of “unflattering” Reddit posts pertaining to Judge Roberts, and described community members of the anonymous website as “astute and reasoned observers.”
Among usernames included in exhibits provided by the NCAA in its motion for recusal, Bediako’s response highlighted “m5fer,” “WitOfTheIrish” and “audirt.”
Regardless of what one thinks about the merits of the case, an attorney citing Reddit comments is patently absurd. That is an unserious argument. Perhaps Roberts will recuse himself, but every other judge that sits on that court is an Alabama graduate.
We got a glimpse of early enrollee QB Jett Thomalla at playoff practices. He was awarded a fifth star by Rivals.
“The more and more we watched the quarterback group, outside of the top two being Jared Curtis and Keisean Henderson, we felt more and more that Jett Thomalla made a really strong case as the No. 3 quarterback in the cycle,” wrote the Rivals scout . Thomalla had a fantastic senior season, threw for 58 touchdowns, he’s the best QB prospect to come from Nebraska in recent memory.”
“While he played on a loaded team that really didn’t play many close games in 2025, when you watch the arm talent and the ability to make difficult throws, I’m not sure that anyone besides Curtis and Henderson put better difficult throws on film than Thomalla.”
You can check out Thomalla’s senior season highlights below.
He certainly looks the part.
Jett isn’t likely to win the 2026 QB competition, which will be watched closely throughout camp.
Ty Simpson led the Crimson Tide back to the College Football Playoff and has the potential to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft thanks to a shallow quarterback class. That leaves the starting job open in Tuscaloosa.
Redshirt junior Austin Mack and redshirt freshman Keelon Russell are the two main candidates. Mack served as the Crimson Tide’s backup this past season and was forced into action in the Rose Bowl when Simpson cracked a rib during the game. Russell was the No. 2 overall player in the 2025 recruiting cycle and the QB many view as the future of the program.
Mack completed 24 of 32 attempts for 228 yards and two touchdowns in 2025. Russell completed 11 of 15 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Russell probably has the higher ceiling, but Mack has spent more time in the offense.
Alabama also signed two quarterbacks during the 2026 recruiting cycle: top-100 prospect Jett Thomalla and three-star Tayden Kaawa.
Last, there are rumblings of another tier targeting foul that wouldn’t result in ejection.
“If we go to that, we have to be really good in our definition of what is a flagrant targeting call,” Shaw said. “The guiding principle is we cannot back up on targeting. It’ll be an interesting discussion in the rules committee and the commissioners will be a part of that discussion too.”
Jon Steinbrecher, the MAC commissioner and chair of the College Football Officiating (CFO) Board of Managers, is open to the conversation, he told Yahoo Sports.
“It is a very tough penalty but it is a penalty that has been effective,” Steinbrecher said. “Those that want to do something else, I want to hear the conversation around it.”
This is similar to basketball where you have a “flagrant 1” and “flagrant 2.” The first marker for me would be whether the offending player has his head down. That is dangerous for both parties and should continue to carry the full penalty.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
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