ALABAMA FOOTBALL: Caldwell leads tight-knit senior class

TUSCALOOSA – He is Alabama’s alpha dog. Out front, leading the way, screaming at his teammates.

“Tiger Week!” senior center Antoine Caldwell barks as the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide stretches. “C’mon! Let’s go! We don’t eat! We don’t sleep!”

His teammates hide smiles. Andre Smith calls Caldwell “The Show” for just this kind of performance.

“As far as practice, he’s always enthusiastic, cracking jokes, things of that nature,” Smith said. “He’s a great guy. He’s going to be missed.”

Not just Caldwell. Top-ranked Alabama plays its Bryant-Denny Stadium finale Saturday against Auburn with just nine scholarship seniors — fewest in the nation.

Caldwell, Marlon Davis, Bobby Greenwood, Rashad Johnson, Travis McCall, Will Oakley, Nikita Stover, Nick Walker and John Parker Wilson comprise a class that has experienced nearly every emotion a college football player can feel.

But from back-to-back Independence Bowl appearances, these seniors have led Alabama to an11-0 record, an SEC West title and a berth in what amounts to be a national semifinal game against Florida next week. Alabama will try to complete its first perfect regular season since 1994.

“We have a great group of seniors. They have done a fantastic job,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “Regardless of what happens in the future, this senior class is going to be, in my mind, the group that sort of turned it around.”

Wilson said the group is small, but very close.

“When you look around the room at the seniors, you know a lot about them,” the quarterback said.

“A lot of people have dropped along the way, different things have happened. And we’ve learned a lot of things from that,” defensive end Greenwood said.

The seniors ushered in an era of change under Saban that has paid dividends this year.

“It’s a lot different this year than the past couple of years I’ve been here,” Wilson said. “I think the attitude of the team has changed, the way
people go about business, whether it’s working out or watching film or the day-to-day stuff we do. It’s a lot different. We’ve gone a long way this season. We’ve got to finish it now. We’ve got three games left. We’ve got to finish.”

The Iron Bowl comes first. Caldwell admits he’s particularly pumped up this week.

“Just knowing that we can accomplish something special right here that ain’t been done in a long time,” Caldwell said. “Not only just beating (Auburn) — I mean, that hadn’t been done in a while, either — but for us to have an undefeated season would be huge. Last (home) game for us seniors, and I’m just ready to go.”

Told that Smith said he was “The Show,” Caldwell laughed.

“When I’m out there, it doesn’t matter if it’s Period 1 or Period 12, I try to keep it going,” the senior center said. “I’m just out there acting a fool half the time.”

But Davis said Caldwell is invaluable.

““He helps us out a lot, gets us going when we sometimes don’t want to go,” Davis said. “I think he’s been very important.”

Caldwell said he didn’t see a perfect season coming, but he also knew pieces were in place for a dramatic turnaround. That helped him decide
to return for his senior season after considering entering the NFL Draft last spring.

“I knew we were going to have a great football team,” Caldwell said. “We had a lot of leadership and seniors in all the right positions, like the O-line, safety, quarterback — those are key positions to have leadership and experience in.”

Johnson, the safety, said he hasn’t considered the seniors’ legacy at Alabama. He also said Saturday’s game would help determine it.

“We’ve done a lot so far, but it really wouldn’t mean anything to any of us if we go into this game and lose to Auburn,” Johnson said. “I think that game is a lot bigger than any of the other games that we’ve played all year.”

A coaching change. Classmates leaving. Off-field distractions. This class has been adaptable, Saban said.

“They bought in, they believed in it, they changed their ways … and made a really significant contribution … to the success of the team,” Saban said.

The coach said how these seniors affected other people is one of their enduring characteristics.

“Every one of those guys, the team means something to them. They have invested a lot in this team and this team’s success — not only in how they performed and played but how they served their teammates in supporting them. The commitment, the perseverance and the work that they’ve shown has gone a long way in having a huge impact on the change that’s been made here in two years.”

Caldwell said he wanted the seniors to be remembered “just as a hard-working group, a close-knit group.”

“I really feel like this is family,” he said. “I feel like this is the tightest team I’ve been a part of — ever — since I’ve been playing sports. … The work we put in, no doubt about it, was hard. But I like the chemistry we have on this team. I’d like to be remembered as a hard-working, close-knit group that turned this program around for the better.”