ALABAMA FOOTBALL: After Katrina, position battle no sweat for Tide safety Green

TUSCALOOSA — Playing free safety in the Southeastern Conference would be intimidating for most defensive backs.

Adding the position’s responsibilities in Alabama coach Nick Saban’s defense raises that bar.

And having to follow Rashad Johnson in the Crimson Tide secondary can be a daunting task.

But Robby Green isn’t like most players. Not much intimidates the 6-foot, 181-pound sophomore from New Orleans.

Not after Hurricane Katrina.

Green’s family — his life, really, —was disrupted by the storm’s aftermath in August 2005.

“The hurricane hit. Me and my family moved to Dallas. My mom stayed in Dallas. She got stationed out there and worked,” Green said Thursday after Alabama’s morning practice.

“Me and my dad moved back to New Orleans, ’cause I didn’t want to go play ball out there. I wanted to come back and play at my high school. So we moved back.”

What he came home to wasn’t anything like what he had left.

“We didn’t have nothing in New Orleans,” Green said. “We had to be inside by 10 o’clock curfew, the whole city. It was really hard to adjust to stuff.”

Football at John Curtis Christian — a private school located in nearby River Ridge, La. — was the one constant at the time — and even that was an unknown entity early in the season. John Curtis lost its season opener as players were making their way back to New Orleans.

“We started the season, we didn’t really have anybody the first game,” Green said. “We still had an average amount for high school ... We had enough, though. But it really wasn’t key guys. Key guys we had really weren’t there.”

They got there eventually. The school won four state championships while Green was there, including that post-Katrina sophomore season.

“It was a hard time, but still and all, it was great, though,” he said. “In maturity, like I said, it made me the man I am right now.”

It also gave him an adaptability that some of his peers don’t have. He was a cornerback for most of his high school career and played at cornerback his freshman season.

But when Saban, who was looking for more range in the secondary, suggested a move to safety, he jumped at it.

That didn’t make it easy. Green said learning to make the calls has been his biggest — and toughest — adjustment.

“The fact that you’re the quarterback of the defense, that’s the hardest adjustment,” he said. “At corner, it’s just you and your guy. At safety, you got everybody else to worry about.”

He is locked in a battle with Mark Barron for the job. Both men will be on the field a lot.

“We have three safeties we feel are starters — Robby Green, Mark Barron and Justin Woodall,” Saban said Thursday. “We have two other safeties that have a lot of experience that we feel they can play at any time in any situation — Ali Sharrief and Tyrone King. So, there’s a lot of competition at those positions and I can’t tell you who’s going to start right now.”

Green, who was a narrow No. 1 this spring, said it’s a great competition.

“Everybody out there is just trying to work hard and trying to help each other make it to the next level,” he said.

Green said his strength is pass coverage.

“I’m able to cover, I got quick hips and fast to the ball,” he said.

As far as making the calls, he said that’s not a problem.

“I’m an outgoing person. I like to speak. I always like to be heard on the field. That pretty much comes to me (naturally),” Green said.

The safety said he learned a lot from Johnson. But his leadership void is missed as much as his ability on the field.

“Rashad was a great leader and a great role model for all of us,” he said. “It’s going to be big shoes to fill in that category. We’re all working together to try to fill those shoes.”

Saban said Green has made significant progress since converting from cornerback.

“Robby Green is a very good football player,” the coach said. “Plays hard, he’s very instinctive. He’s got good ball skills and he’s got a good range in the deep part of the field. He’s done a nice job of developing at that position. We’re pleased with his development but there is a lot of competition at the position.”

There is a maturity about him that belies his sophomore classification. Certainly, Katrina gets some of the credit — or blame.

“It prepared me,” Green said. “Most guys, coming out of high school didn’t go through some of the things I went through. It kept me humble. It set a goal for me, where I want to go in life. That kept me going, got me more family-oriented.”