re: What happened at Jerry Dinardo’s first practice that players were going to walk out?

I lived it...Dinardo brought the winds of change. He set the expectations high...and most importantly, brought the talent back to the program. We had be devastated by poor recruiting from 1989-1994. I still attended all the games I could, but the electricity of my Freshman year (1988) was gone. Dinardo brought back hope. He left the program in much better shape and the cupboards had enough in them for Saban to completely revive our program. I definitely give credit to Gerry for lifting us up and to Saban for establishing the strong roots that have kept us in contention for the last 20 years.