Yesterday, the idea of writing a fiction non-fiction story about Nick Saban and his hatred for agents was sparked on Twitter. Well, I thought this might be the ideal moment to take a break from what has become typical sanction chatter.

This is chapter 1 of the Tide Has Turned – a Nick Saban novel.

Chapter 1

Nick Saban pulled up in his bright red Range Rover and entered the Crimson facility like any other day. The weather was warm, the sun was out and camp was only a few weeks away. For a second he thought about smiling – but that didn’t last long. Instead, he threw his now lukewarm coffee at a nearby bird. He barely missed, yelled at it and walked inside.

His secretary greeted him with smiles but she was nervous as usual. After all, Nick Saban is a tough man to please. She gave him a handful of messages and laid down the agenda. Her words were clear and she tried to approach the coach with the confidence he deserved.

“You have a meeting with the board of the directors at ten-thirty, you’re scheduled to be at your fundraiser at two-thirty, and you should probably prepare for the SEC Meetings, which as you know beg-“ before she could finish Saban interjected with a comment about her weight. This wasn’t the first time.

She tried to explain herself along with her recent “lifestyle” changes, but it didn’t matter. Nick was already down the hallway and unlocking his office door. He opened it and quickly closed it behind him.

On the door was a sign that read “Under No Circumstances Should You Disturb Me, Unless You Want a 15-Minute Lecture on How Awful of a Human You Are. Regardless, You are all Awful.”

Saban threw his coat on the chair and dropped the briefcase near his desk. He thought about the board meeting that he would have to deal with later on that day and he couldn’t help but punch a hole in a nearby wall. He then made a note for his secretary that they would need the drywaller in again.

He flipped open his laptop on his desk and looked at the Tide’s schedule on his desktop wallpaper. He thought about punching another hole in the wall when he looked at all the teams they would be playing coming off bye weeks. He gathered himself, though, and instead pulled out his replica Gator stress figurine and squeezed it until it exploded.

Before Saban could get through a full email – he saw an “URGENT” subject line coming from one of the board of directors. While he prayed this was to announce the meeting was canceled, somehow he knew it was something more.

He cracked open the email, skimmed through it, and his face became more red than usual. This, of course, is so red that it would likely be called a new shade of red. For the sake of moving the story along, we will say his face was “Saban Red.”

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, Marcel Dareus, BLAH, BLAH, Party with Agents, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, NCAA investigation.

Saban immediately picked up the phone and yelled into the dial tone. He then made his public statements while his hatred for sports agents built up even greater. Phase one of “Operation: The Tide Have Turned” was complete.

Phase two, however, was a complex process. He called up his secretary and told her to cancel all of his meetings and alert the SEC he might miss the media day. He then suggested that she work overtime to make up for the time she would be gone. Before she could respond, he hung up abruptly.

After thinking about his current situation for a second, he thought about every sports agent he had ever known and centered his anger. Someone had to stop them.

Saban reached under his desk and found the button he hadn’t touched in at least 6 weeks. He pushed it, and suddenly the wooden wall behind him slid up into the ceiling and exposed an entire arsenal of weaponry. Think Terminator 2, but better.

After changing clothes, Saban put as much of it as he could on his person and got himself ready to go. He finished off this routine by putting eye black on and head butted the mirror directly afterwards. He then jumped through this window.

“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” he yelled! He cocked his shotgun and sprinted down the street.

END CHAPTER ONE

The NCAA’s trip down shady lane continues. Next up, Alabama.

Reports are surfacing that Alabama defensive lineman Marcel Dareus attended an agent’s party in South Beach earlier this summer. This is the same party that has caused issues for UNC defensive tackle Marvin Austin and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders.

As you might imagine, this doesn’t sit well with the NCAA who are on an absolute tear when it comes to cracking down on both players and universities. Currently, the NCAA is looking into who paid for the players to attend these events and what expenses might have been covered by these agencies or other individuals.

Saban, like many of us, isn’t fond of agents as a whole right now.

“Right now, agents are screwing it up,” Saban said. “They are taking the eligibility of players. It’s not right that those players do the wrong thing. We have a great education process here. We have a full-time worker who meets with players and their families and does everything else.”

Dareus is high on many early draft boards, particularly draft guru Mel Kiper. Kiper ranks Dareus as the seventh overall player on his Big Board heading into the 2010 season.

Should be interesting to see where this one takes us, but it’s safe to say the NCAA isn’t done with their carnage.

The Gator’s Ronald Powell is by far the most athletic freshmen going into the 2011 season. Rated the #1 overall player by Rivals, Powell comes into the season a stout 6’4” and 250 pounds with plenty of room to grow into his body.

The question for Powell or perhaps more specifically Urban Meyer, however, is where he will spend the majority of his time. Powell is listed as a defensive end and while that will likely be his main destination on the field, it might not be his only spot.

In high school, Powell caught passes, ran the ball, starred on the d-line, and even threw the ball throughout his 4-year campaign. Simply put, Powell is one of the best athletes college football has seen in recent memory.

Meyer and the Gators have already alluded to the fact that they plan to use Powell on offense. If this happens, this could be the beginning of an interesting precedent in college football.

While Powell certainly appears to be one of the most gifted athletes coming in, he’s not alone. These freakishly large but quick defensive ends are now seemingly at the top of Rivals’ rankings each and every year. It’s early, but the #1 player on Rivals board next year, Jadeveon Clowney, is already getting comparisons to Powell who hasn’t played a down just yet. Welcome to recruiting 2.0.

These types of players really can be played at a variety of positions on the field. If they have a coach that is creative enough to put them in spots, there’s no reason to think they can’t impact both sides of the ball. They’re as big as most pass-catching TEs, plus they can run 4.6. Some (like Powell) can move much faster. A coach like Meyer certainly recognizes the potential here and might just be the start of an intriguing new trend.

We see a similar philosophy in the NFL on a select basis. I still have nightmares of Tom Brady throwing two touchdowns to linebacker Mike Vrabel against the Jets. In college, we saw Terrance Cody fill in at fullback and play the role as lead blocker for Heisman winner Mark Ingram last season. There are obviously more cases than this, but these are two high profile examples that come to mind. These situations were unique but they were also limited to to the red zone.

The wildcat and speed of some of the defensive backs and receivers have also transformed this bit. Players are now finding themselves on both sides of the ball in select packages. Once it became obvious that there was something there with this package, teams took note and immediately added it (along with their own wrinkles) into their offense. This has now worked its way into pro, college and even high school ball.

Ronald Powell and Urban Meyer have the chance to do the exact same and something more if things work out. This is entirely presumptuous on my part, but if this experiment shows success and Powell is able to succeed at both positions – teams will follow. These lean defensive ends don’t grow on trees but the mold of player is becoming a familiar site.

If Powell simply comes into the game in goal line situations then this won’t likely pick up steam. What if, however, Powell can play 20+ plays on offense every game while also playing the majority of the snaps on defense? This recess ball mentality isn’t revolutionary in thought, but the implementation absolutely would be.

Florida just lost both playmakers at tight end and defensive end so there are openings. While this could just be excited “new toy” talk, Urban has shown he isn’t afraid to play young talent in key situations or take chances. I’m curious to see to what extent this plays out and intrigued to see the implications if it does. If this guy is the best athlete on the field in almost every game (which he likely will be) than Meyer will likely succumb to the temptation and make this speculation a reality. Will others follow?

Powell was the MVP at the U.S. Army All-American game after recording 5 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. And this was on defense. Powell also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass and returned a 2-point conversion the other way for 97 yards.

The possibilities at Florida for Powell and Meyer are endless. The possibilities beyond… we shall see.