Ad Disclosure
When it comes compliments from University of Alabama coach Nick Saban, one would be hard-pressed to find a better one than what he said about senior running back Jalston Fowler during training camp.
“When I see guys like Jalston Fowler who have matured and progressed here from sort of being a young guy coming in that had a lot of ability but now has matured into a fine young man who has graduated, has goals and aspirations for himself, does things the right way, affects other people in the right way, that’s what makes me believe the process works,” Saban said. “When you have guys that haven’t been in the program that makes some mistakes, do the wrong thing, you get frustrated. But when you see the guys that have been here and gone through it, you see how they’ve matured through the years and what they’ve become, it really makes me feel like, ‘Hey, the process works.’
“He’s really done well. You have to keep fighting the fight with the young ones so they develop the same way. He’s a great example of what we’d love for a lot of our players to develop into.”
Heading into the heart of the schedule Fowler is looking to fulfill his potential and have a big final season with the Crimson Tide. After coaches prepared him to be a sort of jack-of-all-trades player for the offense in 2012, the product of Vigor High School in Mobile hyperextended his knee and damaged the major ligaments on a hit from behind against Western Kentucky. He redshirted, but last season only had 20 carries for 88 rushing yards and seven receptions for 15 receiving yards – albeit five were goal-line touchdowns.
“Big difference,” Fowler said about his knee. “Last year I couldn’t play comfortably like I wanted to. This year I feel great. No worries in the world. I just want to get out there and play, and do my best.”
The popular player recently took time to answer a number of other questions:
You participated in this summer’s graduation ceremony and are now going for a second degree. What’s it in?
“Sports management. Pretty hard, but I’ve got people helping me. That
public speaking just gets me every time.”
Does doing interviews like this help?
“It’s normal just being around you guys, but when you have your friends
in front of you, you mess up, they’re cracking up laughing at you. It
can be pretty hard when you’re doing it in the classroom.”
You’re now playing for your third offensive coordinator. What’s different about Lane Kiffin?
“The biggest difference is that you’ve got to learn everything that
everybody’s doing on the field. So if you play receiver, you play Y,
X, Z. You’ve got to learn what the H, the Z receiver’s doing. If you
play fullback, you’ve got to learn what the H receiver is doing. It’s
just different from anything I’ve been a part of.”
Are you hoping to get some more passes thrown your way downfield?
“Tryin’ to, tryin’ to. I hope I get open so they’ll throw it to me.”
Collectively how are the running backs different from a year ago?
“Just focused. Last year we were a good group, but we just weren’t
focused as much as we were now.”
What’s the point of the drill during practice in which you carry two footballs while using only one leg?
“It’s just a balance drill that Coach (Burton) Burns came up with. He said he’s just been thinking about stuff on the way to work that he wants to try
out.”
Is it one of the harder drills to do?
“That’s about the hardest one we do right now.”
Has anybody fallen while trying to do it?
“We had a couple of trips. I almost tripped one time. I had to save myself.”
Saban said that you’re a prime example of how the process works at Alabama. How have you grown as a person since high school?
“I came a long way — going through what I went through, coming from
Mobile, you’ve got to grow up. You see a lot of different things
growing up in Mobile, and you know you’ve got to make a change. You
just can’t be like no ordinary guy coming from Mobile. You’ve got to
stand out, doing stuff like this.”
You’ve posted a lot of photos of your son, Jalston Fowler Jr., on social media. How has he changed your life?
“That little guy right there, he makes a big difference in my life. I
won’t say I struggled, but I don’t want to see him mess up where I
messed up. I just want him to be better than me.”
Since your nickname is “Nudie,” is he Nudie, Jr.?
“I tried to call him Tootie, but that didn’t work. So me and mom just
call him Junior.”
You talked a lot last season about how much you enjoy blocking. Has that changed at all?
“I love blocking. I’ve been doing it all my life, ever since I was a
little kid. So it’s nothing major for me. Been knockin’ helmets off.”
Have you worked on anything in particular to improve this season?
“I think I have to be a leader and on plays I wanted to be a better blocker, which is finishing plays. And I’m trying to lose some weight, but it’s hard for me because I like to eat. And I like to eat all the wrong things – hamburgers and French fries and things like that. But I’m trying to do what the nutritionist says, trying to slack off on those things.”
You scored five touchdowns on goal-line passes last season. Did you give Amari Cooper any grief about having more touchdown catches?
“Nah, I really don’t look into that. I really didn’t know until they
told me about it. I just want to be productive like that this year. Or
at least try to do be productive like that this year.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
