Alabama player who punched coach is reportedly out
There isn’t much for Crimson Tide fans to lament about the 2017 College Football National Championship game.
First and foremost, Alabama won in overtime.
Second, the team may have unearthed a gem of a quarterback in true freshman Tua Tagovailoa.
And third, the team won its rubber match with the Clemson Tigers to earn a place in the championship game.
If there was one blemish, perhaps aside from the poor performance of starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, it happened on the sidelines with backup linebacker Mekhi Brown.
In a startlingly bad sequence of events, Brown gave up crucial yardage after a dumb penalty, and then nearly came to blows with a coach who may have called him out on it.
Brown first took a swing at a Georgia player, which drew a 15-yard penalty.
Mekhi Brown is gonna have to run back to Tuscaloosa if he keeps it up pic.twitter.com/iQwZPPnSfZ
— CFB Gif'er (@CFBgifer) January 9, 2018
Then, Brown took a swing at his coach.
Not ideal. pic.twitter.com/skl9ujAyaW
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) January 9, 2018
There wasn’t much to criticize about head coach Nick Saban following the championship game, with the possible exception of his handling of Brown.
Brown was never disciplined, never benched, and actually continued to play in key special teams situations.
Well, it looks like his playing days for the Crimson Tide are officially behind Brown.
The Tennessean is reporting that Brown has transferred to Tennessee State University, and will be eligible to play immediately due to transferring to a D-II school.
Interestingly, Brown reportedly had applied for admission to TSU a month before the national championship game.
Naturally, this brings up speculation that Brown was already unhappy with Alabama by the time the championship game rolled around, and his altercations were a culmination of his frustrations with the team.
It’s certainly not an excuse, but possibly an explanation.
Brown, who just finished his redshirt sophomore season, will have two years of eligibility remaining at TSU, provided he meets certain stipulations set forth by the school.
Of note, TSU has already dismissed one player after an eerily similar situation.
TSU senior defensive end Latrelle Lee was dismissed in November after he repeatedly punched a coach on the sidelines. Lee was eventually charged with one count of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
It’s a curious move by a school that probably doesn’t need any more players punching any more coaches.
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