Saban has surprise guest at Alabama's pro day

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama football held its annual pro day with many NFL head coaches and personnel on hand, but the story overshadowing the event was a former Southeastern Conference head coach sporting an Alabama pullover. Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones, who was fired after last season, was on hand dressed in Alabama gear on Wednesday afternoon. There have been reports that Alabama coach Nick Saban plans to add Jones to his staff as an "analyst." "You know, I don't know where that is," Saban said Wednesday. "We have issues that we have to go through to be able to hire somebody from another school. I haven't gotten a report on where that is right now. We are interested in him being a part of our staff." Jones didn't have much success against Saban's Alabama teams while at Tennessee, losing all five games during his tenure there. Still, Saban has a lot of respect for Jones. Saban is no stranger to bringing in fired coaches as analysts or for on-field positions. Lane Kiffin, Steve Sarkisian and others have rehabbed their images in Tuscaloosa before going on to other jobs. "He's got a lot of experience," Saban said of Jones. "We always had a lot of respect for him when we had to play against him, so, that's probably why we're interested." The list of draft-eligible Crimson Tide players who participated in some portion of Pro Day included center Bradley Bozeman, linebacker Rashaan Evans, wide receiver Robert Foster, defensive lineman Joshua Frazier, defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand, offensive lineman J.C. Hassenauer, wide receiver Austin Johnson, defensive lineman Jamar King, wide receiver Calvin Ridley, running back Bo Scarbrough, punter JK Scott, wide receiver Cam Sims and defensive back Levi Wallace. Other players, including defensive back Anthony Averett, defensive back Tony Brown, defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, defensive back Ronnie Harrison and defensive tackle Da'Ron Payne, will be participating in meetings but are not scheduled to work out. Players such as Ridley, Fitzpatrick and Payne are all projected first-round picks, but pro day offers an opportunity for lesser known players who didn't receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine to show the scouts what they can do in NFL style workouts. According to Alabama, there were 80 scouts representing all 32 NFL teams. There were also numerous general managers and head coaches in attendance at today's event. The list was highlighted by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, the Lions' Matt Patricia, the Bengals' Marvin Lewis, and the Titans' Mike Vrabel. NFL front offices were also well represented with the Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, Washington Redskins president Bruce Allen, Panthers GM Marty Hurney, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert, Lions GM Bob Quinn and Titans GM Jon Robinson. "We certainly have a strong group of players out there that have accomplished a lot," Saban said. "They have been great ambassadors for the University of Alabama, not only in the way they have competed on the field, but also in the way they represent the university and institution, so we are very proud of that. We wish them the very best, and hopefully the guys working out today will do extremely well and enhance their position in the draft."