Coffee: 'This kid is not a thug'

Wednesday, July 11

Says Alabama State's AD about Isaiah Crowell: "I like the kid, and I think I can help him."

It took Georgia running back Isaiah Crowell less than a week to find a new program after being kicked out of the one in Athens.

He is Alabama State's running back (and potential star ... and potential problem) now. So the tough questions about No. 1 have now been switched from Bulldogs coaches to administrators like Stacy Danley.

You may remember Danley as a running back at Auburn in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He's now the AD at Alabama State, a SWAC school in Montgomery, and approved the Hornets' move to bring in Crowell so soon after the running back's felony arrest in Athens.

What went into the decision?

Danley discussed that Tuesday morning in an interesting interview with hosts Scott Griffin and Kevin Scarbinsky on 97.3-FM in Birmingham, Ala., (LISTEN TO IT HERE).

Basically, Danley said, "I like the kid, and I think I can help him.

"I typically do not get involved in those type of processes," Danley said. "I allow our coaches and our compliance staff and some of our senior staff to handle that. But I took a personal interest in it and called as many people as I could. ... Under the circumstances, you hope you're going to hear somebody to say, 'Well, this kid's a thug. You don't want to bring him in.' But the thing we kept hearing was, 'He's a good kid.' And then to see the infrastructure that he had at home, coming from a two-(parent) home, a middle-class family. It was clear to me that he was not a thug, someone that we had to be worried about the safety of other individuals on this campus. ...

"This kid is not a thug. He's a good kid, a great personality. He's made a number of mistakes, a lot of them were typical mistakes that you see with freshmen, young men who need to grow up and mature and are coming into a structred environment for the first time and are being held accountable."

As for Crowell's pending legal issues?

"It is up the air. We don't know what the court is going to decide. ... He's going to have to go through that process, and there are some unanswered questions, and that was a concern. Those are some serious charges. ... I think he is prepared to face whatever those consequences are," Danley said.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Atlanta defense attorney Steven Sadow (who has previously represented rapper TI and former UGA basketball player Tony Cole) offered to represent Crowell "pro-bono" in his current case.

Meanwhile, Danley said Crowell started classes Tuesday morning at Alabama State and will, of course, compete for a starting job there this season.

Or as current UGA freshman tailback Keith Marshall put it in a recent tweet, "I feel bad for whoever the starting RB was at Alabama State."

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LINK(S) OF THE DAY

Here's a fascinating read from SI.com's Andy Staples on a man training recruits to be better than the boring interview.

And Athens gets a little GQ love from a source who knows his stuff.

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TWEET(S) OF THE DAY

I'm getting close to a decision.

RB recruit Alvin Kamara

all these other coaches tryna get me to decommit its unreal lol

im hearing all kinds of stuff

DB commit Steven Nelson

Only thing I can say when I step foot outside is dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

LB Amarlo Herrera

So tell me why when I woke up I had a scratch on my arm an a blood on my sheet? What the hell was I doing in my sleep????

TE Jay Rome

applebees 2 for $20 was made exclusively for (Abry Jones) and (Marlon Brown) #divas

DL Reuben Faloughi

Dawg Night Friday ! With all my boys #TrappinOutDaBANDO!

RB recruit Derrick Henry

If you want to be a professional.. Then act like one...

WR Tavarres King

This teacher came in ten minutes late and then gave us a pop quiz #youkiddinme no worries though I aced it

OL Zach DeBell

We at the food bank in Athens #ServingThePeople

DL Garrison Smith

Good things come to those who ain't never had and always worked hard to get.

Former UGA DB Chris Sanders

Every breath you take is a blessing from God, cherish every moment because somebody out there is taken their last. #Christ #Savior

P Collin Barber

One of the best feelings is waking up in the middle of the night, realizing you have like 4 more hours to sleep.

QB Parker Welch