Alabama
Sources: Rice finalizing deal for Alabama assistant coach
Scott Abell helped the Rice Owls to a rare postseason berth in his first year atop the program in 2025.
Tevin Madison aided perennial powerhouse Alabama as the Crimson Tide returned to the College Football Playoff — the program’s first bid under second-year head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Now, Abell is set to add Madison to his Rice Owls staff.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Madison is set to depart Tuscaloosa, Alabama, barring any unforeseen snags, to take the cornerbacks coach’s job in Abell’s Rice program.
Most recently, Madison has worked for the Alabama Crimson Tide with an official title of “football analyst,” though Madison has been the program’s assistant defensive backs coach.
It’s another step in the Football Bowls Subdivision for Madison, a former three-year player for the Texas Tech Red Raiders who capped his career at NCAA Division II program West Alabama.
In addition to a stint as a graduate assistant coach at Kansas State, Madison has coached at Illinois State and Southeast Missouri State at the Football Championship Subdivision level.
Abell guided Rice to five wins in 2025, his first season atop the Owls program after a decorated run in charge of the FCS, non-scholarship Davidson Wildcats. The Rice program was awarded a bowl berth for its academic standing when there was a shortage of bowl-eligible teams to fill all postseason slots.
Rice, which had mustered a 5-5 mark through its first 10 games of the 2025 season, dropped its final three including the Armed Forces Bowl against in-state foe Texas State.
In 2026, the Owls are slated to open Abell’s second year at the helm at home against FCS program Houston Christian University before traveling to the Midwest for a game at Notre Dame, which is entering Year 5 under Marcus Freeman and has emerged as an early consensus contender for the 2026 College Football Playoff.
Alabama
49ers select Kadyn Proctor from Alabama in Mel Kiper’s mock draft
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. released his latest mock draft, and the San Francisco 49ers invested in the offensive line for the first time in the first round since Mike McGlinchey.
It’s something we can expect to be popular in every mock draft cycle, but it’s 49ers offensive line coach Chris Foerster who is on record saying that he tells Kyle Shanahan to draft the guys who score touchdowns in early rounds. Will this year be any different?
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Maybe. Kiper mocked a player to the Niners who does not seem like their type on paper:
Proctor’s tape is all over the place. The highs are really, really good. The lows raise a lot of questions. But in the right situation, he could become a standout tackle in the NFL. And there might not be a better situation than learning behind one of the best to ever do it in San Francisco. Trent Williams will be 38 by Week 1, and he’s entering the final year of his contract. So, Proctor could develop in Year 1 while kicking inside to guard and/or playing a swing tackle role before perhaps taking over for Williams in 2027. He has 40 career starts — all at left tackle — and is reliable in pass protection. This would be an upside pick for GM John Lynch.
Proctor is listed at 6’7″, 366 pounds. The 49ers ask their lineman to run and execute blocks on the move and in space. That does not seem like something a player of Proctor’s size would excel at. However, Bruce Feldman’s annual Freak List had Proctor listed with a 32-inch vertical jump. For reference, Trent Williams had a 34.5-inch vertical jump, which is in the 97th percentile. Proctor also had an 815-pound squat, 535-pound bench press, and a 405-pound power clean. That is a powerful human being.
Proctor wasn’t always 366. He was 400 pounds as a freshman. The concern would be Proctor regaining that weight as a pro now that he’s not being monitored as closely. That weight fluctuation could lead to inconsistencies in his play, especially his sets as a pass protector.
But we are talking about a player with the ideal frame, athleticism, and one who looks dominant when he’s engaged. Those dominant stretches don’t always last, and there is enough tape out there to be concerned, which is why he might be available when the 49ers are on the clock.
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Proctor was the No. 1 offensive tackle out of his high school class and will be 21 in June. The pedigree is there. Concerns about handling speed and whether he can maintain his weight are valid, but it’s impossible to ignore his power and how he clears running lanes with ease. Plus, for a player as big as Proctor, the range is where it needs to be.
Proctor was exclusively a left tackle in college. He could play left guard next to Trent Williams, giving the Niners a talent boost they desperately need at the position.
Alabama
Vote: Who is the Alabama High School Softball Player of the Week? – Feb. 23, 2026
With the completion of week one of the high school softball season in the state of Alabama, it is time to look at some of the outstanding performances from a week ago.
Krimson Calhoun of Thompson headlines our list of nominees after she batted .867 in five games. Along, with Calhoun headlining the list of nominees, Baker High School and Helena High School each lead the way with two nominees for this week.
Meanwhile, the rest of our nominations include some outstanding offensive offensive and pitching performances from the first week of the season.
As always, we ask you, the fans, to vote for who you think is the High School on SI Alabama high school softball player of the week.
Send future player of the week nominations to reed_green1582@hotmail.com or reach out to him on X at @reed_green7.
Voting will close on March 1 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Here are this week’s nominations:
In the first five games of the season, Calhoun went 13/15 from the plate with an on-base percentage of .875. She drove in six runs, stole six bases, scored seven runs, and she also hit a bases clearing, game-winning triple in one of the Warriors victory.
In the 16-6 win over Valley, Norred finished with three hits, one home run, one double, five RBIs and two runs scored.
In the first three games of the season, which includes two wins over Huntsville and Hamilton, Thornton finished with four hits, three home runs, one triple, 10 RBIs, one stolen base and five runs scored.
In the first four games of the season, Havard tallied eight hits, two home runs, four doubles, 10 RBIs, one stolen base and four runs scored.
Keith is another player who enjoyed immense offensive success in week one. In four games, she went 8/11 with two home runs, four doubles, nine RBIs, one stolen base and five runs scored.
In the 21-9 win over McAdory, Traywick was 3/5 with two home runs, six RBIs and three runs scored.
Smith pitched 13 combined innings over the course of two games last week, and she picked up the win versus Long Beach. Her ERA was 0.54 with one earned run allowed, five total hits allowed and struck out 21 batters. Offensively, she tallied five hits combined in the wins over Long Beach and Petal.
Brewer got the season started off with two wins from the circle over Helena and Huntsville last week. Her ERA is currently at 2.55, and she allowed four earned runs and struck out 13 batters. Offensively, she tallied three hits, one RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
Schiefer appeared in four games from the circle last week, and she went 2-1 on the week. She pitched 14.2 innings, allowed eight earned runs, seven walks and struck out 17 batters. Offensively, she tallied six hits, two doubles, three RBIs and scored one run.
In four games, Henderson finished with four hits, one home run, two doubles, nine RBIs and scored four runs.
In the 10-0 win over Foley and the 4-3 win over Tate, Bolden tallied five combined hits, one home run, one triple, one double, five RBIs, two stolen bases and scored three runs.
In three games last week, Simmons tallied four hits, one double, five RBIs, one stolen base and four runs scored. She also went 1-0 in two appearances with 3.2 innings pitched. She allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out four batters.
In the 9-1 win over Handley, Dunagan finished with three hits, one home run, one double, two RBIs, three stolen bases and scored three runs.
Editor’s note: Our corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. This poll is specifically for fans to vote on the players that have been nominated and in no way discredits any other player that may not be mentioned in our poll.
Alabama
Alabama football 2026 draft projections before NFL combine
Former Alabama football players are officially on their path to the NFL.
Twelve Crimson Tide players will take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium Feb. 23 through March 2 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. Alabama’s 12 participants are the second-most from a single school in the combine class behind Texas A&M’s 13.
The 2026 NFL draft will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
As Crimson Tide players prepare to workout for NFL scouts, coaches, general managers and personnel, here’s where a handful of Alabama players are expected to be selected in the 2026 NFL draft.
CBS Sports
- Alabama QB Ty Simpson: No. 13 Los Angeles Rams (via Atlanta Falcons)
- Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor: No. 21 Pittsburgh Steelers
NFL.com
- Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor: No. 23 Philadelphia Eagles
Pro Football Focus
- Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor: No. 24 Cleveland Browns (via Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Alabama QB Ty Simpson: No. 34 Arizona Cardinals — Round 2
- Alabama DL LT Overton: No. 60 Buffalo Bills — Round 2
- Alabama LB Deontae Lawson: No. 62 Denver Broncos — Round 2
- Alabama WR Germie Bernard: No. 64 Seattle Seahawks — Round 2
- Alabama DL Tim Keenan III: No. 95 New England Patriots — Round 3
Yahoo Sports
- Alabama QB Ty Simpson: No. 24 Cleveland Browns (via Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Alabama OL Kadyn Proctor: No. 28 Houston Texans
Alabama football NFL combine invitees
- QB Ty Simpson
- RB Jam Miller
- WR Germie Bernard
- TE Josh Cuevas
- C Parker Brailsford
- OT Kadyn Proctor
- OG Jaeden Roberts
- DL Tim Keenan III
- DL LT Overton
- LB Justin Jefferson
- LB Deontae Lawson
- CB Domani Jackson
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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