Alabama News

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian twice rebuilt his career with Alabama football. Along the way, he found one of his key staff members.

Sarkisian, speaking to reporters Tuesday at SEC media days, was asked about what AJ Milwee brings to his staff. He offered a glowing review for the Longhorns’ co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

“We forged a great relationship at Alabama when I was the quarterback coach/offensive coordinator,” Sarksian said. “Coach Milwee was an analyst on staff. He had just come from Akron, where he was one of the offensive coordinators in the country. When I got the job at the University of Texas, he was the first guy I hired. We had worked step by step all through those two years at ‘Bama, winning a national title, brought him here to Texas, and he’s grown into now he’s not just our quarterback coach, he’s our co-offensive coordinator.”

Milwee has a huge job this season. With Quinn Ewers off to the NFL, the Longhorn quarterback will feature a legendary last name, when Arch Manning assumes the role.

It’s up to Milwee to help make sure that the former five-star prospect, who waited his turn for two seasons in Austin, develops on schedule. Sarkisian had no doubt that the Boaz native is up to the task.

“There’s nobody I work closer with on a daily basis than A.J. Milwee,” Sarkisian said. “From the development of game plans, to the scripting of practice, to talking about play calls during the game, to recruitment of players. I think he forges a great relationship with all the guys in that room.

“There’s not a day or a moment in the day where I don’t feel very comfortable, if I can’t do something, that AJ Milwee can handle it and handle it at a really high level. So we’re very fortunate to have him.”

A pizza chain with hundreds of locations in 23 states is opening an Alabama location.

Jet’s Pizza is scheduled to open this summer at 1079 Balch Rd, Suite I in Madison, according to its website.

The chain, which began in Michigan in the 1970s, previously had some restaurants in Alabama.

Jet’s Pizza offers Detroit-style pies, with hand-tossed round, thin-crust, and New York-Style pizzas.

It also has wings, salads, bread and desserts.

Jet’s Pizza offers Detroit-style pies, characterized by a thick, crispy crust, as well as hand-tossed round, thin-crust, and New York-Style pizzas.

It also has wings, salads, bread and desserts.

The newly formed College Sports Commission on Tuesday released a list of every school that will participate in the new revenue-sharing model for direct compensation to student-athletes.

Every school in the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 is automatically part of the program, while schools from other conferences can “opt-in” each year by notifying the NCAA. June 30 was this year’s deadline, which will change to March 1 in future years.

As of July 1, NCAA Division I schools could begin to directly share revenue with student-athletes. Those payments were over and above any outside Name, Image and Likeness deals the players were able to secure on their own.

In addition to Alabama and Auburn, each of the other eight Division I schools in the state have opted-in to revenue-sharing this season. That includes Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, North Alabama, Samford, South Alabama, Troy and UAB.

The complete list of participating schools — which numbers 319 — can be viewed on the CSC website.

This is an opinion column.

Full disclosure here: This column space hasn’t been one for Hugh Freeze cheerleading.

In fact, we’ve been quite critical.

More than once. Or twice.

A new day dawned Tuesday, however, as Auburn arrived for its turn at SEC Media Days in Atlanta.

Most, but not all, of the loser talk that’s seeped into the offseason news cycles washed away when Hugh Freeze stepped to his pulpit.

Some of the confidence and swagger that Auburn hired on was on display.

So, credit earned. Credit given.

“I truly believe that in the playoff run,” Freeze said Tuesday, “we’re going to be in this discussion because I love this team.”

That’s a big improvement over the “got to make a bowl game” line from May.

It’s a step up from the lukewarm enthusiasm that followed a fourth straight 7-loss season.

While preseason expectations run the gamut for Year 3 of Freeze, hearing some full-chested confidence from the head guy is refreshing.

There won’t be many outside of the Auburn football complex connecting the Tigers with playoff talk so having a coach unafraid to go there in such a public setting has to resonate with both the locker room and a hungry fanbase.

This team is coming off a 5-7 season but is growing into a few top-10 recruiting classes.

It has a former 5-star QB who transferred from Oklahoma in Jackson Arnold, who is symbolic of the program as a whole.

High expectations.

Unrealized potential.

High ceiling.

Yet still a mystery due to disappointing results to date.

All of that adds to being picked to finish 12 of 16 SEC teams in AL.com’s annual preseason poll.

Midpack is a fair expectation for the full media preseason poll the league is conducting this week at media days.

Still, Freeze isn’t afraid to talk playoff for a program that hasn’t played a meaningful bowl game since 2017.

“Our expectation is we embrace the high expectations that Auburn brings,” Freeze said, “and we believe this team’s potential is limitless.”

And he’s not downplaying the importance of the season opener Auburn will play at Baylor.

There is zero hiding from the fact that that first game is a big game, and we must embrace that too,” Freeze said. “That should help elevate our focus all throughout our fall camp because we’re playing a very good football team.”

Maybe we’re too deep into analyzing the impact of sentences spoken by football coaches, but this is more like the spirit you want to hear from a coach in Freeze’s position. It’s not the rah-rah, manufactured tag-line stuff that’s seeped into coaching vocabulary.

Just old-fashioned confidence — the kind this success-starved program could use.

Now, some of the old talk surfaced again Tuesday. In the same breath and sentence following the playoff line, Freeze regressed a little.

“Now, we’ve got to stay healthy and we need the ball to bounce our way a couple times this year instead of against us,” Freeze said. “I’m sure, but that’s our full expectation.”

Kinda simplifying things. But OK.

“We should have won or could have won some games last year,” he said going back to a greatest hit before recovering. “And we’ve done everything in our power to evaluate why that happened and what we can do better as coaches and then get more pieces to the puzzle with more and more players.”

Listen, they’re all just words at this point.

Everyone is close to talked out and we’ve almost reached a breaking point in finding meaning in these comments.

It will be about actions starting Aug. 29 when Auburn kicks off against Baylor in Waco.

This isn’t playoff or bust for this Auburn team, but a quantifiable improvement should be a minimum expectation for a program that deserves better than 5-7.

But Freeze on Tuesday sounded like the winner Auburn hired in November 2022.

Credit where credit is due.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.

The season one finale of the hit reality series 1000-lb Roomies premieres on TLC Tuesday, July 15 at 10/9c.

Those looking to catch the conclusion to the show’s debut season can stream the premiere live through Philo (free trial), DirecTV (free trial) or Sling (50% off first month).

Previous episode recap

Last week’s episode titled “Dessert-ed” showed tensions rising between Nisha and Jaz as Jaz’s codependency on her roommate reached an all-time high at the most inconvenient time.

While both ladies had obstacles of their own featured in last week’s episode, Nisha faced perhaps the biggest one when her mother announced she was retiring and shutting down her in-home daycare business, meaning Nisha would be out of a job in two weeks.

With unemployment looming, Nisha decided to kickstart her own cupcake making business. While focusing on this new venture, though, Jaz pleaded with Nisha to drop what she was doing and drive her to an exercise class she wanted to participate in, further proving her codependency is still cause for major concern.

Determined to continue pursuing her new business venture by delivering one of her first cupcake orders, Nisha shut down Jaz, leaving Jaz to take a rideshare and overcoming her fear of going out solo.

Another major development highlighted in last week’s episode was Jaz’s visit to her doctor. While there, she learned she had lost 100 pounds and is on the road to approval for surgery.

What to expect from 1000-lb Roomies season 1 finale

The upcoming season finale of 1000-lb Roomies follows Jaz as she continues her prep for her upcoming surgery. Meanwhile, Nesha gets a health wake-up call as Jaz recovers from a nasty fall.

Also happening in the season finale, Jaz reunited with her daughter and urges Nesha to make lasting changes of her own.

How to watch the 1000-lb Roomies season finale

Those interested in catching the upcoming season one finale of 1000-lb Roomies can stream the show through Philo, DirecTV or Sling.

Both Philo and DirecTV offer free trials for new subscribers to enjoy before committing to a paid plan while Sling offers those that commit to a paid subscription half off their first month.

Out of the three streaming services listed above, Philo is the cheapest at just $28 a month after its 7-day free trial concludes.

What is Philo?

Philo is considered one of the most affordable streaming platforms on the market. Known as an entertainment-focused streaming service, Philo offers its subscribers access to over 70 top-rated TV channels such as TLC, MTV, BET, AMC, CMT, Investigation Discovery and more.

New users can enjoy Philo’s 7-day free trial and continue to stream top channels, hit TV shows and movies on-demand for just $28 a month once the free trial expires.

Those looking to customize their flow of content even further on Philo can consider including add-ons such as MGM+, STARZ, and AMC+ in their subscription.

What is DirecTV?

DirecTV is a top streaming service perfect for those looking to access a plethora of live TV channels and enjoy helpful features. The base package starts at just $86.99 a month after its 5-day free trial and includes popular TV channels such as HGTV, ESPN, Bravo, CMT, CNBC, BET, CNN and more.

DirecTV has also recently introduced a lineup of genre packs, which allows subscribers to choose their favorite viewing options based on what genre they watch the most. With genre packs, users can get the channels and content they want without filler channel overload. Packs start at just $34.99 a month.

Those interested in comparing all DirecTV’s channel packages and the new genre packs can check them out here.

What is Sling?

Sling is another streaming service to consider if you want to access top-rated TV channels like TLC. Though no free trial is available to new subscribers, those who commit to a paid plan get half off the first month.

Both the Sling Orange plan and the Sling Blue plan are normally $45.99 a month, but with the current promotion, Sling users will pay just $23 a month for the first month.

For those who wish to access channels from both the Sling Blue and Sling Orange plans can do so by signing up for the Orange + Blue plan, which combines the best of both plans for just $60.99 a month ($30.50 for the first month).

Auburn football’s offensive line returns four of its five starters from last season.

Headlined by center Connor Lew, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze broke down why this position group sticks out the most during his main press conference at SEC media days.

“We get three veterans back in the middle with Dillon Wade and Connor Lew and Jeremiah Wright. And we also get the return of Izavion Miller, who’s a two-year starter for us that can rotate for all of those, and now you have two veteran tackles that have played a lot of snaps that have the length and skill sets that really, I think, improve us from the past two years,” Hugh Freeze said.

“I’ve got to bring along a couple of young ones in DeAndre Carter and Tyler Johnson and some of those guys, but feel really, really good about our first seven guys.”

Along with the returners, Auburn also added experienced tackles Mason Murphy and Xavier Chaplin out of the transfer portal.

Lew talked about playing alongside Murphy and Chaplin during the spring football period and how fast the group meshed.

“Just how both of them come in with experience at other places. It was really cool to see them pick up the offense fast and made our jobs easier,” Lew said.

“We didn’t have to spend a lot of time on coaching up. We could get straight into the technique. But the calls and stuff they picked up and that made it easy on us.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Lew has a 79.8 pass-blocking grade. Last season he gave just up one sack and zero quarterback hits.

Auburn star defender Keldric Faulk spoke highly on Lew and the entire offensive line, stating that their size will play a factor against opposing teams.

“They’re a lot more versatile. So, we have a lot of guys, they can play everywhere across the O-line. And those guys are long and athletic,” Faulk said. “Like, our tackles are 6′8″, have seven-foot wing spans. They can move pretty well. I feel like this has been the best O line we’ve recruited so far.”

Lew agreed with Freeze’s comments about this year’s offensive line being his favorite, saying he’s excited to show fans how elite of a group they are.

“We got time and experience. Now it’s on us for us to execute on the field,” Lew said. “We’ll figure out our identity throughout the course of the season. But I’m excited to go through it with those guys.”

Even when examining the running backs, Lew wants to see them all get a shot during fall camp this month.

Despite the Tigers not having a set starter in the backfield, Lew want to continue creating the right running lanes to keep the ball moving up field.

“We take pride in that as an offensive line, and it really should not matter who is back there running the ball,” Lew said. “The running gaps should be there, and it does not change how we block based on who is in the backfield.”

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports forAL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3or email him at [email protected].

The Indiana Fever play against the Connecticut Sun in a WNBA game tonight. The matchup is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN. Fans can watch this game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

The Fever enter this matchup with an 11-10 record, and they have won back-to-back games. In their most recent game, the Fever defeated Dallas 102-83.

During the victory, Caitlin Clark led the Indiana offense. She ended the game with a double-double, as she recorded 14 points and 13 assists. If Clark performs similarly tonight, then Indiana will be a difficult team to beat.

Clark currently leads the team with nine assists per game.

The Sun have struggled this season, as they enter this matchup with a 3-18 record. The team has lost back-to-back games, so Connecticut will try to bounce back this evening.

In order to win tonight’s game, the Sun will need a great performance from their star player Tina Charles. She leads the team in scoring, as she averages more than 15 points per game.

Fans can watch this WNBA game for free online by using the free trials offered by DirecTV and Fubo TV. Alternatively, Sling offers a first-month discount to new users.

Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold is no stranger to big rivalries.

Before coming to the Plains, he spent two years at Oklahoma, participating in the famous Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas. At SEC Media Days, Arnold was asked to compare that game to Auburn’s rivalry with Alabama.

While Arnold hasn’t played in an Iron Bowl yet, he already has a feel for what the rivalry means at Auburn.

“OU-Texas, there’s a lot of hate,” Arnold said, “But I feel like the people here just cannot stand Alabama. It’s unbelievable.”

Arnold said the rivalries are similar and two of the best in college football, but the Iron Bowl animosity is just a little different.

“I feel like if you mention Alabama here, somebody would look at you funny,” Arnold said. “We even have a rule in our facility; you can’t wear red in our facility at all. If you do, you lose points and you have to do updowns.”

Auburn hasn’t won an Iron Bowl since 2019, but Arnold brings experience beating the Crimson Tide with him. He was Oklahoma’s starting quarterback in its 24-3 throttling of Alabama last season, leading the way with 131 rushing yards on 25 carries.

Arnold said his new teammates have voiced their frustration about Auburn’s lack of success against Alabama in recent years, giving the Tigers extra motivation for a home Iron Bowl in 2025.

“Even the old, fifth-year senior guys still haven’t beat Alabama,” Arnold said. “They came close twice, but they haven’t beat them yet. And so, for those guys, I want them to get a win. One last win before heading out.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m

Now is a fantastic time to be a casino fan. A huge number of world-class online sweepstakes casinos are operating today, many of which launched recently. Here, I highlight three of the best new sweeps casino bonuses this week.

These bonuses are easy to claim and provide players with Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins. Learn exactly how these bonuses can be claimed below.

The best new sweeps casino bonuses this week

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Learn more about our gaming editorial staff.

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An independent autopsy commissioned by the family of Jabari Peoples showed the slain teen was shot in the lower back, slightly above his buttocks, attorneys said Tuesday.

The 18-year-old college student died June 23 during a confrontation with a Homewood police officer in a city soccer park.

Attorneys for Peoples’ family called a Tuesday press conference to show a diagram from a private autopsy conducted by a medical examiner in Atlanta.

The legal team is led by Birmingham attorney Leroy Maxwell and national civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.

While lawyers showed the post-mortem diagram, they said there was little more they could draw from the examination without context that they say could be provided through the release of body camera and dash cam footage.

They also seek other supporting documents, such as police reports and records from the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner’s office, which conducted the official autopsy.

“I emphasize it is a preliminary finding because we don’t have all the evidence,” Crump said, “and you cannot draw conclusions until you get all of the evidence.”

“We need to see the video before we can have conclusions,” he said. “This helps the family at least have some questions answered, but it’s not conclusive yet.”

Read full coverage of the case here.

The family and the attorneys have sought to see the video footage since the shooting three weeks ago.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is leading the probe and maintains that release of the footage – even to the family if not the public as a whole – would hinder the investigation.

“If the goal here is transparency, and the goal is justice – and the goal should always be transparency and it should always be justice – this isn’t a hard ask,” Maxwell said.

“It’s not a hard ask for the Peoples’ family, it’s not a hard ask for the community, it’s not a hard ask for the state. Give us the evidence.”

Atlanta attorney Eric Hertz said investigations of law enforcement done by law enforcement have a natural bias.

“Society is judged by how the most powerful treat the most vulnerable,” Hertz said, “and in this situation, young Mr. Peoples was the most vulnerable.”

Hertz said the medical examiner in Atlanta found that based on the preliminary information, the possible entry of the gunshot wound was in the lower back.

Hertz said the private autopsy showed no exit wound, and an X-ray of Peoples’ body did not show any projectile still in his body.

“We need the bullet,” he said. “We need to know where the bullet is because it’s not in the body.”

“The bullet appeared to come in through the back,” he said. “Bullets go in a straight line, they don’t ricochet when it’s soft tissue like this.”

“If this bullet went in a straight line, then we’re looking at the heart and the lungs and the part where it comes out in the chest or lodged inside the chest,” he said.

“And that, preliminary, is what we want to find out because that would be the cause of death.”

Asked how a bullet could strike Peoples’ heart if it entered in the lower back and traveled in a straight line, Crump said, “We don’t know and we don’t want to make assumptions but obviously the medical examiner (in Atlanta) has thoughts, but she won’t relay those thoughts conclusively because the video would tell us exactly the position he was in when the shot was fired.”

“This makes us think even more about what happened,” Crump said, “but most importantly, it underscores again why we got to see that video.”

“We’re grasping at straws because we don’t know any of that information,” Crump said, adding that they need to know the trajectory and “power of the bullet.”

Maxwell within days of the shooting announced Peoples had been shot in the back.

That conclusion came from a “charting” of the body, which he said was later confirmed by the private autopsy carried out last week.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said it cannot release its autopsy findings, at the request of ALEA.

Officials there said they could not say whether the Alabama medical examiner viewed the video footage or retrieved the bullet during the autopsy.

Peoples was a 2024 graduate of Aliceville High School where he was standout track athlete and football player.

Peoples had just finished his freshman year at Alabama A & M where he was studying computer information and criminal justice with hopes of becoming a law enforcement officer, specifically a detective.

He was shot to death that Monday night in Homewood Soccer Park.

Homewood police say a veteran officer, who has not been publicly identified, approached the vehicle to investigate because of a recent increase in criminal activity in and around the city’s athletic complexes.

The officer, police say, smelled marijuana and ordered Peoples and his female friend out of the vehicle.

Police say the encounter ended with Peoples resisting, breaking away from the officer as he tried to handcuff him, and grabbing a gun from the driver’s side door pocket.

The officer shot Peoples, who was pronounced dead a short time later at UAB Hospital.

Peoples’ family and attorney Maxwell disagreed with that narrative, saying that Peoples wasn’t armed and didn’t resist.

The Homewood Police Department turned the investigation over to ALEA, which is standard policy for many officer-involved shootings.

ALEA denied the family’s request to see the footage, saying release of the video footage would jeopardize the ongoing investigation.

Though Alabama state provides a way for families to view body camera and dash cam videos, the same law also allows law enforcement to withhold the footage for investigative purposes.

There have been several protests following the fatal shooting, including at the Homewood Police Department, ALEA’s office in west Homewood, Homewood City Hall and during the World Police and Fire Games in the Birmingham area.

About two dozen protesters on Tuesday marched from Friendship Baptist Church in Homewood’s Rosedale community to City Hall. Homewood police blocked the roads for the protesters to safely march.