Rolando McClain
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Rolando McClain (born Rolando Marquise McClain on July 14, 1989) is a linebacker for the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in the NCAA college football tournament. A prized recruit out of Decatur, Ala., McClain has impressed both his and the opposing team's coaches with his stellar showing during his true freshman year in 2007. What impressed these coaches the most is McClain's display of experience and maturity way beyond his years as he went on to become one of the leaders in the Tide's defensive team. By the end of his true freshman year, McClain's name has made it to almost All-SEC Freshman team selections enroute to becoming one of the highly touted linebackers in the nation.
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[edit] Personal Life
Rolando Marquise is one of four McClain children along with an elder brother named Mike and younger sisters named Tequila and Jasmine Ervin. His former Alabama teammate Darren Mustin gave him the nickname "Baby Ro" when they played together in 2007. Other than football, Rolando is also into basketball---a sport which he played also back in high school. He roots for the Cleveland Cavaliers where his favorite athlete Lebron James plays.
[edit] High School
McClain spent his prep days at Decatur High School where he emerged to become one of the top linebackers in the nation. Under the tutelage of Jere Adcock, McClain got a break as a junior in 2005 when he recorded 104 tackles, including 11 for loss, with four sacks, an interception, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery on defense while tallying 24 receptions for 436 yards on offense as a tight end. The following season, he registered 106 tackles and 13 TFLs for the Red Raiders to earn SuperPrep and Parade All-American honors and an All-Region 8 linebacker selection. McClain, who also received All-State honors as a tight end and selected as a member of the Orlando Sentinel 2006 All-Southern team, went on to participate in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
As a collegiate prospect, McClain received rave reviews from the media with Rivals.com ranking him the #25 player overall, the #1 player in the state, and the #2 prospect among all inside linebackers in the nation. Scout.com, who gave him a four-star rating, listed him among the top 10 linebackers in the nation while the Atlanta Journal Constitution named him one of 13 linebackers in its Top 100 List.
[edit] College
Apart from Bama, other schools that offered McClain scholarships include Auburn, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi, and Mississippi State. He was one of the 24 players signed by the Tide in 2007.
[edit] 2007
With the departure of starting linebackers Juwan Simpson and Terrence Jones to graduation, coach Nick Saban had no choice but to thrust freshman McClain into the defensive rotation. During the spring, Saban even consulted with McClain's high school coach if he can handle being fielded into Bama's 3-4 defense and Adcock told Saban that he believe his former player can take the challenge real well. Much to everyone's surprise, McClain was able to adapt and learn the schemes of Saban and defensive coordinator Kevin Steele in no time.
In his collegiate debut, McClain made his first career start at the "mike" linebacker position and tallied 7 tackles, all assisted with one for a 5-yard loss, to go with a pass deflection in the 52-6 win over Western Carolina. His start against the Catamounts gave him the distinction of being only the eighth true freshman to start a season opener for Alabama since 1973. The following week, McClain had 6 stops with a sack for a 9-yard loss and a pass break up as the Tide picked up win #2 at Vanderbilt. After an 8-tackle effort in the win against Arkansas, he was able to tally his first twin-digit tackle effort against #22 Georgia in the close 23-26 defeat. In Bama's second straight loss of the season, McClain chipped in eight tackles, including one TFL against Florida State before struggling against Houston's overwhelming multiple packages that saw him finishing the game with a solitary tackle and half a tackle for loss. After failing to record a stat for the first time in the season in the win at Ole Miss, McClain rebounded with five stops and a quarterback hurry in the win over Tennessee then added 7 more stops in the loss to 3rd ranked LSU before going "stat-less" the second time around in the 12-17 defeat at Mississippi State and being limited to a lone tackle in the 14-21 loss to Louisiana-Monroe. In the regular season finale against Auburn, McClain paced the team with a career high 15 tackles while registering his first career interception (returned 23 yards) in the Iron Bowl loss to the Tigers.
McClain made his postseason debut in the PetroSun Independence Bowl, chipping in five stops, including 0.5 for loss, to go with two pass breakups and another pick-off in the 30-24 victory over the Buffaloes. He shared the Defensive Player of the Game honors with his senior teammates after a memorable performance that saw McClain continue to play despite fracturing a thumb in the first half. He ended the year with selections to several Freshman All-American teams and a spot in the Coaches' All-SEC Freshman team.
[edit] 2008
During the spring practices, McClain continued to participate despite wearing a cast protecting two screws that were inserted into his broken thumb. He was given the Lee Roy Jordan Headhunter Award for his performance in the 2008 spring practice.
In May, McClain got involved in a motorcycle accident in Decatur but outside of scrapes and bruises, was spared of any major injuries. [1]
[edit] Career Stats
| Tackles | Tackles for Loss | Sacks | Interceptions | Misc | ||||||||||||||
| Year | Solo | Asst | Tot | Tot/G | TFL | Yds | TFL/G | Sack | Yds | Sck/G | Int | Yds | TD | Int/G | PBU | QBH | FF | K/P B |
| 2007 | 38 | 36 | 74 | 5.69 | 5.0 | 18 | 0.39 | 1.0 | 9 | 0.08 | 2 | 40 | 0 | 0.15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- Phil Steele Preseason First-Team All-SEC
[edit] 2007
- Alabama's Academic Excellence Award
- Alabama's Lee Roy Jordan Headhunter Award
- Coaches Co-Defensive Player of the Week (vs. Auburn, vs. Colorado)
- Coaches Freshmen All-SEC
- CollegefootballNews.com Freshman All-America Second Team
- FWAA Freshman All-American Team
- Scout.com Freshman All-America Second Team
- The Sporting News SEC All-Freshman team
