In the early morning hours of January 7, 2011, at around 2 a.m., Nick Saban worked in his secret lab located underneath Bryant-Denny Stadium. Offensive coordinator Jim McElwain looked on, and Julio Jones laid with eyes closed in the experiment chair.
Later that day, Julio — Saban’s most successful project — would declare for the NFL Draft as an agreed upon deal the Alabama coach had with the NCAA: he was allowed to build these freakish athletes in the lab to help win him championships, but he had to let them declare for the NFL Draft as soon as they were eligible to do so.