Suddenly, as Alabama prepares to face the in-state school Tenpenny rejected when he signed with the Crimson Tide, he's in position to make significant contributions outside of what he's already been doing on special teams.
"Altee has done whatever we've asked him to do this whole season and done a good job of it," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "He's working hard now to be able to make a contribution to the offense when he's needed."
Tenpenny had no reported issues during a freshman season in which he shined on special teams while also serving as the team's fourth option at running back, but his offseason was rocky.
In January, he missed the first three days of spring semester because of multiple health issues with family members, Bolding said at the time. In March, Tenpenny was charged with marijuana possession when he was pulled over on a traffic stop in North Little Rock during spring break. He was held out of Alabama's penultimate spring practice for academic reasons.
Until this week, Tenpenny primarily worked with the scout team as Alabama prepared for its upcoming opponents.
"The decisions he made ... his maturity level last year was not very good. He knows," (his former high-school coach) Bolding said. "With that said in the same sentence, it's a night and day transformation. You've got to give a lot of credit to him and you've got to give a lot of credit to that coaching staff and people that work with the players there at Alabama...
Here's his chance. Let's see if Tenpenny can earn his keep.
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