View full sizeAlabama sophomore safety HaHa Clinton-Dix is shown during a spring 2012 practice. (The Birmingham News/Hal Yeager)TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Sophomore safety Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix made his first appearance in the Alabama football media room after practice Thursday.
First things first. He doesn't go by Ha'Sean. He answers to "HaHa." And get that right: all one word, no hyphens, capital "H" in the middle.
"My grandmother has been calling me that since I was a little kid, so just been a little kid thing," Clinton-Dix said.
Does he like it?
"I love it," he said. "Coach loves it. Everyone loves it, so HaHa, that’s what I go with."
Clinton-Dix was asked what it's like working directly with coach Nick Saban in the secondary.
"To be honest, it’s a blessing to be with him, the head coaching," Clinton-Dix said. "He’s coaching you up, just being out there with him and having him coach me up, it’s a very good thing."
Most defensive backs that Saban recruits are interested in Alabama because of the personal attention from the head coach.
Clinton-Dix was a regular on the kickoff coverage unit last season and saw some action as a backup safety. He has been competing this year with fellow sophomore Vinnie Sunseri for a starting safety spot. Sunseri seems to be ahead, but Clinton-Dix is likely to play in defensive packages that feature five and six defensive backs.
The 6-foot-1, 209-pound Clinton-Dix said he didn't realize until he got to Alabama that Saban was so involved with the secondary.
"I had no clue," Clinton-Dix said. "Just when we first got in meetings and he was in there with us from the meetings to the field, it’s just a blessing for him to be out there with us."
Clinton-Dix was one of two five-star players from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fla., who signed with Alabama in 2011. Running back Dee Hart was one of Clinton-Dix's high school teammates.
"It’s great to have someone that you can trust and someone that you can lean on when times get tough, so having Dee Hart here with me is very good," Clinton-Dix said.
See and hear more of what Clinton-Dix had to say in this video.