Alabama Dismisses Defensive Lineman Jonathan Taylor From Program

Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor has been dismissed from the program following his Saturday night arrest on domestic violence charges, UA coach Nick Saban announced in a statement Sunday afternoon.

“Jonathan Taylor has been dismissed from the team and is no longer a part of our program,” Saban said in the statement released by the university. “This will still need to go through the legal process, but when he was given an opportunity here, it was under strict guidelines and we made it clear there was a zero tolerance policy.”

According to the Tuscaloosa Police Department, the 6-foot-4, 335-pound Taylor was arrested and charged with domestic violence third-degree assault and third-degree criminal mischief, his second such arrest in the last nine months.

In a TPD media release, officers found “probable cause” to arrest Taylor at the 100 Block of E 15th Street after gathering information from the victim who told police she had been assaulted by her boyfriend at approximately 6 p.m. Saturday night.

Officers noted in the police report that the victim, 24, had “minor injuries to her neck from the assault” and that a bedroom closet door had a “hole punched in it.” Taylor was held on $1,000 bond and placed on a mandatory 12-hour domestic violence hold.

Prior to Alabama, Taylor, 21, was also dismissed from Georgia in July after he was arrested on still pending felony aggravated assault and family violence charges. It was his second arrest at the school after he and three other Georgia players were taken into custody last March for theft by deception.

Taylor enrolled at Alabama as a member of the team’s 2015 recruiting class in January after one season at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi this past fall.

Asked about Taylor in a news conference on National Signing Day in early February, Saban called the move a “university decision” made by a “lot of people.”

“We recruited this young man out of high school, and we felt that from what we knew about him, what his high school coach said, what the people at the school that he was at said about him, and where he came from in junior college, that he was the kind of guy that deserved a second chance,” Saban said.

“But with that chance, we also have stipulations of things that he needs to do from a personal development standpoint so that he won't make any kind of mistake like this ever again. That's an ongoing process with him, and that's something that we continue to monitor, and he has done a very good job with.”

Athletic director Bill Battle also released a statement after Taylor’s dismissal was made official Sunday:

“Representing this University is a privilege that none of us can take for granted. As I noted in my comments when the decision was made to allow Jonathan Taylor to attend the University on a football scholarship, I believe in second chances. I still do.

“However, being successful in that second chance requires responsibility and accountability. In Jonathan's situation, the University and the Department of Athletics set forth very clear standards of accountability and expectations of conduct. Jonathan was afforded a chance to successfully overcome the difficulties that resulted in his departure from the University of Georgia. Unfortunately, it appears that he was unable to do so, in spite of extensive efforts to assist him. All of us hope that Jonathan and the young lady involved can deal constructively with the issues that led to this situation, and their aftermath, so that both of them can have productive, healthy futures.

“Violent conduct by any representative of the University of Alabama athletics department will not be tolerated. More than ever, we take seriously the responsibility that all of us have to represent our University and our state in the best way possible – in competition and in daily life.”