Spring camp is in full swing for Alabama as it held its fifth of 15 practices Thursday. The Crimson Tide will have the weekend off before returning to the field Monday. From there, it will practice again Wednesday before holding its first spring scrimmage next Friday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Before the action ratchets up another gear next week, Nick Saban spoke to the media Thursday, providing an update on where his team stands so far during camp. Here’s a transcript of what he had to say as well as my take on what it means.
Opening statement
“We’ve had five practices now. We are making progress. This has been a great opportunity for a lot of young players. I think everybody knows we had 26 midyear guys, plus we have a significant number of guys that aren’t participating in the spring due to injury, which creates even more opportunity for those guys. We continue to try to coach everybody on the team – ones and threes, twos and fours on another field – so that everybody’s getting coached, everybody’s getting an opportunity.
“We’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got a lot of guys that don’t have a lot of confidence in what to do, don’t have a lot of confidence in how to do it and don’t have a lot of understanding in why it’s important to do it that way. But that’s why we need to practice, and hopefully, we can focus on what we need to do to develop and improve and not be so concerned about the outcome that we have. I’m not pleased with where we are. I’m not disappointed in where we are. I think it’s just a work in progress that we’ve gotta keep grinding through each and every day.
Tony’s take: Saban wasn’t overly complimentary of his players, but that is to be expected at this point in the spring. This is a time for growth, and Alabama has plenty of work to do with several new faces in key roles.
For those who aren’t familiar, Saban provided a reminder that Alabama works with its first team against its third team as well as its second team against its fourth team during spring practices. This allows players to get competitive reps while still insuring that everyone on the team has a chance to improve.
It shouldn’t be alarming that Alabama players need to build their confidence. The team is losing all three of its permanent captains from last season in Will Anderson Jr., Jordan Battle and Bryce Young. It will need new leaders to emerge, and that process typically starts over the spring.
In short, it’s early, and things are going as well as they usually do at this stage in the offseason.
Saban on Mal Moore
“I wanted to mention something that probably doesn't mean a lot to people but it means a lot to me that Mal Moore was really close, a good friend, a great supporter. Really loved the University of Alabama, was here for a long, long time as a coach, as an administrator, athletic director. he was probably the biggest reason that we came here because of the relationship he developed with Miss Terry and us. I think it's been 10 years since he's been gone and we certainly miss him. Can't tell you how many things that are great sort of lessons and how much gratitude we have for the lessons that I learned from him and the things he did to support to help the program and help us get it turned around. Just a thought that everybody might say a prayer for Mal.
Tony’s take: Thursday marked 10 years since Mal Moore’s passing. Moore is an Alabama legend who played quarterback under Paul “Bear” Bryant from 1958-62 before serving as his assistant from 1964-82. After spending time at Nortre Dame and the St Louis/Arizona Cardinals, Moore returned to serve as Gene Stallings’ offensive coordinator from 1990-93. In total, he was a part of seven national championships, including one as a player (1961) and six as a coach (1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, 1979 and 1992).
Moore later went on to become the Crimson Tide’s athletics director from 1999-2013 and was the one who brought Saban to Alabama. The Crimson Tide won three titles (2009, 2011 and 2012) during that span.
Outside of Bryant and Saban, it’s hard to find anyone who has contributed more to Alabama Athletics than Moore. He was a true man of class and someone worthy of the praise Saban bestowed on him.
Saban on the Nashville shooting
“There's things that happen in the world that you know are very tragic. Obviously, the shooting in Nashville is a very tragic situation. Horrifying that those types of things happen. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families that lost loved ones and a lot of gratitude out for the police and the public servants who tried to control the situation and put themselves in harm's way to make sure that not more people got hurt.”
On Jermaine Burton
“I think what Jermaine needs to do is, he's got a lot of talent, a lot of ability. I'd say consistency in performance which would come from trust and the belief in doing the little things right. Whether it's getting the right depth on a route, seeing the coverage as it is. Holding himself a little bit more accountable to paying attention to detail and doing the little things right. When he does that, he's an outstanding player. He's got great ability and hopefully if we can get him to do that he'll be able to play with a little more consistency.”
Tony’s take: Burton didn’t quite live up to his lofty expectations after transferring from Georgia last offseason. Still, he led all Alabama receivers with 40 receptions for 677 yards while pulling in seven touchdowns through the air.
As a senior, he’s set to lead a receiving corps thats looking to make significant improvements from last year. As Saban pointed out, Burton has the ability to be an elite player. Over his final four games last season, he recorded 18 catches for 352 yards and four touchdowns. That production also included receptions of 45 or more yards in each of his last three outings.
Alabama will be looking for Burton to display more consistency both on and off the field now that he has spent a whole year in the program. If he’s able to do that, he should serve as a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s offense.
On more offensive balance under Tommy Rees
“I think what we did last year is what we needed to do to try to win, so I’m not being critical of what we did last year. We didn’t run the ball well enough last year, but we featured the players that we had. Bryce was an outstanding player, and we wanted to have him do what he could do. But I think if we have better balance, I think it’ll take a little pressure off the quarterback. I think the offensive line has done a good job so far. I like where we’re heading and what we’re doing. I think the scheme that we have to run the ball is well tied together. Hopefully, between that and play-action passes, we can make a few more explosive plays and not just rely on dropping back all the time. I think that would be very helpful.”
Tony’s take: Bill O’Brien helped develop Bryce Young into Alabama’s first Heisman-winning quarterback, but his offenses became two reliant on the five-star passer’s playmaking ability.
The Crimson Tide ranked 30th in the nation, averaging 195.69 rushing yards per game last season. However, it struggled to pick up yards on the game when it mattered most. Alabama converted just 60% of its first-down opportunities when facing third and fourth downs with 2 or fewer yards to go. That ranked 11th out of 14 SEC teams.
Rees, isn’t going to take Alabama back to the stone age, but he should implement more balance which should help the offense sustain drives and capitalize in key moments. An improved offensive line featuring the top linemen in each of the past three recruiting classes should help aid in that process.
On playing Darrian Dalcourt and Seth McLaughlin on the field together
“Yeah, Darrian’s playing center, playing guard. We move guys around all the time. We want to help them develop diversity to create value for themselves, but it also gives us flexibility in terms of getting the best players on the field when the fall comes.”
Tony’s take: Due to injuries to Dalcourt and McLaughlin last season, Alabama essentially returns two starters at the center position. Dalcourt started five games last year while McLaughlin started the other eight. Needing to replace three starters from last season’s unit, the Crimson Tide might opt to play both veterans on the field at the same time this season.
McLaughlin, 6-foot-4, 301 pounds, is a little on the lighter side and might need to remain at center. However, Dalcourt, 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, has the necessary power to move to guard if need be. Look for Alabama to experiment with that this spring as it tries to figure out its best starting five.
Along with Dalcourt and McLaughlin, Alabama returns a projected first-round tackle in junior J.C. Latham. Tyler Booker started just one game during his freshman season last year but saw plenty of first-team minutes while subbing in for Javion Cohen and Emil Ekiyor Jr. at the guard positions. Alabama also features a pair of five-star talents in redshirt freshman Elijah Pritchett and early enrollee Kadyn Proctor, who will both be in the mix for starting spots this spring.
There’s plenty of possible combinations across the front, and Alabama will likely try several of them out over the next few weeks.
On balancing the practice schedule while recruiting
“It’s just time management. We probably have half a dozen guys or more at every practice and try to spend the mornings on football and I’ll start at, like, 1:00 in the afternoon and meet with recruits until the 2:00 meeting, and then I’m focused in again on football. And on the days we don’t have practice, I make calls from 1:00 to 3:00 to recruits and if some visit, I visit with them during that time. And the coaches have those blocks of time when I’m recruiting, they’re working on recruiting, whether it’s player evaluations or not.
“Now me personally, I usually take my little laptop home and evaluate probably four or five players every night. It doesn’t take that long. If I don’t have time to do any during the day I just take the laptop home and do it at home. But we’ve already watched a lot of players but we continue to watch as we get new information on guys when they go to combines and things like that. So the evaluation process is very important because we want to get as much information as we can on guys so if they come here it’s a good fit for them and it’s a good fit for us.”
Tony’s take: Saban might be 71 years old, but he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. It’s tough to manage player evaluations while also recruiting and keeping tabs on the transfer portal, but Saban has never been shy toward putting in extra work.
As he points out, it all comes down to time management. Saban’s a master planner and sticks to a meticulous schedule in order to manage all of his tasks. If anything the challenges of today’s coaching schedule could be an advantage for Alabama as its hard to find anyone who can match Saban’s work ethic and organizational prowess.
On if he has a good story involving Mal Moore
“Yeah, I do. Mal used to always come in on Sunday when I’d be in the back room by myself watching film. And I usually go through the previous game with the coaches — which I’d watch it early in the morning, I go to church and then come in and watch it with the coaches then start on the other team. And at like every Sunday about 3:00 in the afternoon he’d come in and just sit down and I was complaining to him about – when Mark Ingram was here his sophomore year, he’d carry the ball in the wrong arm a lot. Well, he was having a really, really good year and we were having a good year and I said something to Mal. I said, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to get this guy to carry the ball in the right hand.’
“And he said, ‘You know, when I was coaching the quarterbacks here’ – and I forget the quarterback’s name – he said, ‘I told Coach Bryant’ – and it was the starting quarterback and he was a good player – ‘that if he did something different with his throwing motion that it would really make him a better passer.’ And Coach Bryant looked at him and said, ‘Don’t mess with the guy.’ So what Coach Moore was telling me is, ‘Don’t mess with Mark Ingram.’ But he used to tell me stories like that about players all the time, you know, from the past. I enjoyed it so much. I probably didn’t tell the story very well but it was a lesson learned because sometimes really good players, they might not do thing exactly like you want them to but if they’re productive, it’s not worth changing.”
Tony’s take: Story time with Saban is always interesting. This one speaks volumes about the head coach’s humility as well as his respect for Moore. Saban is arguably the best coach in college football history. However, that has never stopped him from looking to learn from others he holds in high regard.
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