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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban spoke to reporters Saturday, recapping Alabama’s “up and down” performance following its second scrimmage of spring camp. Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my takes on what it means.
Opening statement
“I think we made progress. I think we made improvement. I think one of the things that’s always hard to judge when you’re playing against yourselves – what’s good for one team is not so good for the other. You’re playing against each other, so when one team makes a play, it’s good for that team but the other team maybe didn’t execute as well as they should. We had some good plays, and we had some bad plays. There’s a lot of opportunities to learn. I think the most important thing is everybody assesses where they were a week ago, how much improvement did they make, what do they need to do to continue to improve, and these two practices before we head to A-Day this weekend, which I’m sure our players are all excited about that game and the energy and enthusiasm our fans show for that game is always something that excites the players and excites me. We wanna have a great turnout for that.
“We just were a little up and down today. Like the good plays were really good, but some of the bad plays were really not what we wanted. But it will create an opportunity for us to make some corrections, continue to try to develop the kind of competitive character that we need. I think every player’s gotta challenge himself to give great effort, sustain and try to finish every play and be accountable and responsible to do your job and then we can eliminate some of the mental errors and some of the negative plays. I’ve said this before – sometimes you’ve gotta eliminate the bad before you can really evaluate the good because sometimes the bad plays get you beat. And that’s one thing that you wanna eliminate before you have a chance to win.”
Tony’s take: The catch-22 nature of scrimmages makes it hard for Saban to get overly excited about his team’s performance. On one hand, the defense was able to force multiple turnovers after failing to do so during last week’s scrimmage. On the other hand, the offense now needs to focus on taking care of the ball after giving it up a handful of times Saturday.
The key quote in the opening statement comes at the end when Saban says “sometimes you’ve gotta eliminate the bad before you can really evaluate the good.” When deciding on key roles, the head coach is looking for consistency and players he knows will avoid costly mistakes. That’s especially true at the quarterback position where taking care of the ball is paramount.
On the quarterbacks
“They both made some good plays, but they also both made some plays that they probably wish they would have had back. But they’re making progress. They’re improving. I think that they’re developing some confidence in the offense in what they’re supposed to read and what they’re supposed to do. I thought we were a little up and down today. I think we made some really good plays, but I also thought we made some maybe mistakes that we need to eliminate.”
Tony’s take: Redshirt sophomore Jalen Milroe and redshirt freshman Ty Simpson had their moments but were far from perfect on the day.
According to sources, Jalen Milroe hit on a pair of long throws, finding Kendrick Law for a 55-yard touchdown before connecting on a 40-yard pass to Kobe Prentice. However, the redshirt sophomore quarterback was inconsistent with his deep ball for much of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Simpson shined during red zone drills but also struggled with his consistency at times.
Saban seems satisfied with where his quarterbacks stand at the moment, but Saturday showed there is still plenty of room for improvment heading into the fall.
On transfer tight end C.J. Dippre
“CJ’s done a really good job. He was having a little ankle sprain or foot sprain or something for a while and missed a little bit, but I think he’s gonna be a good player for us. He’s a good competitor. He can do all three things you want him to do at tight end, whether it’s playing the C area, be an H-back type of blocker or split out and be a good receiver. We’re excited about him and the contribution he can make. And that whole tight end group this spring has really – Danny Lewis has really made a lot of progress. Amari (Niblack) has made a lot of progress. That whole group has really made a lot of improvement. Robbie Ouzts is not out there because of injury, but I’ve really been encouraged by how that group has improved and progressed.”
Tony’s take: The tight end unit hasn’t been talked about much this spring, so it was nice to get an update from Saban. Maryland transfer C.J. Dippre appears to be Alabama’s most complete tight end and should land a starting role this fall. Another player to watch is Amari Niblack, who has put in a good performance in both of the scrimmages this spring.
On the team’s focus on increasing turnovers
“We got a few more turnovers today, which last week, we didn’t get any – we got one, I think. Today, we got four or five. But that goes back to the same old thing. We’re preaching ball security to the offense, so if we gave up the ball, it’s good for the defense, bad for the offense. So ball security becomes an issue that we have to focus on, whether we’re throwing it, whether we’re catching it, whether we’re running with it, whatever it is. We’ve just gotta keep working on it. We do turnover drills every day, so we’ll just keep working at it.”
Tony’s take: As mentioned earlier, Saban got the turnovers he was looking for but will now have to work with his offense on taking care of the ball. A bounce-back showing from the defense was expected on Saturday, and the head coach doesn’t seem too concerned at the moment.
On Justice Haynes
“Justice has had a great spring. He’s a really good player. He’s a really mature guy. He’s really smart. Nothing’s really too big for him. He goes out there and competes, and if you are just a guy sitting on a log watching, you would never know he’s a freshman. So he's a very talented guy. He can make cuts. He can make you miss. He's got some power, good speed. He's a good receiver. So he’s done a really, really good job all spring.”
Tony’s take: It’s rare to see Saban gush this much over a true freshman during spring camp. Then again, Justice Haynes hasn’t looked much like a newcomer over the past month. According to sources, the four-star running back has been one of Alabama’s biggest weapons on offense, routinely nocking back defenders on carries while also showing the speed to break off big gains. Haynes might be the most talented back on the roster and will see plenty of action this season if he continues to progress at this rate.
On Ty Simpson's running ability
“He can move. He’s a good athlete. He can make plays with his feet. I think Jalen is probably really special when it comes to that because of his speed. But Ty does it really well. He’s a good athlete. He can run. He ran the ball a lot in high school. He’s tough, and he makes pretty good decisions when he’s running the ball.
I think one of the things when it comes to a situation like that, players have to understand, is this a good time to run or not? Like we did some two-minute today, and guys were running where we’d be better off if they’d throw the ball away because we're just wasting time, really. So I think situationally, we can probably do a little bit better job of making decisions of when we use our feet to make plays, and when it's better to give up on the play and have another chance to make a play the next play—especially in two-minute situations.”
Tony’s take: While Simpson doesn’t have Milroe’s elite speed, he can still move the ball with his feet and did so at times during the scrimmage, including a touchdown run.
That being said, neither of Alabama’s two returning quarterbacks have Bryce Young’s escapability in the pocket. While it was fun watching the former Heisman Trophy winner wriggle his way out of trouble the past two seasons, the Crimson Tide might be better suited if its young passers make the safer decision and throw the ball away in those scenarios.
On his offensive leaders
“The offensive line has probably done the best job of, I think, on our team of sort of creating the type of toughness, the type of intangible character that we’d like our team to play with. There’s Booker, JC, the two centers, all those guys I think have done a really good job impacting it. I think the way the running backs play, the competitive character that they play with impacts a lot of people on the team. I certainly think Kendrick Law is one of those guys that’s kind of a tough, hard-nosed, play hard guy all of the time, and I think he impacts the receiver group. So I think there's quite a bit of guys on offense that are contributing to develop the kind of chemistry, character that we'd like to have on the offensive side of the ball.”
Tony’s take: One of the biggest positives to come out of this press conference came in this response. If Alabama is going to be successful this season, it’s going to need a drastic improvement from its offensive line. Hearing Saban speak about the unit’s leadership and the toughness it is instilling on the team is certainly an encouraging sign for the Crimson Tide.
It’s also telling that Saban brought up Kendrick Law unprompted. According to sources, the sophomore receiver had a stellar scrimmage Saturday, pulling in a pair of touchdowns.
On Kristian Story
“Kristian’s been in the program for a long time. I think that he knows what he's doing. I think, you know, he's got to learn how to play with consistent, high level of intensity, so that he can execute to his capabilities. He's got really good ball skills. He's very instinctive, so we just want to see him sort of have the kind of juice that a starter needs to have all the time. I think that’s the expectations that the other players would have and certainly the expectation we have for anybody who is a starter. You’ve got to prove that you can do that every down. It doesn’t matter how you feel, you’ve got to choose to do it.”
Tony’s take: Once again, consistency is key. According to sources Kristian Story had one of the highlights of the scrimmage, returning an interception for a touchdown. However, the senior safety will need to show he can be reliable on a regular basis if he wants to break into the first-team unit. He has all the tools to do so and is in a good position to see the field more this season.
On Jalen Milroe’s improved pocket awareness
“I think that he's making progress. I think the more experience he has, the better he’s going to get at those type of things. I think one of the things we really try to emphasize is two hands on the ball. I didn’t think his pocket awareness was bad last year. I think his ball security was not what it needs to be. Sometimes when he moved around, you’ve gotta have two hands on the ball, so they can’t knock the ball out of your hands. So that's something we worked on really hard so far this spring.”
Tony’s take: Once again, ball security is key in Saban’s evaluation of the quarterback position. While Milroe threw for three touchdowns in his lone start against Texas A&M last season, he also lost the ball twice due to fumbles. If he’s going to win the starting job this season, he’ll need to take better care of the football.
On his team’s ability to maintain intensity
“It was a little more difficult to do today because the conditions were warmer, more humid. But I think the guys really tried. That was one of the challenges we had for them today. Can you give effort? Can you sustain and finish plays? And can you stay focused so you can execute and do your job? I’m sure we had some guys that got tired out there, but they tried to push through it.”
Tony’s take: Saban started his Thursday press conference by emphasizing a focus on finishing plays and sustaining intensity. For the most part, he seemed pleased with the effort his players showed during the scrimmage.
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