Saban's transcript
I think the biggest thing for our team is we need to focus on the things that we need to do to get better as a team. There are obviously some very good things that we’re doing but there are some things that aren’t what we’d like for them to be that we need to address and correct and get better at. I think there’s a standard that we’d like to get to in all areas of our team and I certainly don’t feel like we’ve gotten to that point yet in some areas. Certainly, we need to really do a good job. We always respect the opponent. All you have to do is look at Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech last week and say anybody can beat anybody in college football. So you’ve got to come ready to play and do your best to be your best. And that’s the goal that we have for every player in the program.
PASS RUSH
I think playing pass defense is a team thing. We’ve always talked about that. There’s a combination of affecting the quarterback with how you push the pocket, not just sacks but how you affect the quarterback, how you can throw off the timing in the passing game. But there’s an element of coverage that I think is very important in that, too. Sometimes when you cover people well, it’s a better opportunity to get pressure on the quarterback. And sometimes when you get good pressure on the quarterback, it covers up some flaws you have in the coverage. All these things go hand in hand. But if we’re going to be good, I think we’ve got to be able to do both well.
BUGGS IMPROVEMENT?
He had a really good game this last week. He was recognized for it and hopefully he will be able to build on that and he’ll continue.
TREND FOR EARLY TRANSFERS
I think that it’s a pretty slippery slope, not just for seniors but for all players on a team. I think we have a responsibility and an obligation as coaches that have programs that we support players and help them be successful personally, academically and athletically. And then they have an obligation on their side of it to play. It’s a little bit of a slippery slope when players start to decide whether they’re going to play or not. I’m not saying that there’s not some circumstances out there where it’s not beneficial for the player to save a year so that he can play in another circumstance, but those things probably should be mutually agreed upon. But it is what it is. I think the intent of the rule was to help in the development of young players. This is sort of an unintended consequence of the rule, which in some cases might help a player.
CHANGE WAY YOU COACH
I can’t speak for other coaches. I really don’t know. If we had circumstances in our program where players don’t do what they’re supposed to do, whether you have rules about going to class or going to meetings, and players decide that, I’m not doing that, what are we supposed to do? When is it insubordination when a player doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do to be a part of the team and to do what all the other players on the team do.
BILL NAPIER ILLNESS, HOW BILLY DEALT WITH IT
I’ve always thought Billy did a really good job and I think he handled the situation that he was in really, really professionally. You could never really ever tell that it was affecting his work. It’s his mental toughness, I guess, to be able to deal with things like that and still be able to do a good job, which I always felt he did. They’re very challenging in terms of what they’re doing right now, so he’s progressed as a coach and is doing, I think, a really good job with this team.
MOMENT REMEMBER ABOUT COACH NAPIER?
Mmm. No. I’m sure a lot of people have a lot of stories to tell about me and some of them are probably ... I don’t know what you would call it, a little bit crazy way I have of doing things that other people think are a little quirky. I think you could probably get a lot better stories out of them than you can get out of me. But I always thought Billy did a really good job of recruiting and was always a good personality to be around.
IMITATION BEST FORM OF FLATTERY FOR OTHER COACHES
Yeah, I guess so. But a lot of the things we do at Alabama are things that I learned from other people like Don James and Bill Belichick and George Perles and a lot of other good mentors that I’ve had along the way. I’m not totally taking credit for all that. We’ve had a lot of good players here and we’ve had a lot of good coaches and a lot of people have worked really well together as a team. I think that’s why we’ve had the success that we’ve had.
MIKE LOCKSLEY:
Mike’s doing a good job. I think he’s a good playcaller. He does a good job of organizing things for the offensive staff. I think we really have a good offensive staff and I think all those guys work well together and they do a good job. His leadership has probably contributed to that in a very positive way. We’ve been productive. I think we have things that he’d be the first to tell you that we’d like to do better on offense and we’re going to continue to try to improve in those areas.
SURPRISE YOU TO HAVE 387 PASSING YARDS?
Not really the way football is now. I think if you gave up 400 yards passing 15 years ago, you might get fired when you came to work the next day. But it happens pretty regular now. A lot of those things are RPOs and a lot of things that really in my opinion favor open-air kind of offensive football. I think it’s fun to watch and I think fans probably enjoy it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying it’s more common now to score a lot of points relative to the rules of college football. And people have some really, really high numbers when it comes to offensive stats.
If you want to look at the offensive stats for total offense, we’re third just in our league. So it’s not like we’re setting a world record or anything like that. Look at what some other teams are doing.
I think the biggest thing for our team is we need to focus on the things that we need to do to get better as a team. There are obviously some very good things that we’re doing but there are some things that aren’t what we’d like for them to be that we need to address and correct and get better at. I think there’s a standard that we’d like to get to in all areas of our team and I certainly don’t feel like we’ve gotten to that point yet in some areas. Certainly, we need to really do a good job. We always respect the opponent. All you have to do is look at Old Dominion beating Virginia Tech last week and say anybody can beat anybody in college football. So you’ve got to come ready to play and do your best to be your best. And that’s the goal that we have for every player in the program.
PASS RUSH
I think playing pass defense is a team thing. We’ve always talked about that. There’s a combination of affecting the quarterback with how you push the pocket, not just sacks but how you affect the quarterback, how you can throw off the timing in the passing game. But there’s an element of coverage that I think is very important in that, too. Sometimes when you cover people well, it’s a better opportunity to get pressure on the quarterback. And sometimes when you get good pressure on the quarterback, it covers up some flaws you have in the coverage. All these things go hand in hand. But if we’re going to be good, I think we’ve got to be able to do both well.
BUGGS IMPROVEMENT?
He had a really good game this last week. He was recognized for it and hopefully he will be able to build on that and he’ll continue.
TREND FOR EARLY TRANSFERS
I think that it’s a pretty slippery slope, not just for seniors but for all players on a team. I think we have a responsibility and an obligation as coaches that have programs that we support players and help them be successful personally, academically and athletically. And then they have an obligation on their side of it to play. It’s a little bit of a slippery slope when players start to decide whether they’re going to play or not. I’m not saying that there’s not some circumstances out there where it’s not beneficial for the player to save a year so that he can play in another circumstance, but those things probably should be mutually agreed upon. But it is what it is. I think the intent of the rule was to help in the development of young players. This is sort of an unintended consequence of the rule, which in some cases might help a player.
CHANGE WAY YOU COACH
I can’t speak for other coaches. I really don’t know. If we had circumstances in our program where players don’t do what they’re supposed to do, whether you have rules about going to class or going to meetings, and players decide that, I’m not doing that, what are we supposed to do? When is it insubordination when a player doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do to be a part of the team and to do what all the other players on the team do.
BILL NAPIER ILLNESS, HOW BILLY DEALT WITH IT
I’ve always thought Billy did a really good job and I think he handled the situation that he was in really, really professionally. You could never really ever tell that it was affecting his work. It’s his mental toughness, I guess, to be able to deal with things like that and still be able to do a good job, which I always felt he did. They’re very challenging in terms of what they’re doing right now, so he’s progressed as a coach and is doing, I think, a really good job with this team.
MOMENT REMEMBER ABOUT COACH NAPIER?
Mmm. No. I’m sure a lot of people have a lot of stories to tell about me and some of them are probably ... I don’t know what you would call it, a little bit crazy way I have of doing things that other people think are a little quirky. I think you could probably get a lot better stories out of them than you can get out of me. But I always thought Billy did a really good job of recruiting and was always a good personality to be around.
IMITATION BEST FORM OF FLATTERY FOR OTHER COACHES
Yeah, I guess so. But a lot of the things we do at Alabama are things that I learned from other people like Don James and Bill Belichick and George Perles and a lot of other good mentors that I’ve had along the way. I’m not totally taking credit for all that. We’ve had a lot of good players here and we’ve had a lot of good coaches and a lot of people have worked really well together as a team. I think that’s why we’ve had the success that we’ve had.
MIKE LOCKSLEY:
Mike’s doing a good job. I think he’s a good playcaller. He does a good job of organizing things for the offensive staff. I think we really have a good offensive staff and I think all those guys work well together and they do a good job. His leadership has probably contributed to that in a very positive way. We’ve been productive. I think we have things that he’d be the first to tell you that we’d like to do better on offense and we’re going to continue to try to improve in those areas.
SURPRISE YOU TO HAVE 387 PASSING YARDS?
Not really the way football is now. I think if you gave up 400 yards passing 15 years ago, you might get fired when you came to work the next day. But it happens pretty regular now. A lot of those things are RPOs and a lot of things that really in my opinion favor open-air kind of offensive football. I think it’s fun to watch and I think fans probably enjoy it. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I’m just saying it’s more common now to score a lot of points relative to the rules of college football. And people have some really, really high numbers when it comes to offensive stats.
If you want to look at the offensive stats for total offense, we’re third just in our league. So it’s not like we’re setting a world record or anything like that. Look at what some other teams are doing.
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