Alabama’s first big test of the season is fast approaching as the No. 3 Crimson Tide will welcome No. 11 Texas to Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Wednesday, Nick Saban spoke to reporters in his final press conference before the matchup.
Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my take on what it means.
Opening statement
“I think everybody should have pride in performance. We talk about personal performance in anything that you wanna try to do, and is that more important to you or is it more important to somebody else? But when you play competitive sports, the other guy’s looking at you, trying to figure out, ‘How am I gonna take advantage of beating this guy?’ And if you have pride in your performance, you’re gonna make sure you take care of the things that you need to do to play your best so you learn from past experiences, you improve and you actually gain confidence in the way you practice and the way you do things and it, fortunately, helps you play better and stay focused in the critical time in the game in big games. So that’s something that we’re trying to get our players to really stay focused on is personal performance. How can I achieve and play a little bit better? How can I prepare for the game a little bit better? How can I have the mental practice from here to there to be able to eliminate mental errors, eliminate assignment errors so that nobody is gonna be able to come in and say, ‘We were able to take advantage of this particular person,’ so that you can have success? That’s really important.
“I think atmosphere and environment in this game, fans – their energy and enthusiasm – really can have an impact on a game like this. You impact the offense, their ability to check, their ability to communicate, sometimes get the snap count right. So I think the fans being in this game can create not only positive energy for our team, which we certainly appreciate and I know the players appreciate, but also make it more difficult for the other team to operate when they have the ball. So I think that energy and enthusiasm is really important, too.
Tony’s take: Saban is coming from practice during his Wednesday press conferences, and I always wonder if his opening statement reflects the team’s performance on the day. Did an Alabama player put in an uninspired practice to prompt the statement, or was this a point the head coach wanted to hammer home? Regardless, this opening statement stresses the key elements Saban has focused on all offseason: attention to detail and self-discipline.
Saban issues apology
“And Austin, look, you didn’t ask a bad question the other night. I just didn’t answer it very well. And when a guy plays well in the game, at any position, it should help his confidence and it should help him perform better in the future. But I do think that every player has to understand that just because I played well, I still want to try to improve the few things that I could have done better. And I think if a person keeps that mindset, then they’re always improving, aight, because you’re never satisfied and you’re always trying to do better and you don’t let complacency creep into your game. And that certainly hasn’t happened with Jalen (Milroe), so hopefully, the confidence that he gained in this game will certainly help him to continue to play better and better in the future. That’s what we hope for as coaches. That’s what we try to encourage him to do. And that should have been my answer the other night.”
Tony’s take: It’s rare to see Saban apologize after giving a reporter a hard time, but credit to the head coach for a classy move. Saban’s apology Wednesday was in reference to his response to a question Saturday from BamaCentral’s Austin Hannon about how Jalen Milroe’s performance will help him moving forward.
Saban’s response went viral as he eventually picked up a bottle of Coca-Cola and said “this is a Coke bottle, it’s not a crystal ball.” Saban has received a bit of backlash for how he has treated the local media. Im not sure if that factored into his decision to apologize. Either way it was a good look.
Hopefully, this is the start of better media relations between Alabama and local reporters. Hey, I might even buy a lottery ticket.
On the Texas’ offensive line
“First of all, they’ve got a really, really good scheme in terms of the way they try to run the ball. They try to formation you, the motions that they use, the formations that they use. And their offensive line does a good job of getting a hat on a hat. They’re big. They can play physical. They’re athletic. They’re pretty good pass blockers. So they’re just a good all-around group, and they have plenty of experience. I think this is one of the best, better offensive teams personnel-wise and scheme-wise and the way they’re coached to play and execute of anyone that we’ll see this year.”
Tony’s take: If Texas is going to test Alabama’s secondary with Quinn Ewers and Xavier Worthty, it will need its offensive line to provie amble protection. That won’t be an easy task, as the Crimson Tide features one of the nation’s most talented pass-rushing duos in Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell as well as several defensive tackles such as Jaheim Oatis and Tim Keenan III who can provide inside pressure.
On top of limiting Alabama’s ability to get into the backfield, Texas’ offensive line will need to improve in run blocking. Outside of a few big runs, the Longhorns failed to move the ball consistently on the ground against Rice last weekend.
On Jermaine Burton’s improved maturity
“I think Jermaine has shown a lot of maturity. I think the big thing we've tried to emphasize with all of our players -- and with Jermaine as well. Who you are off the field sort of carries over into who you are on the field. So if you can be responsible and accountable to do things off the field -- whether it's go to class, see a tutor, whatever it is -- then that's going to create the right habits for you to do the right thing on the field.
“You don't discipline when you go on the field. You get it in your life when you start getting up in the morning and start making choices and decisions about what you're going to do and what you're not going to do. And that's something that he's learned to understand, and I think that has carried over off the field as well as on the field. I think that'll help him be more successful in whatever his challenges are in the future, because he could have a really good career if he could continue to progress in that area.”
Tony’s take: It’s not being talked about enough, but Burton has been on fire since the end of last season. Over his past six games, the former Georgia transfer has 21 catches for 414 yards and five touchdowns. That includes three receptions for 62 yards and a score during last weekend’s opener.
Burton’s road to success at Alabama has been a bit rocky. After a slow start to his Crimson Tide career, he was caught on camera striking a female fan while leaving the field during last year’s loss at Tennessee. By the sound of it, the senior receiver has grown up a lot off the field as well as on it. That should be a big positive for Alabama moving forward.
On Texas’ defensive line
“The two inside guys are really, really good. Strong, powerful, athletic, can pass rush, really hard to block, don't give up a lot of movement inside, which makes it difficult to run. Their ends are athletic and they do a good job of playing together as a team. They've got really good energy and enthusiasm. They played really well last week. It's a very good defensive team. It would be challenging for us to be able to get movement on the people we need to get movement on so we can have some balance on offense. They'll be challenges in pass protection as well.”
Tony’s take: The two inside guys Saban is referring to are senior T’Vondre Sweat (6-foot-4, 362 pounds) and junior Byron Murphy II (6-foot-1, 308). As Saban said, those two do a good job of plugging running lanes. The Longhorns allowed just 27 yards on the ground during last week’s 37-10 victory over Rice.
Texas recorded just 27 sacks over 13 games last season. However, the Longhorns also have defenders who can get into the backfield. Last week, sophomore edge rusher Ethan Burke recorded 1.5 sacks.
On former Alabama linebacker Nico Johnson, who is a graduate assistant at Texas
"Well, Nico is -- first of all, they're OUR championships, not MY championships. There's a lot of people that contribute to that, a lot of player. On every plaque, we want every guy's name on the plaque, because they all contributed to it in a positive way. Nico is a great person, smart player, was very productive here as a player. Has got great character. I think would be a great coach. He's smart, he's bright, he's industrious, he's a hard worker. So I don't think there's any question about the fact that he would be an outstanding coach."
Tony’s take: Could Johnson be the next branch on Saban’s coaching tree? The former Alabama linebacker was a part of three national championship teams with the Crimson Tide from 2010-13. He’s now serving as a graduate assistant for Texas.
On Texas’ secondary
"Yeah, well they’ve got some really good players. They’ve got an outstanding corner. They got a couple really good safeties. They’ve got experience. These guys, fast reactors. They play man-to-man, they can cover you. They tackle well. They can play the ball. They’re good man-to-man players, so those three factors in the secondary are always thing you look for to really have a successful unit and it’s gonna be a challenge for us to be able to beat man-to-man and to be able to take advantage of things in the passing game. I mean, the challenge is, you gotta protect, you gotta be able to get open and you gotta be able to throw the ball accurately when it all happens so that’s what we're focused on trying to get our guys to do."
Tony’s take: The Longhorns’ secondary could be one of their strengths this season. Texas added Arkansas transfer Jalen Catalon this offseason and has paired the standout safety with senior Jerrin Thompson to form a stable duo in the backend of the defense. The Longhorns also return starting cornerback back Ryan Watts as well as starting STAR Jahdae Barron. If Texas can put pressure on Milroe and force him into ill-advised throws, it has a secondary capable of capitalizing on those mistakes.
On what Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian does well
“I think Sark is one of the best coaches we’ve ever been around when it comes to offense. He’s got a great disposition with players, he’s a great teacher. He’s got a great understanding of the game, really understands defense and how to attack defenses but has some really good concepts on offense that are hard to defend, understands how to present them in different ways so that maybe whatever you practiced, it doesn’t really come up that way in a game, which makes it more difficult for defensive players. But Sark did a great job here for us. He’s doing a great job in Texas and it’s gonna be a very challenging game. They recruit well, they coach well. They’ve got good players and they’re well coached.”
Tony’s take: Sarkisian was outstanding during his two seasons at Alabama and coached one of college football’s best ever offenses during the title-winning season in 2020. He’s one of the top offensive minds in the game and certainly has Saban’s respect.
On giving Sarkisian a second chance at coaching
“I like giving people second chances. I think that their willingness to do the right things and whatever their mistakes were, they’re trying to fix it and look for an opportunity. Geez, when Sark was here the first time he did such a good job, there was no question about the fact that we’d love to have him back a second time. He represented the program well, he’s first class in every way, so I was glad I gave him a second chance. I’m glad that he came here, whether it was an analyst or whatever, proved that he could do a good job and went on to Atlanta to be the coordinator and came back here to be the coordinator so it’s great.”
Tony’s take: Saban has spoken a lot in the past about his willingness to extend second chances to both coaches and players. Sarksisian is viewed as one of Saban’s biggest reclamation projects and has previously stated that Saban “saved his career.”
On whether coaching against former assistants is an advantage for either side
“What the question would be is, does somebody else know more about what we know than what they know? Yeah, is it an advantage to the other guy that he knows what we do? But we also know what they do, so I don’t know how you put that on a scale and say that it’s more advantageous to one person than the other.
“We always try to focus on what we gotta do with our players to try and get them to play good and not really worry too much about the other guys. But there could be some terminology things that if you don’t change it up, they might be able to take advantage and I think we're aware of those things, trying to make sure that we don’t give them any advantages, but I think it kind of goes both ways.”
Tony’s take: It seems like every time we try to think of a way someone can gain an advantage on Saban, we forget how he can do the same back. It happens when discussing rule changes, and it’s the same thing when looking at the head coach going up against his former assistants. When it comes to planning, Saban is rarely outmatched. There’s a reason why he’s only lost twice to a former assistant during his time at Alabama.
