Football 🏈 Tony's takes: Breaking down Saban's comments heading into Arkansas

[Tony_Tsoukalas]

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After back-to-back weeks on the road, No. 11 Alabama will return to the comfort of Bryant-Denny Stadium this weekend as it hosts Arkansas on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT for its homecoming matchup. Wednesday, Nick Saban spoke to reporters in his final press conference before the game.

Here’s a transcript of what he said as well as my takes on his comments.

Opening statement

OK, y’all ready for a lecture?

Let’s talk about the importance of nothing.

You get up every day, you’re entitled to … nothing.

Nobody owes you … nothing.

You could have talent, but if you don’t have discipline, if you don’t execute, you don’t focus, you get … nothing.

If you’re complacent, and not paying attention to detail, what does that get you? Nothing.

Nothing is acceptable but your best. We need to be — everything is determined by what you do and you trying to be your best, so that you can build on positive performance. That’s the only thing. There should be nothing else but that, for everybody.

That’s what we have to stay focused on. It’s what we need to do. We got rained out today, so we had to go inside. We need to not accept anything but our best in terms of what we’re doing for preparation.

Tony’s take: I guess you can say, this was a bit of a nothing statement from Saban… ba dum tss. Sorry, it was too easy.

In all seriousness, I took Saban’s lecture as a call for his players to stay locked in for what could be a trap game this weekend. Alabama is coming off of a tough win at Texas A&M and will be facing an Arkansas team that, while not great, is better than its 2-4 record indicates. There’s also the factor of this game being at 11 a.m., which could contribute to a sloppy start if Alabama isn’t careful.

Either that, or the head coach is just making something out of nothing.

On preparing the team for the distraction of an eclipse

“I think you have to prepare your team for every distraction. I actually think we should — the best way to do that would be to text it to them, so they can read it on their phones. Sometimes they don’t listen, but if you text it to them, they’ll read it. That might be a new technique that we try. We’ll text them what they’re supposed to do on the field, they’ll probably get it then.”

Tony’s take: There will be a partial or “annular” solar eclipse in Alabama on Saturday beginning around 10:30 a.m. CT. It’s estimated that, at its peak, roughly 58% of the sun will be obstructed for those in the Tuscaloosa area..

While the natural phenomenon is interesting, Saban doesn’t seem too worried about it being a distraction for his players. At least not any more of a distraction than other things such as smartphones and other electronics.

I don’t know though, I might pop out of the press box to have a look myself.

On Arkansas linebacker Jaheim Thomas

“Look, their whole front seven is very aggressive, very physical. They play well together. They execute their scheme really well. We’ll have to do a great job up front. That’s going to be the challenge. This guy is a really good tackler, very productive, very instinctive, good athlete, physical, tough guy. He’s one of the better linebackers we play against.”

Tony’s take: Saban isn’t kidding when he says Jaheim Thomas is one of the better linebackers Alabama will play against. Through six games, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound junior already has 59 tackles, including six for a loss and three sacks, to go with four quarterback hurries and a pair of pass breakups. He’ll be key to limiting Alabama’s running came and could also help spy on Jalen Milroe to cut down on scrambling opportunities.

On Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III

“The one thing it’s allowed us to do all year is Jaheim played nose last year, aight, so his emergence as a good inside player, a good nose lets us play Jaheim at five-technique, and then the two of them play inside when we go to four down guys. So it’s given us a lot of diversity in how we can use other players. But he’s played really, really well, been very productive. Smart, very dependable. You can always count on him to do his job. He works hard. He gives great effort. He’s kind of made himself a player here. He’s worked his way up so that he’s a very, very productive player. He could have done what saw the guys do and say, ‘Well, I’m not going to play that much, so I’m not going to work that hard.’ But this guy worked hard for every minute since he’s been here to get where he's at, and it’s paying off for him.”

Tony’s take: Tim Keenan’s ability to eat up blockers and plug running lanes doesn’t always get noticed in the box score. However, the 6-foot-2, 315-pound nose guard filled up the stat sheet over the weekend, recording a career-high eight tackles as well as his first sack.

Keenan, a redshirt sophomore, recorded just one stop over two games last season. As Saban pointed out, his patience has paid off as he he is now one of the key pieces in the Crimson Tide’s defensive front.

On how the left tackle rotation has benefitted Kadyn Proctor, Elijah Pritchett

“I can’t answer that, to be honest with you. And I’m not trying to be facetious or anything. I think both guys have shown promise when they’ve played, and both guys have sort of had a few hiccups when they’ve played. But I think both guys have played well enough that there should be some consideration for them both playing at some position or splitting time at one position, however you want to look at it. But they’re both young players, so their adaptability to multiple things is probably something that will be a little bit of a work in progress.”

Tony’s take: While Kadyn Proctor continues to get the start and most of the reps at left tackle, Alabama has spelled him at times over the past few weeks by subbing in Elijah Pritchett. Against Texas A&M, Proctor took part in 47 offensive snaps while Pritchett saw the field for 12.

Proctor is still Alabama’s preferred left tackle, but there isn’t too much of a dropoff when the team puts Pritchett in. This keeps Proctor fresh while also rewarding Pritchett with more playing time.

On if offensive linemen should be able to push running backs or quarterbacks across the line on goal-line plays.

“We've tried to make a lot of rules in the last few years that are intended to enhance player safety. And I don't think that's necessarily a play when people are running into the pile and aggressively pushing the pile forward, that is enhancing player safety. From a competitive standpoint, everybody can do it, so it really doesn't matter. It's not a competitive advantage or disadvantage one way or the other. But I do think there may be a conversation about how it can impact player safety in terms of doing that kind of aggressive pushing (of) the pile.”

Tony’s take: To be honest, I really doubt Saban cares about this rule. Of course, he wants what’s best for his players’ safety, but I just don’t see him being too passionate one way or the other about this one. Like he said, as long as its a universal rule, he’ll just adjust accordingly.

On how the team prepares not knowing if it will have Malachi Moore


“We've got to put guys in a position to try and train them and get them reps. But what is really beneficial to players is when they can play a position and they have cumulative reps. Not just reps for that particular game, because a lot of things that happen have some carryover, like the games before, (or) fall camp, spring practice, so you have this baseline of knowledge that's very helpful to you making good choices and decisions, and anticipating adjustments and how to lineup up, and what to do, and responsibility and confidence and all those things. That's hard to build in a week, but we want to try to get guys the most reps possible so we can enhance their development the best we can in the short period we have. But I think in the secondary especially, there are usually only a few guys who can play multiple positions that have a big-picture understanding. Most of the time, guys will play better in the secondary when they feel comfortable and confident playing one position, and they get the cumulative effect of a lot of repetition.”

Tony’s take: Reading between the lines here, it doesn’t seem like Malachi Moore is going to play much against Arkansas. Earlier in the day, Saban said the senior was a game-time decision but stated that the team was preparing as though he would not play. I was trying to see if I could get Saban to give a little more clarification on that here.

My read on this is that Alabama will lean on Terrion Arnold’s versatility and work him out of the STAR position in replacement of Moore. That will allow Trey Amos to get the consistent reps he needs this week in order to be comfortable at the cornerback position across from Kool-Aid McKinstry.

 

[phillybob70]

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