Nick Saban spoke to the media Wednesday after Alabama football’s first full camp practice of the 2023 fall camp.
Here is everything that he said:
Opening Statement: “So I think the number one thing we need to focus on is we have to increase the level of attention to detail, focus on every play, so that we can play and not have penalties and missed assignments. Communication goes with that, I don’t care whether you’re playing the offensive line and have to make line call or you’re playing secondary and make a coverage call so everybody’s on the same page. You can anticipate things, play better and you can play faster, but I think sometimes when things get a little bit difficult, we lose our focus a little bit. you know, one of the interesting things somebody brought to my attention, the two longest games that we had last year, almost four hours long, two games, Tennessee and LSU. We made mistakes at the end of the game, which were very costly, and so, the ability to sustain this level of concentration and focus, no matter what you call it, deeper fo whatever, is something that we really, really need to do and continue to work on, so that we have a chance to be more consistent as a team and don’t make plays that are drive killers or give up explosive plays on defense or help the other team with penalties or whatever it is. I like the attitude that the team has, I like the togetherness, I like the sense of commitment to the principles and values everybody seems to be buying into, but that’s something that we need to work on. And every guy has got to do a good job of working on that. You know, today was the first day of pads. Obviously, we’ve gotten chased inside by the rain a couple of days. So this was one of the first days, second day I guess we were able to stay outside for the entire practice. It’s a great opportunity for us to be able to stay focused in these kinds of conditions especially toward the end of practice when guys are getting tired and Saturday’s scrimmage will be no different. We want to evaluate whether guys can block, tackle, execute what they’re supposed to do; not so much try to game plan and experiment with things but just see how guys can play winning football, whatever position. That’s something that I think is really, really important. We’ve had two really good speakers the last two nights. Shep (C.L. Shepard) and last night Pete Rose. Amazing to me all the accomplishments that Pete Rose was able to, like all the records, maybe you guys can look them up but it’s fascinating and he was, his own admission he was not the most talented guy, but Charlie Hustle man. I mean that guy was something else when it came to competitive spirit and how he went about doing what he did to play at a high level for so long. I think it was good for our players to hear, they really enjoyed it. He had a great sense of humor. And Shep [Shepard] was all about being a man. So I think some good things [are] happening from that standpoint and helping our guys develop the right habits.”
Question: Hey coach, just what kind of progress have you seen from Terrance Ferguson at Guard?
“Terrence Ferguson is playing really, really well. He’s gotten bigger and stronger. He’s also been very explosive and had an explosive power and body quickness. And he’s very confident in what he’s doing. We’re playing him at center some too which he’s done a good job of that. He’s showing a lot of maturity, and I look at him as a starter on our team. I think we have six or seven guys who may be starters. So we’re seeing what the best combination is as we go through camp.”
Question: You’ve mentioned speakers coming in and kind of trying to impart some of their wisdom into this team about their life lessons or their past mistakes. Did Pete Rose talk about his gambling or sexual misconduct allegations with the team?
“I don’t know how to answer that, but he did call the guy that asked the question in a very funny way, a name. A name that I will not repeat and everybody laughed, but I won’t call you that name. No, he said he made a mistake. He said he made a mistake, he should have never done it and he said it was bad judgment on his part. He was very much in admitting, but he also talked about winning. And he said he never gambled on his team doing anything but winning because he believed in his players. He trusted his players. He loved his players. So that’s how he answered the question. I’m paraphrasing what he said. You asked the question, I’m giving you the answer, but I’m leaving out one part because he had some kind words for the person who asked it.”
Question: As far as freshmen, who in the past have been able to contribute early on, what are some common threads or attributes that they, that you’ve seen, that they’ve done to be able to contribute early?
“I think it’s maturity. I think they’re mature, they’re confident. It’s interesting how people gain their self-esteem. Some people gain their self-esteem from what everybody else thinks, and I think that’s pretty shallow and can be, sometimes, misleading. But these guys are mature in terms of believing in themselves, having confidence, believing that they can learn, believing that they can go out there and play the techniques that they need to play to be able to have success, and they’ve had success in the past based on their performance and what they’ve done, not based on what somebody else said about them. And I think that maturity is the biggest difference in guys that can develop more quickly and in guys that may take a little longer to develop.”
Question: Good afternoon, coach. You have a few veterans at kicker and punter and what have you seen from them in the first week and what do you want to continue to see from them through August?
“They’ve done really, really well. We’ve got a lot of confidence in both guys. James has gotten a little better each year in terms of his consistency. He’s got a really strong leg, but he’s gotten a little more consistent, so his bad kicks aren’t as bad and his good kicks are even better. But he’s more consistent all the way around. And Will’s been as good a college kicker over the last 2-3 years as anybody could ever ask for. We’re really glad to have both those guys back. I think it’s gonna be an important part of – you’ve gotta have great special teams, and sometimes people just look at the specialist and they evaluate the special teams. So our specialists should be really, really good, so we’ve gotta build really, really good special teams around them so that that can be a real asset for us this season.”
Question: What have been been your impressions so far of Kayden Proctor and just where does that position stand with the health of Elijah and Miles McVay?
“Well, they’re in competition.I think both guys need to continue to develop and play with a little bit more consistency in terms of the very things that I’ve been talking about in terms of paying attention to detail, doing the little things right, being able to stay focused when they get tired, having the mental toughness to see it through. I really like the attitude and maturity of the offensive line and the leadership that we have at that position. So those guys are gonna be pretty demanding on those guys to buy in and do things at the level they need to be able to play the way they’re capable of. Nobody’s disappointed in their development, but if they’re gonna be starters, there’s an expectation that goes with that, too, and I think that’s something that we need to continue to work to get them to be able to do on a consistent basis.”
Question: I know Eli Gold is working himself back into shape. He has been rehabbing, just your thoughts on him returning to the broadcast booth this season?
“Yeah, I love Eli. You know, he’s been with us for a long time. He’s kind of part of the tradition around here in terms of the expectation of being the voice of the Crimson Tide network in a lot of ways, whether it’s a radio show or whatever it is. I’m just happy for him and his family that he’s getting healthier, he’s able to get around and he’s going to be able to get back and do what he loves doing. We’re going to do everything we can to support him and even though it may not be 100 percent full-throttle, we’re sort of working him back into it. But I’m excited to have him back because I love working with him.”
Question: Coach at the top, you talked about the importance of communication. How does Seth McLaughlin been looking at center in terms of the checks and calls and the things that, the leadership stuff that goes along with being a good center?
“He does really, really well, so does Dalcourt when he’s playing center. I think when you have veteran guys that sort of have contributed to that, which you know book (Tyler Booker), JC [Latham] and those guys kind of set the tone for that whole group with Seth. He’s done a really, really good job. He’s gotten bigger, he’s gotten stronger he’s always had a tremendous attitude. I don’t think anybody’s ever going to go wrong hiring him. I don’t care what he ends up doing. He’s got the right stuff.”
Question: You’ve said you’ve preached to the players just have that attitude of, just to play in, play out, sort of emphasis. Do you see a tangible impact on that in practice so far?
“If I did and I was satisfied, I wouldn’t be preaching it. I don’t think it’s anything that you ever give up on. I will never give up on it. I think the players want to do it. I just think you’re changing a mindset that has been the way guys go about things for a long time. Sometimes guys that are talented, it’s more challenging for them to develop the right mindset because they haven’t had to do those things all of the time. But I think they realize the importance of it, I think there a lot of lessons learned from last year as well as every day that we’ve been pointing out in practice where we could’ve eliminated this if we had better communication, or better focus, or better eye control or discipline and eye control, whatever it may be. We’re going to continue to harp on those things and hopefully one day everyone will get it.”
Question: Do the skill sets of your options behind center make a two quarterback system possible, and is that something you’d even consider moving forward?
“I haven’t even thought about it to be honest with you, and I don’t see how those things are related. We’ve had two quarterbacks around here before, but that doesn’t mean we had to change the center or the one guy went with one center and the other guy went with another center. Every center that we have could snap to every quarterback that we have. You know we’re trying to develop all of our quarterbacks right now, so that’s not something that we’ve talked about to this point. If we think it’s going to help us wind down the road, then we’ll certainly consider it.”
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