In all of the biggest rivalries in sports, every head coach on both sides typically relays the same message at the end of each practice or at the beginning of the week leading up to the game. Don’t give the opposing team any bulletin board material, meaning don’t say or share anything that may give your matchup an extra boost of motivation.
It’s especially important to LSU head coach Ed Orgeron who has sent the message to his team to not try and give Alabama any sort of extra help ahead of the game.
“Immediately after the Auburn game, I talked to our team about not trying to win the game on the Twitter machine,” Orgeron said during his teleconference. “We don’t need to do any talking to win this game.”
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Avoiding any confrontations on Twitter is something every coach requires before any game but especially when entering one of this magnitude. Alabama has also been one of the best teams over the past decade of finding ways to motivate themselves from within.
Taking a look back at Alabama’s 2015 matchup with LSU all of the hype was around running back Leonard Fournette. Most of the talk came from the media prior to that game but that’s all it took for the Crimson Tide to hold the then Heisman front-runner to 31-yards rushing. Just think what might have happened if the opposing teams started talking trash on the “Twitter machine”.
Orgeron’s wishes may have already been tarnished for wide receiver Justin Jefferson made some comments on Monday that fay fit the criteria Alabama is looking for.
“We’re going to come for their heads,” Jefferson said. “I mean we’re going to do what we need to do. We’re excited to go against them and want to come out with a win.”
Obviously context is everything but all the Crimson Tide needs to do is read the first seven words and it could be enough to get the ball rolling.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
