Nick Saban explains how Alabama football handles halftime adjustments

Nick Saban explains how Alabama football handles halftime adjustments

When Alabama football played Ole Miss on Saturday, it was obvious that the Crimson Tide improved after halftime. UA was down 7-6 when the teams went to the locker rooms at the break, but came back out to earn a 24-10 win.

On Thursday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was making his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, where he explained the Crimson Tide’s method for making adjustments during the halftime break.

“I think number one is, you gotta have really good information and have everybody assigned to some sort of detail of what they need to get when the first half is happening,” Saban said. “So every play that happened in the first half, we actually have drawn up on a template that we can show the players and we can say ‘OK, this is what they’re trying to do, this is what we need to adjust to.’”

Saban said the Crimson Tide can use information from the templates to sniff out anything that an opponent is doing differently from what UA practiced for. He reiterated how important it is for his staff to be disciplined in getting the info during the first half.

More: Nick Saban talks motivation, affecting human behavior on The Pat McAfee Show

Then, they present it to players during the break. He gave an example of how the information gets used if something needs adjusting.

“How are we playing bunch passes on defense? They’re running a pattern with the way we’re playing a bunch pass, it’s tough,” Saban said. “So we gotta say “OK, we’re gonna go play it this way.’ And I think if you have the right information you can make those kind of adaptations and adjustments at halftime.”

Saban said the coaches also try and create an offensive plan during the break for the start of the second half.

“Everybody talks about, we’ve got this 20-play script that we’re gonna start the game with,” Saban said. “Well how about having a script for how you want to start the second half based on the information that you got in the first half? And I think all those things can be beneficial to you in terms of the way you go out and start.”

Alabama will be back in action on Saturday, facing Mississippi State in Starkville. The game is scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN.

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