Alabama footballâs Nick Saban talks complacency, punting and Arkansas
Alabama football is just two days away from continuing its SEC season at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Crimson Tide enters a matchup with Arkansas carrying a 5-1 record overall, 3-0 in conference play.
Nick Saban continued his weekly media circuit before the 11 a.m. Saturday game. The Alabama head coach made his Thursday appearance on the “Hey Coach” radio show, live from Baumhower’s Victory Grille.
Here are the highlights from Saban’s Thursday appearance.
— ESPN college football analyst Dusty Dvoracek is tonight’s media guest.
— Saban compliments Dvoracek, notes that they faced off in the 2003 national championship when he was at LSU and Dvoracek was playing at Oklahoma. “They kicked our butt,” Dvoracek said.
— Saban said he was happy with Thursday’s Alabama practice. Dvoracek says he attended and was impressed by the group. Saban says he has been preaching poise.
— Dvoracek says Oklahoma piped in some noise during practice, but not the extend Alabama does. Says it would likely make gameday much easier. Saban says he now uses noise during practice for his defense when the Crimson Tide plays at home.
— Regular first caller Peewee from Grand Bay asks if Alabama’s offensive line depth has progressed to Saban’s taste. Saban says it’s important for the rest of the season to continue to improve in that area. Says it’s all about fundamentals. Discusses getting second step on the ground and hand placement. Says those are the two things Alabama needs to get more consistent at.
— Dvoracek asks Saban about his thoughts on Oklahoma joining the SEC. Saban says it’s great for the league. Says he likes the SEC not changing its geographic footprint. Says he also likes how the SEC is going to handle its schedule.
— Question is what Saban thinks about young players gaining experience in SEC road wins. Saban says Tide has shown resiliency throughout the season. Says Alabama still has some lapses that it needs to eliminate. Says he has been happy with how UA has overcome those lapses and younger players are starting to figure that out as well. Says young players need to understand that they’re always auditioning for a bigger role.
— Caller asks Saban how he using opposing quarterbacks trying to do too much to Alabama’s advantage. Saban praises Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson. Says Jefferson makes great plays happen with his scrambling. Says he’s worried about what Alabama does to contain him so he doesn’t get to make those plays.
— Dvoracek asks what Alabama does to prepare for mobile QBs. Saban says its difficult because defense will always lose numbers game on QB runs. Says teams do all sorts of things to spy Jalen Milroe.
— Show host Eli Gold notes Alabama kicker Will Reichard’s talent. Saban showers Reichard with praise, notes how important it is to have an excellent kicker. Says Reichard is a great person off the field as well. Says Reichard can also punt like he had to last week when James Burnip got hurt. Says Reichard kicks it higher than Burnip, which allows coverage team to get down field.
— Saban says thing that has impressed him most about safety Caleb Downs is the true freshman’s maturity. Says he isn’t arrogant and is focused and coachable. Says Downs is always striving to get better and wants to understand whole defense.
— Caller says he thinks Arkansas might be the most dangerous team Alabama faces all year. Saban agrees and notes how the Razorbacks are a hungry team with talented players and they haven’t had the success they deserve. Says it’s important for the Crimson Tide to focus in on Saturday’s game. Says nobody should expect that Arkansas won’t be tough game.
— Dvoracek asks how Saban eliminates complacency. Saban notes that success can be an enemy because it can breed complacency and leads to expecting rewards. Says it might take time to catch up, but bad habits will show up on the field. Notes how hard it is to get energy up every single week. Says it’s difficult for players to tune out external noise.
— Saban says he would tell team it needs to raise energy level and get ready for Arkansas game. Says Tide shouldn’t be living with expectations, just doing everything it needs to in order to win games. Says team needs great atmosphere for Saturday’s homecoming game.