Who wants a baked potato?

Aside from the start-of-year excitement that A-Day typically brings, Alabama football’s spring scrimmage also decides which half of the team gets a nice steak dinner on Monday and which half gets beans, as Nick Saban described it in the days leading to the game.

“We had a draft yesterday for all the staff,” Saban said. “Coaching staff, support staff, recruiting staff, training staff. Everybody got picked. You got your team for steak on Monday or you got your team for beans and paper plates and plastic forks and spoons. You want a tablecloth? You want a steak? You want a baked potato? You want a dessert? You’ve got to win. That’s what’s at stake here.”

With kickoff in Bryant-Denny Stadium set for 2 p.m. CDT, it’ll air live on SEC Network+, Saturday will be an opportunity for fans to meet the 2023 Crimson Tide and get a few early questions answered.

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Here’s what players and Saban said of the spring game format and what they wish to achieve through the end of the practice season.

Nick Saban, Alabama head coach

On the crowd atmosphere he’s hoping to see: “We hope to have a big crowd for this game. This is one thing I think that … we have an iconic brand, and this is one of the reflections on our brand that we have so much interest that we get really, really good crowds for the A-Day game. It also is something that really inspires the players because they know they have a lot of people that support them. It’s the one way that all spring long for 15 practices, we’re out there grinding, going through practice, banging on each other. Now they have an opportunity to get some positive reinforcement by going out and playing in front of a group of people. This is something that they really look forward to. It will be interesting to see how everybody responds.”

On depth charts and looking for starter hints within Team Crimson and Team White: “We split up the squads in A-Day so we get maximum reps for most of the players, which does not really mean the entire first team is on one team and the entire first team is on the other team. It means if we have certain guys at certain positions, we can manipulate them around to get reps for those guys by playing more of the game because we split the squads up that way, then that’s the way we do it. We have where we try to play the first teams against the first teams and the second teams so it’s a competitive game.”

On the pressure of A-Day for players: “I think it should be fun. I don’t think there should be any pressure on anybody. I don’t think we’re going to lose. I mean, I don’t think this gets us in or out of the playoffs or any of that. It’s not a bowl game as far as I know, but it is a good experience. It’s good to get in game-like situations. It’s good for the coaching staff to work together, even though we’ll have a very watered-down version of defense and offense and be a pretty simple game. But you do like to see how guys compete. It should be fun. You should have fun when you compete.”

Tyler Booker, Alabama offensive lineman

On Hugh Freeze’s idea of playing another team for the spring game: “It’s interesting as a player. I saw that come about, but at the end of the day, me being in my situation I feel like this is the best competition that I’ve faced all year this month. I’m going to be so much better for it because I feel like we have the best players in the nation on both sides of the ball. In my situation, I’d much rather have that A-Day game because I know that I’m not going to get challenged any more than I will this Saturday.”

On replacing the leadership void of Bryce Young: “Bryce was a great leader. He’s everything you want in a quarterback. Bryce is one of my favorite people I’ve ever played with and I’m going to be honest there was kind of a drop off in leadership when he left, as the offensive line as a group that has to come together and play together like no other position on the team, no other position in the game of football, I felt like it was the most important for us to step in our roles and lead. Show people how to come together and compete against one another.”

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Justin Eboigbe, Alabama defensive lineman

On spring game competition: “Ah to be honest that’s not something, that’s above my paygrade as far as making that decision. But honestly, it’s good going against the competition that we going against because I know the guys that’s across that line is one to show why they the best and why they want to get better in this competition. The reason why people come to Bama is to play against the guys that you play against every day in practice cause sometimes they may be better than the guys you play on Saturday so you get that competition level and you get better in that aspect.”

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].