Nick Saban and Alabama prepare to travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Iron Bowl
Updated: 12:32 PM CST Nov 20, 2023
Perform seriously and came out and got the result that we wanted, we started fast and the game executed well, there’s still lots of things to learn and improve on. Uh, obviously, you know, the Iron Bowl is, you know, one of the great rivalry games in college football, uh, something that you look forward to as *** competitor. Um, it’s also something that, uh, is *** great opportunity to be able to play in. Um, and I don’t think that anybody needs to pay attention to, you know, what happened in the past, what happened in the last game, what somebody’s record is, um, anytime you play in *** rivalry game, it’s gonna be *** highly competitive, tough, uh, very physical game and that’s what everybody needs to get ready for. You know, I think, you know, Auburn has, uh, Hugh Frase has done *** fantastic job there, you know, with his team this year, uh, they played very competitively in all their games. They’ve, you know, they’re six and five, they’ve won some, some games really well, but, uh, they do *** great job of running the football. Uh, I think that, um, they’ve got *** very difficult offense to prepare for, um, with the multiples that they give you different ways that they run the ball. Uh, the way the quarterbacks, all the quarterbacks really can, you know, add to the running game. Um, you know, tight down number 13 is *** really good player, really good receiver. Number five is *** really good receiver, um, defensively, you know, they played really well all year long. Um, players got some rush, some people bring some problems for you as well as they’re very good on special teams. They’re very aggressive in terms of what they do on special teams. They got really good specialist kicker and the punter, both are, you know, leaders in the sec. So this is *** challenging game for us and I think our guys need to have the right mindset of what it’s going to take to be successful in *** game like this, especially playing on the road. Yeah, how would you assess the way your offensive line is played in recent weeks? You know, we’re playing better. I think we made steady improvement. I think the improvement has come from better communication and, you know, better, you know, technical execution, um from *** technique, standpoint, hand placement, foot placement, that kind of stuff. Second step on the ground. I think all those things have helped. I think past protection has improved, but that’s something that we need to continue to improve on. How well do you think Jalen Melrose has protected himself as *** runner this season as *** what? Well, I think Jalen is obviously someone that has great capabilities as *** runner. I think he’s been pretty effective in his choices of when to step up in the pocket, when to run, when he has an opportunity to make *** play when he doesn’t. But I think the thing he’s developed is the ability to keep his eyes downfield and make plays in the passing game, even when the pocket breaks down. And I think he’s been an effective runner for us, you know, when we’ve had perimeter plays that involve reeds on his part to get to the perimeter. So, and I think both of those things help us overall offensively in terms of what the defense has to defend. Hey, coach, just, what kind of progress have you seen from Tyrion Arnold over the course of the season, Terry has really done *** good job for us because of injuries. He’s had to play multiple positions which has been challenging for him. He’s had to play some star at times, which in some cases when guys went out of the game, he didn’t have *** lot of reps at it, but he’s been *** trooper at, you know, doing it and, you know, trying to look at it as *** challenge and go out and, you know, improve each week. His coverage ability has been very good and, um, I think he’s played extremely well good afternoon coach, I know during fall camp, building up depth along the defensive line was *** priority after 11 weeks. How has that group grown and evolved? I think we’ve had some young guys that have really, you know, come along and shown some improvement, some of them played, you know, toward the end of last game. So I feel good about the progress that we made in that group. And I just think that our ability to stop the run is going to be critical in this game. And for us to play physical on the line of scrimmage and play really good technique with whoever’s playing is going to be the most important thing that we need to do in preparation for this game. When Hugh Freese got introduced as the Auburn head coach. One of the first things he mentioned was the relationship with you. He said when he left Ole Miss, you and Miss Terry were really there for him during even time when he wasn’t coaching. What is that relationship like for the fans? I know this is *** big rivalry but you guys have *** special relationship. The two of you look, you know, I play, I guess to all kinds of guys and all kind of coaches that coach for me, that I’m good friends with whether it was Belichick when we were together. And then all of *** sudden, I’m at Miami and he’s in New England, all the guys in college coaching that you have to play against. You know, I’ve always been, um, *** guy that, um, has *** lot of respect for coaches and what we do to try to promote our game and how we try to impact young people as players. So I don’t think you have to really, I think you can have *** relationship with somebody and still compete like crazy when you play against each other. But it’s really not personal. The outcome of the game is really not personal. You’re doing the best you can to get your team to play the best. And I respect that as *** coach and, you know, we’re going to do the best we can to get our team to play their best as *** coach. And hopefully people respect that. But at the end of the day, does it have to affect your relationship? I don’t think so. I don’t think you have to dislike somebody or have an adversarial relationship with somebody to actually compete against them regardless of record. It seems like it’s always *** really competitive game when you guys go to Jordan Hill Stadium. What do you think makes that place such *** difficult place to win? Well, I think it’s, you know, if we’re going to have success there, we’re gonna have to execute. Um I mean, anytime you play on the road, um in this league, it’s *** difficult place to play and this is no different. Um But you know, people talk about all the crazy stuff that happens in this game, but since I’ve been here, uh the team that should have won the game, won the game based on who played the best. Uh So I think the focus needs to be on, you know, how we’re going to play and how are we going to execute and do what we do? And what kind of consistency are we going to be able to maintain in *** difficult environment? Which, you know, we’ve had this challenge several times before and this one is going to be just as difficult as any of the rest. Um I’ve heard your good friend, Bill Belichick say that the concept of halftime adjustments is really overrated because I guess adjustments get made during the first half because there’s no sense in waiting, you can get hurt by that. So with that in mind, how effective is this coaching staff at staying on top of adjustments during the first half? So that when you get into the half, the time is more about message motivation or whatever else? No, I think it’s *** combination of both. You know, I love Bill don’t get me wrong but I don’t always agree with him. I didn’t always agree with him when I worked with him before him. But anyway, and I’m sure he’ll say he didn’t always agree with me. But anyway, um, you know, we’re making adjustments between every series. I mean, we’re going over the previous series, whether it’s offense, defense or whatever, they ran this stunt, we didn’t block it right. Or, you know, they ran this formation, we didn’t adjust to it correctly. Um, but we also draw those things up as the game progresses. So we can actually show the players, those plays and some of the things that they did as, maybe you’ve already covered it, maybe you didn’t have *** chance to cover it, but we kind of do both. And then if there’s something different that we want to do, sometimes you don’t like to do it until you can get everybody in front of you. And you can explain *** little better than you can on the sidelines. So there are occasions where you want to make adjustments to things when everybody can see it because it doesn’t just affect one group, you know, sometimes, ok, we’re going to change how we play this, that may affect the outside backers and the inside backers as well. So I think both things are really, really important and I think both things actually occur during *** game. Micro Tommy Rees was named *** semi finalist today for the Broyles Awards. What can you say about what he’s done to grow in his role this year? Well, obviously, we nominated him. So we thought he’s done *** pretty good job and I think he’s done *** great job of transforming our offense and the players and how they’ve improved and I think that’s made *** huge difference in the confidence on our team offensively as well as our team in general. So I think he’s done an outstanding job. Good math. Can the team take *** loss like Auburn did on Saturday, sort of galvanize and make it more dangerous this week? I can’t answer that. You know, I, I, I just can’t answer that. I think you’d be better served to ask them, you know, that question. But I think everybody pays attention when things don’t go well and they want to get it right. And I have enough respect and we have enough respect that they’ll probably do the same coach if you, I know you how you prepare, you do the same thing every week and respect all of your opponents. But I wonder if any time in your career, uh, you’ve ever taken some time from preparation for one game in anticipation of another? And if so how that came out? No, I never, um, in college football, I’ve never done that, uh, in pro football. Um, you know, sometimes you do *** little bit of work on the next team only because it’s really, really difficult. That’s not something that works well for me because I’m sort of geared in on what you have to do in that particular game. And I don’t like to co mingle different things before that game is over, but I will admit in pro ball, not because of *** particular opponent. It was just the best use of your time to be able to, you didn’t practice very long on Friday with the players walk through on Saturday. So you had quite *** bit more time before you ever played *** game and you weren’t with the players all the time. We’re with the players here, *** significant amount of time. You know, like Thursday, we practice Friday, we have walk through Friday, we have meetings, we eat with them, we have meetings Friday night. So you don’t have all those things, you know, in pro ball. So sometimes there’s *** little time to try to get ahead, but it was not something that ever worked very well for me. All right. Thank you.
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Nick Saban and Alabama prepare to travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Iron Bowl
Updated: 12:32 PM CST Nov 20, 2023
Alabama and Nick Saban are preparing for the Iron Bowl.The Crimson Tide (10-1, No. 8 CFP) won their ninth straight game but got a breather from Southeastern Conference opponents against the Mocs (7-4), an FCS team, on Saturday.Coach Saban was happy with the way the team kept up the momentum as they prepared for the Iron Bowl and SEC Championship.He said each week, the team has been getting better and better. He also noted that Auburn is focusing on some of the things they need to work on, because you notice those things when you do lose.He didn’t want to focus on if they would be scarier coming off of the loss to New Mexico State, and said that was for them to respond to.”So we’re really pleased with the way the guys came out and played today,” said Saban. “These are the kind of games that you really want to maintain your intensity, kind of keep trying to improve, trying to get better. I thought we had a pretty good week of practice and I thought it carried over in the game in terms of our ability to execute and do the things that we need to do.”>> HOW TO WATCH: The Iron Bowl A break from SEC opponents allowed the team to devote some much-deserved time to the players who don’t usually get the chance to gear up for game day. Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTubeStay updated on the latest sports updates with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Alabama and Nick Saban are preparing for the Iron Bowl.
The Crimson Tide (10-1, No. 8 CFP) won their ninth straight game but got a breather from Southeastern Conference opponents against the Mocs (7-4), an FCS team, on Saturday.
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Coach Saban was happy with the way the team kept up the momentum as they prepared for the Iron Bowl and SEC Championship.
He said each week, the team has been getting better and better. He also noted that Auburn is focusing on some of the things they need to work on, because you notice those things when you do lose.
He didn’t want to focus on if they would be scarier coming off of the loss to New Mexico State, and said that was for them to respond to.
“So we’re really pleased with the way the guys came out and played today,” said Saban. “These are the kind of games that you really want to maintain your intensity, kind of keep trying to improve, trying to get better. I thought we had a pretty good week of practice and I thought it carried over in the game in terms of our ability to execute and do the things that we need to do.”
>> HOW TO WATCH: The Iron Bowl
A break from SEC opponents allowed the team to devote some much-deserved time to the players who don’t usually get the chance to gear up for game day.
Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Stay updated on the latest sports updates with the WVTM 13 app. You can download it here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.