Nick Saban talks leadership, South Florida on SEC teleconference
Alabama head coach Nick Saban joined the third SEC coaches media teleconference of the 2023 season on Wednesday. Below is a full transcript of everything Saban said as the seventh coach to speak ahead of the Crimson Tide’s Week 3 road game at South Florida.
“I think it’s important that everybody responds the right way and doesn’t waste a failing in terms of the things that we need to improve on, the things that we need to clean up, some of the things that we didn’t execute very well in the last game and make the kind of improvements we need to make to play to a standard that’s gonna give us an opportunity to be successful. And that’s the point of focus. I mean, every team you play is challenging technically in terms of what you have to do to go out and be able to execute, and this team that we’re playing this week is no exception to that.”
Saban on leaders policing teammates about practice habits…
“I don’t think we’ve had bad practice habits. I think there’s been times when we haven’t done things particularly well, and we wanna get those things corrected. I’ve been pretty pleased with the way the players on the team that are the leaders of the team have responded and tried to hold people accountable.”
Saban on what stands out about South Florida…
“They play really aggressively on defense, a lot of stunts, a lot of blitzes, a lot of pressures, play hard. Offensively, their system and scheme is very similar to Tennessee, which they spread you out. The quarterback has done a really good job. They’ve got two good runners. They’ve been able to make plays and have balance, run and pass. I think they’ve been really, really effective, and it’s gonna be really challenging for us on both sides of the ball.”
Saban on Jermaine Burton…
“He’s done really well so far this year. Obviously, it’s not his fault that somebody else committed a penalty when he had the opportunity to make a play. His consistency in performance has been very good to this point. We’ve very pleased with the progress he’s made, and we want him to continue to grow and develop and show the maturity and dependability that you need to have to be an outstanding player, which he certainly is capable of being and has been for us.”
Saban on Alabama’s secondary…
“Well, we obviously didn’t play very well in the last game. We gave up a lot of explosive plays, and we take responsibility for that as coaches. We’ve gotta try to get our players better prepared for what they’re gonna see. But I like the group. Their attitude has been good. They’re working hard. Got a different kind of challenge this week, so I think the continuity will help. Last week, not having continuity with all the guys in practice all week was a little bit of an issue, and that’s something that we haven’t had to deal with this week.”
Saban on the energy, competition at quarterback…
“Well, we evaluate every position every week, and if guys want security in their position, they need to play well. Everybody on our team knows that. And I think everybody’s responded in a positive way to try to get better and to improve, and we’ll constantly evaluate that position as we do every other position.”
Saban on if comments about Alabama’s dynasty dying affect him…
“My approach is try to play to a standard, try to get our players to play to a standard. When we don’t play to a standard, I don’t need anybody else to criticize. I’ve got pride in performance just like everybody else in this organization. So we wanna try to get it right. We wanna try to do everything we can to get people to play to a standard and that’s what we’re focused on. My standard comes from within me, not from some external motivation that comes from someplace else. I haven’t even heard or read any of those things because I don’t really pay a lot of attention to it. I do pay a lot of attention to what we’re doing here internally and how we can get it fixed so that our players have a better chance to be successful.”
Saban on communication with players during install, film study…
“I think that’s all part of preparation. I mean, it’s a part of preparation from our standpoint as coaches and teachers and from their standpoint in terms of comprehending exactly what we wanna do or are trying to do. And then I think they’ve gotta carry that communication on the field so that they can play well together and have a good understanding of exactly what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it. We’re responsible as teachers that the students get it right, and there’s gotta be a high level of communication both ways. I think sometimes people don’t wanna ask questions because they don’t want you to know what they don’t know, but we’re constantly encouraging our players, ‘Do you understand? Is there any questions?’ And I actually coach the players and we all coach the players and ask them a lot of questions periodically when we’re teaching. Like, ‘What are we in here? What should we have done? How do we adjust to this?’ So that you’re getting them to communicate and you actually are getting a good feel for what their level of understanding is.”
Saban on wide receivers creating separation…
“They’ve done well so far this week. I think that you’re always trying to coach guys on good techniques in terms of how to release at the line if they’re getting pressed, how they run the route at the top of the route so they can create separation at the top of the route. And I think our guys are working hard at trying to do that well. They want the ball, so they wanna get open. So we wanna try to help them get open, and I think the attitude has been good.”
*** Stay tuned: Saban will speak to reporters again tonight after Alabama’s Wednesday practice session. His final press conference before Saturday’s game is set for 6 p.m.
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