Saban talks new clock rules, Alabama defenders on SEC teleconference
Alabama head coach Nick Saban joined the first SEC coaches media teleconference of the 2023 season Wednesday. Below is a full transcript of everything Saban said as the seventh coach to speak ahead of the Crimson Tide’s season opener against Middle Tennessee.
“I think everybody’s anxious to play a first game. I think that the preparation in fall camp has been good. The players have had a really good attitude. I think that now they’re tired of practicing, and now it’s time to turn their attention to play in a game. The opportunity is to see what kind of identity this team can sort of create for itself. Middle Tennessee won eight games last year. They beat Miami, San Diego State. This is always something that’s a challenge in terms of preparing for the first game and seeing where you’re at.”
Saban on what he saw in Bryce Young in his first start…
“Bryce is a really bright guy, and he’s a great preparer for games. He’s got a lot of pride in performance. So I’m sure he’ll do everything that he can with his coaches to try to get ready to execute and do things the way he needs to do them to have success and for his team to have success. That’s what he always did here, and I’m sure it’ll be no different there. It’s a little faster game, so that’s something that he’ll have to get into. But experience is nothing more than accumulation of mistakes that you make and lessons that you learn, and he always did a good job of being able to move forward from all those things. So I’m sure he’ll continue to do that as he develops a career in the NFL.”
Saban on reasonable expectations for Young’s first NFL season…
“You know, I’m not an expectations guy. That’s kind up to you all. He’s gonna try to play the best that he can. We hope that he plays the best that he can and that he can play well enough to help his team be successful. I’m sure that’s the goal that he has, as well.”
Saban on the key principle to building a winning football program…
“Well, I think first of all you’ve gotta have good players, but secondly, you’ve gotta have the right kind of culture in your organization when it comes to not only what you wanna accomplish but everybody realizing what it entails to accomplish it and making a commitment to do things at the standard and the level that you need to do them on a consistent basis. And it’s not easy, it’s hard. But everybody’s gotta buy into it. I think culture develops discipline, mental toughness, perseverence, ability to overcome adversity, pride in performance, all those things are critical to the kind of intangibles that you need on your team to be successful. And that’s the culture that we’ve consistently tried to create here. Sometimes we’ve done a little better than others.”
Saban on his thoughts on the new clock rules…
“I don’t think they’re gonna have a tremendous impact. The clock not stopping on first downs is not gonna be a huge thing. I don’t think the timeout rules – they could have some impact on the game at the end of the game, but everybody understands what they are. So I don’t really think it’s significant. I do think that when you get up in the 80s and 90s in terms of number of plays that you play in a game and how long the game becomes for the players is probably something that we need to continue to evaluate.”
Saban on Dallas Turner…
“I don’t think that any player should look like they’re trying to replace any other player. I mean, Will Anderson was a great player in his right, in his career, and Dallas Turner has been a very good player in his career here. We want him to continue to develop and be the best player he can be and create the most value that he can for himself and the team. We wanna do the same thing with Chris Braswell and whoever else plays that position. So we don’t kind of look at it like somebody is replacing somebody. We look at it like what do you need to continue to help develop that guy to play well.”
Saban on Caleb Downs…
“Caleb’s done a really good job. He’s a bright, young guy. He’s very instinctive. He’s mature beyond his years, I think. And he’s played really, really well in fall camp. We just wanna help him continue to grow and develop the experience that he needs to be able to play well. I know he wants to play well, and we wanna help him play well.”
Saban on how he would assess “finishers” on the team…
“Well, I think that’s why we’re gonna play the first game and see how guys play in the game, how they compete in the game, how they sustain in the game, how they can finish in the fourth quarter. I think those are all things you find out about your team when you play games.”
*** 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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