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Alabama's chemistry, attitude helping team deal with the pressure

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report10/15/23
Alabama coach Nick Saban
Nick Saban (Courtesy of Alabama Athletics)

Alabama survived a late scare from Arkansas on Saturday, and the Crimson Tide haven’t been excellent at putting teams away this season. Still, there’s a different sense around this team than a year ago.

Even after Nick Saban blasted the team on the sidelines in the late going against the Razorbacks, the mood following the win was upbeat and jovial.

The Crimson Tide know they have some mistakes to clean up, but they seem to be attacking those within the context of having fun. It’s one of the reasons Alabama has been able to survive the pressure this year better than in the past, even if the team’s results in terms of the score don’t always reflect improvement.

“One thing I like about this team, you don’t really see them get down,” BOL’s Tim Watts said on the Andy Staples On3 show. “I mean when they make a mistake there’s not a lot of dropping their head or pouting or anything like that. They all seem to pick each other up pretty good.”

Even when Saban has come down hard, players seem receptive to his message.

And Saban has definitely been a bit more animated this season. After a disappointing two-loss campaign in 2022 with the highest of expectations, Saban has been preaching to his team that they need to have fun.

All the rigorous discipline still applies, but he seems to have struck a different chord with this team. And it’s working.

“I’ve enjoyed him being more energetic. You know what’s funny is like the team likes it,” Watts said. “Terrion Arnold had a field day with the fact that Nick Saban was yelling at him. I don’t think the majority of those players take it personal.

“You see them mimicking some of the stuff Saban said. Nick Saban said before Texas A&M, and I’m glad to see college coaches taking this stand, like Deion (Sanders) said, it’s just a football game, relax. I think Saban said, ‘Hey, we come here to play this game. We should want to play. That’s why you came to Alabama. You want to go to College Station and play in that game.’ And I think the kids are repeating that because I think they’re taking it as it is a game and we came to play this game.”

The attitude has helped erase some of the intensity the players faced a year ago.

“There’s no anxiety. We heard that word a lot last year, more than I’ve ever heard it,” Watts said. “There’s no anxiety. You came here knowing Texas A&M’s on our schedule. LSU‘s on our schedule. Auburn‘s on our schedule. The whole nine yards. So you see them mimicking that, you see a maturity.”

Will Alabama ultimately end up in the College Football Playoff again, with a chance to win a national title? There’s a long way to go to get there.

With one loss already, there isn’t much room for error.

But the enormity of the challenge doesn’t feel quite as daunting for this year’s group of players. They’re doing what they can.

“It’s hard going undefeated,” Watts said. “It’s hard winning football games. But I think this team likes playing football. I think they like each other and I think it’s a different feel from last year, where it was nothing but pressure.”