Jordan Battle explains the value of having a 'genius' in Henry To'o To'o on defense

Henry To’o To’o transferred to Alabama from Tennessee in 2021, and made an immediate impact for the Crimson Tide. To’o To’o enters his second season as the Tide’s middle linebacker, the leader of the defense tasked with calling out plays and making sure everybody on the field knows their assignment. Teammate and safety Jordan Battle talked about To’o To’o, and his contributions to their defense.

“You have to be a genius in the Alabama defense to even be at the middle linebacker position,” Battle said. “So seeing Henry progress coming from Tennessee, he’s been a great guy, a great addition to our defense.”

To’o To’o’s numbers speak for themselves, as he’s currently Alabama’s third-leading tackler three weeks into the season, and led the team in tackles a season ago with 113. He earned All-SEC second team honors, and made a multitude of award watchlists heading into the season including the Bednarik Award, Nagurski Trophy, and Butkus Award watch lists.

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The on-field production and off-field recognition is great, but Battle also spoke about To’o To’o’s strengths in communicating with others on the field and his help in developing Alabama’s younger linebackers of the future.

“He’s been getting the d-line right, getting the linebackers right. Young guys in the linebacker room going to him every day, guys like Shawn Murphy, guys like Deontae Lawson, just going to him and being able to teach them and being able to keep the DBs intact with him has just been a great thing, great addition,” Battle said.

To’o To’o may not be one of the more tenured players on Alabama’s roster, but his leadership and impact are evident, as he’s setting up their defense for current and future success.

Jordan Battle addresses where defense is at in again becoming ‘hateful competitors’

Alabama‘s sustained dominance can be attributed to a lot of different factors, one of them being the mentality of their players year in and year out. Head coach Nick Saban has described teams of the past as hateful competitors, comprised of talented players that can beat you not just physically but mentally, the kind of players you hate lining up against. Alabama safety Jordan Battle was asked if their current Crimson Tide squad has attained that title yet three weeks into the season.

“I feel like were not at that level right now, but as that term goes, hateful competitors, coach likes to see the away team try to be dominant when we’re away instead of just being dominant when we’re home,” Battle said. “He mentioned that back then it was the opposite, we were dominant away and kind of so so home, so just trying to get back to that standard.”

Alabama’s play at home versus away seems to be a big criterion in them being hateful competitors, as Battle went on to tell a story from last season about Saban’s fondness for being dominant on the road.

“He likes to see the away stadium empty, so I can still remember that feeling last year after we lost to Texas A&M and then we went to play Mississippi State after that and then we put that beating on them and then I saw him smiling towards the end of the game,” Battle explained. “Because Mississippi State’s crowd started leaving, so I can just see that made him very happy, so just getting back to that defense and trying to see coach happy like that, that’s what we need to get back to for real.”