Nate Oats delivers message to Alabama players after rival loss, calls for perseverance

Nate Oats is ready to bounce back following Alabama’s loss to Auburn over the weekend. The game pitted the No. 1 Tigers and the No. 2 Crimson Tide, but Oats’ crew fell short.

But by no means is the story over yet. Alabama is still firmly in the mix for an SEC and national title in the postseason. Make no mistake, Oats and Alabama can’t take everyone else lightly or let the Auburn game affect their play.

Time to turn the page, as Oats put it.

“We’ve got six tough games, and we got to be ready for every last one,” Oats said postgame. “We talk a lot about adversity. Sometimes it makes you better. There’s a book by Ryan Holiday called ‘The Obstacles.’ The way we were as a staff before, no teams are any good that don’t face a little adversity. Like every goal that we’ve got left remaining is still in our control, and that’s got to be the mindset.”

That’s not to say Oats and his team were feeling all cheery about the opportunities in front of them in the moment though.

“Nobody’s feeling good today. We just lost to our archrival,” Oats said. “Had a chance in our own gym to do it. Brought GameDay in here. It was a great environment. It’s why we play, love these games. But we came out with an L. So how do we respond? I told them, this is real-life stuff. Shots aren’t dropping, something happens in life. Are you a frontrunner? 

“Do you only got the right attitude when stuff’s going well? Or do you got enough character, enough intestinal fortitude to play just as hard when stuff’s going well? Or are you giving everything you’ve got to your job when stuff’s not going well at home? Whatever it is, these are life lessons that we gotta learn.”

Alabama and Oats can’t just focus on the missed chance to become the No. 1 team. With Missouri on the docket, it’s all about a different set of Tigers.

“Well, we got adversity,” Oats said. “We just dropped our second home game. We haven’t lost many home games here in the last five years. We lost to our rival. We had a chance to become No. 1 in the country. We had a chance to be No. 1 in the league. All that’s out right now. What we have right now is a chance to play again on Wednesday against Missouri, and we got to answer the bell.”