Nick Saban highlights Deontae Lawson's emergence as a leader, importance of leadership council

Alabama coach Nick Saban has been impressed with how he’s seen linebacker Deontae Lawson step up as a leader for this year’s defense. With Will Anderson and Henry To’oTo’o both gone to the NFL, the Crimson Tide needed a voice and Lawson has filled that void throughout fall camp.

Saban revealed at his Wednesday press conference that Lawson has handled signal caller duties this offseason and excelled in that role. As Alabama prepares to kick off the season this weekend, the linebacker will play a key part in making sure the defense stays ready for whatever may come.

“Deontae’s done a really, really good job,” the coach said. “He’s kind of taken over the signal caller duties, which I think is a huge responsibility but yet something that is probably the most important thing. Especially for the front seven in terms of alignment, adjustment and calls that need to get made whether you’re pressuring and getting lined up to play the right way whether it’s two or away from the back.

“A lot of guys, they’re a little apprehensive about taking on that responsibility. He’s very confident in it. He’s done a great job of it. He’s played really well. He’s set a great example in terms of how he practices, how he plays and communicates. I think that’s been a significant improvement in how we’ve played up front on defense and it’ll be important that we can continue that throughout the season.”

Lawson appeared in 11 games with four starts this past season as a redshirt freshman. He finished the year tied with Anderson for fifth on the team in total tackles with 51 in addition to four passes defended. Now figuring to become a full-time starter in 2023, he stands a great chance to improve upon those numbers.

With what he’s shown this offseason, Deontae Lawson will stand a chance to be a member of Alabama’s leadership council. Saban opened up on what he expects out of the players chosen for that responsibility and why it is so important to the success of the team.

“I like some of the guys on the team in terms of being leaders, impacting other players,” he said. “Sort of trying to get people to adhere to the standard that we’d like to do things whether it’s practice, meetings, whatever. That’s a huge responsibility and not everybody’s up for it, but I like some of the guys that we have this year trying to do it and they’ve done a pretty good job of it.

“You never know what the impact of all these things are until you start playing games. Even when you start playing games, you don’t know how it’s going to sustain itself throughout the season.”

The Crimson Tide won’t have to wait long until they start playing games as they open up the season at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday against Middle Tennessee. With little time left to prepare, Saban sent a challenge to his players to make sure they’re mentally ready.

“Everybody wants to be special,” he said. “Everybody wants to be extraordinary. Everybody wants to win. You could ask every team in the country ‘Do you want to be No. 1?’ and everybody would raise their hand. But are you willing to do all the things you need to do to accomplish that? Have a discipline to do it day in and day out, play in and play out will make you be able to accomplish and do things at a high level no matter what you do.

“At this point, we don’t have a lot of practice left. But we have a lot of opportunity to get a lot of mental practice, which will enhance your preparation in terms of being able to to execute, have great confidence, not make mental errors and have everybody be accountable to each each and create great team chemistry, which will be a starting point of trying to create the kind of team chemistry we’d like to create.”