Nick Saban issues challenge to Alabama players over last weeks of fall camp

While speaking in a press appearance Wednesday, Nick Saban explained a challenge he gave Alabama‘s players as fall camp nears its end. Saban provided several coaching philosophies during his conference that he’s been sharing with his players, and he began with what he challenged his players to do in the “dog days” of camp.

Nick Saban issues his players a challenge

“I guess the message I had for the players is, the real challenge now … I know school started today and you know it’s kinda the dog days of camp now when you get this deep into it,” said Saban. “Still [a] pretty long ways until you play a game, but still a lot of things to work on. You know, you gotta challenge yourself to be what you wanna see. Take ownership for what you want to accomplish, what you want to do.

“And I think the big thing is, for players to develop the habits to stack good performances — play-in, play-out, day-in, day-out. Because that’s what’s going to really allow us to have a consistency and performance we need throughout the season. So it’s like, what are you willing to do for the people around you? Because you’re responsible to do your job, but you’re also responsible for them.”

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Saban knows that he and the Alabama program demands a lot out of their players, and as fall camp continues with frustrations and reasons to feel tired he was sure to reiterate how important it was for them to stay focused on their goals. A common theme in Saban’s comments on Wednesday was addressing his team’s personal responsibilities, and how they affect the entire team.

“But I guess a better question is, what are they willing to do for you? Because they have the kind of respect and trust in you to know that you’re going to go out there and do what you’re supposed to do — down-in, down-out, play-in, play-out, game-in, game-out,” continued Saban.

“So we obviously have things that we need to improve on. A big focus this week is take where we were last week … and try to improve on it. So that this next scrimmage is sort of the last dress rehearsal, so to speak, until the first game comes.”