Nick Saban on the confidence of his team ahead of the Ole Miss game
Alabama football (2-1) came out sluggish early against the South Florida Bulls (1-2), but eventually managed to pull away for a 17-3 win on Saturday with help from their running backs. The Crimson Tide will look to regroup this weekend as they play against an opponent that has managed to upset them a number of times in the past decade, the Ole Miss Rebels (3-0).
On Thursday evening on the Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show, the legendary Alabama head coach discussed his team’s confidence heading into SEC play.
Nick Saban on his team’s confidence heading into SEC play
“Well, you know. The team has done a really good job of preparing for the game. So, I have a lot of confidence in them. I believe in them. I think that if we have success, that would help everybody’s confidence. I really do. And there’s just a lot of negative vibes out there that people can’t get affected by,” Saban said.
“And what we focus on as coaches is none of that really affects us,” Saban continued. “It’s what are you capable of doing relative to what you’re doing, I call it the capability…. You know, we look at each individual player on our team and how can we get that guy to play better so that he can play to the level he’s capable of and everybody can do it on a consistent basis. That’s what we really need to do. Because, if you look at our execution and when we’ve not been able to execute, the difference is we’ve got 11 guys doing exactly what they’re supposed to do. What they’re coached to do. The way they’re coached to do it. With the right techniques and fundamentals.”
You simply don’t see Alabama football lose by double digits at home under Saban, the way they did in Week 2 to the Texas Longhorns. It was the very first double-digit home loss in the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa. It was also the first home loss since he took the head coaching job with Alabama — dating all the way back to 2007.
“And then when we have issues, we have lack of communication. Everybody’s not on the same page. And somebody doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do. And now, all of a sudden, you don’t have as good of a play. So, that’s something that everybody’s got to buy into. So, there isn’t any ‘my bads.’ If there’s one thing I hate, aight, is a player messes up and says, ‘my bad.’ I’m like, is that excused? Does that excuse you? [Laughs]. Is that like saying excuse me? I don’t really get it. ‘My bad.’ We can’t have any ‘my bads’ man. You don’t get redos. I used to give my kids redos when I played with them when they were little. No redos,” Saban said on Thursday evening.
Saban will square off yet again this weekend with one of his former mentors, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. Kickoff between the ranked conference foes is set for 3:30 PM EST. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.
On3’s Barkley Truax also contributed to this article.