Nick Saban says it's time to embrace the grind as Alabama inches closer to Week 1

Alabama is hitting the ground running in fall camp this season. With new faces spread across the Crimson Tide offense, defense and coaching staff, head coach Nick Saban has a few weeks left to put it all together.

Saban detailed the expectations he has for his squad during the final weeks of the offseason — and it’s no surprise that he’s holding his team to a high standard entering the new college football season.

“The No. 1 purpose of fall camp is to create good habits. Obviously, bad habits have a cost. Good habits have a price, but you have to pay the price for the good habits up front, which is what you do when fall camp comes along,” Saban said during Alabama media day. “This is a time when you have to embrace the grind. We’ve got some players that have been blessed with talent, and it only comes to fruition when you embrace the grind.

“You can’t view the circumstances as an obstacle, but as an opportunity to operate under difficult situations.”

Saban plans to slowly incorporate pads into practices. After a few days in helmets, he’ll add shoulder pads, then shells and so on. As he incorporates more into each practice and continues to ramp up Alabama’s schedule, he has noticed improvements in more places than not.

Of course, gauging Alabama’s talent level at the moment is tough, as roster turnover is an annual issue for the Crimson Tide. After another wave of proven stars moved on to the NFL in last April’s draft — Saban is calling on younger talent to step up ahead of the new college football season.

“There are individual players that have more opportunities to contribute to the team in various ways, and we want them to develop the habits to allow them to play winning football on a consistent basis so that they can get the results that they would like to get,” Saban said. “… There is a lot of teaching, a lot of installation.

This is the most condensed period of how much we throw at players to learn in a short period of time. It gives them the foundation they need to make the adaptations and adjustments they need to make throughout the season.”

The biggest challenge of fall camp is being able to retain the habits formed in August and use them throughout the season. The attitude toward that philosophy has been well received, according to Saban, and it’s only a matter of time until they put those strategies to use.