Pete Golding on what loss of Josh Jobe means for Alabama vs. Cincinnati

As the Alabama defense prepares to face Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal, the secondary must cope without one of its veteran leaders. Senior cornerback Josh Jobe is expected to miss the CFP with a foot injury, which required surgery.

Defensive coordinator Pete Golding spoke to reporters during the bowl preparations and explained the mentality which will help backups to rise up in the biggest occasion with Josh Jobe absent.

“I think it’s – whether it started last year or every year in football – you’re gonna have some guys go down and then throw COVID on it,” Golding told reporters. “So I think you’ve got to develop the bottom of your roster, which I think coach does an extremely well and a good job at, especially in camp and throughout the season of how we practice. I think we’ve got a lot of guys with banked practice reps of what we’re doing, we’ve got some guys with game experience earlier in the season with some games that we got up on. So it’s next man up around here. We don’t control that, we don’t control the injuries, we don’t control COVID so it’s next man up.”

Josh Jobe finished his 2021 season with 28 tackles and two interceptions with four pass deflections. He served as the No. 1 option on the outside and spent most of his time against the best receiver. Across from him, a combination of Jalyn Armour-Davis and Kool-Aid McKinstry with slot corners Malachi Moore and Brian Branch rounded out the starting group.

Replacing Josh Jobe

As the gameplan comes together, Pete Golding went into greater detail about how he and Nick Saban plan to replace Josh Jobe on the outside.

“We’ve got guys at the corner position whether it be Kool-Aid or some other guys that have played in games and started games,” said Golding. “So they’re gonna have to step up. There’s no difference for them, they’ve got to lock in, they’ve got to focus, got to be able to play the next play and when they’re number’s called they’ve got to be able to compete and contest the play. I think we’re ready and we’ve got guys ready to play.”

McKinstry, known better as Kool-Aid, is a freshman and former five-star recruit. In seven games this season, he has 17 tackles with one interception, a sack and a pass deflection. Other options include junior college transfer Khyree Jackson sophomore Jahquez Robinson.