Terrion Arnold explains his approach in interviews, getting chewed out by Nick Saban

Alabama defensive back Terrion Arnold has developed a reputation as the go-to interviewee on the team, and it’s a role he relishes. The redshirt sophomore has found the balance between not dropping cliches every sentence while also not giving away too much of what’s behind the curtain.

His back-and-forth with Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith leading up to last week’s game was a perfect example. Arnold joined On3‘s Andy Staples on his podcast Wednesday, where he explained how he learned both from coach Nick Saban and his grandfather how to relay a message in a way that resonates.

“I kind of go up there and I kind of take coach Saban’s approach,” he said. “You gotta think about it as an interviewer and as a person who’s recording or fans who’s watching it. They don’t wanna hear you get up there and just say the typical thing like, ‘we had a good game. I was able to go out there and execute. We were able to make plays.’ No. They want you to talk about the game. Talk about it in detail. Walk them through. Make them feel like they were there.

“Growing up, my granddad was kind of like a storyteller. I’ve always been one of those guys when you go to family reunions or you’re around your friends and stuff, when you hear stories about people it makes you excited.”

Arnold recalls what those family reunions were like, saying he was always curious to listen to the stories that his granddad and uncle would tell him. Interestingly enough, that’s what he credits as giving him the ability to come up with the answers he does during pregame and postgame media sessions.

The defensive back explained that learning to listen helps him to better understand the questions he gets asked, resulting in better responses.

“My granddad, obviously he would bless the food,” Arnold said. “Then when it came to stories, it would actually be his brother, my uncle Andre. You know how it is at family functions. People, they drinking and stuff. When he kind of get that drink in him, I kid you not, next thing you know he gets to, ‘man, your granddad was this. I remember this. I remember this.’

“I was the type of person that I’d be like, ‘yeah, tell me more.’ I’m intrigued to hear it. My granddad always told kind of how it says in the bible, ‘be quick to listen and slow to speak.’ The reason why I’m able to tell or sell during the media is because I listen a lot and really observe a lot.”

Terrion Arnold explains getting chewed out by Nick Saban on Alabama sidelines

In last week’s game against Texas A&M, Terrion Arnold received an earful from Saban on the Alabama sidelines after a play. That allowed him to show his interview skills off postgame, as he explained in detail what was really going on in that moment.

The defensive back told reporters that it was actually a good thing, saying it would be worrisome if Saban didn’t yell at him because it shows he wants to get better. He opened up about the moment with Staples on the podcast.

“It was literally just, ‘I need to time up the blitz on the motion better,'” Arnold said. “I’m thinking about it in my head, obviously there’s a game going on, a game being played. If I time up that blitz on the motion, I get the sack and we get off the field on third down. They don’t keep driving. They don’t get a field goal. So just thinking about things like that. Playing the game inside your head.”

He went on to say that most people look at Saban as a hard-nosed coach. But after getting to know him in practice, Arnold realized the Alabama head man actually has a humorous side.

“Honestly, it comes in practice,” he said. “Most people don’t understand. Coach Saban, he is a character. The guy is funny. So people look at it like, ‘he was getting chewed out. He was getting yelled at.’ Nine times out of ten in practice, he’ll chew you out, yell at you and then he’ll make a joke out of it. So like I said, you should be worried when he’s not saying something to you.”