Negative rat poison: Alabama gives SEC Media Days some juice by declaring the Tide 'will win it all' in 2023

NASHVILLE — JC Latham didn’t mince words. 

Alabama’s standout offensive tackle made it crystal clear that those doubting the Tide’s chances in 2023 — in the SEC or on the national stage — will rue the day because the notion that Nick Saban’s dynasty is dead is “disrespectful.”

“It’s fuel to the fire. … A slap in the face,” Latham said on Day 3 of 2023 SEC Media Days. 

Latham didn’t stop there with his comments either, doing his best Joe Namath impression right here on Broadway. 

“We’re going to win it all. We’re going to the national championship, undefeated,” he declared. 

“Joe Moore (Award) and I want that Outland (Trophy), so it’s just every day is set in stone and everybody in the group, we’ve got leaders and a great spirit to the team so we know we are capable of doing it and know we’re capable of being great.”

Yes! SEC Media Days needed a little juice. Or rat poison. 

Tide star pass rusher Dallas Turner echoed, albeit in a more measured tone, the same “disrespect” sentiment as Latham, telling On3, “We let all the outside noise just motivate us. … We laugh. There’s a lot of people talking that don’t know a lot. We take it to the chin and use that (as motivation).”

The notion that Alabama — a team with multiple national championships in the last decade and a program that just signed the greatest recruiting class in rankings history — is a disrespected underdog is hilarious. It’s the stepsister version of folks allegedly doubting Georgia last year and allegedly picking the Bulldogs to go 7-5. 

The Tide have the second-best preseason odds to win the 2023 National Championship. 

But with back-to-back championships, Kirby Smart has proved that manufactured motivation works, too. 

So Roll Tide in 2023? 

Before Kirby Smart, Nick Saban was seen as the master motivator, and the Tide are clearly guzzling all sorts of rat poison this offseason in Tuscaloosa. 

Georgia is considered the new Death Star. LSU won the SEC West last season. Michigan has made the playoff in back-to-back years, and USC is considered a trendy pick to crash the party this fall. 

So is Alabama — big ole’ bad Tide — suddenly an overlooked program? Hardly, but with legitimate questions at quarterback and on a new-look coaching staff — there are reasons to nitpick their chances to win the SEC. 

Perhaps that’s a mistake, though. 

After missing out on the College Football Playoff for just the second time in the format, Saban believes his team is “hungry” and “has an edge that was missing” last season.  While they drank “tasty rat poison” to beat Georgia in the 2021 SEC Championship Game, the flavor this preseason is “negative rat poison.”

Confused?

Me, too. What the heck is negative rat poison?

“I do think sometimes expectations affect players in a negative way in terms of creating some complacency, which is a challenge to overcome,” Saban told Paul Finebaum during an appearance on the SEC Network. 

“Sometimes when you get a little negative rat poison, I call it. It actually creates a little hunger and makes players want to prove something. Hopefully, that scenario of proving something helps motivates us throughout the season.”

An Alabama team hungry to prove doubters wrong? It’s certainly worked before. 

The Tide has flaws, but who doesn’t? They return one of the best rosters in America, and if their quarterback situation gets sorted out, why can’t they return to the top of the mountain this fall? 

So bet against the Tide at your own peril. I’m already rethinking my preseason pick. The program clearly has a ‘chip right now, and that “disrespect fuel” is burning Crimson and White. 

“It really gives me goosebumps when I get to prove who I am. When you’re supposed to win and you do, that’s great,” Latham said, per Al.com. 

“But when you’re not supposed to win and you overcome that, that’s an even better feeling in my opinion.”