Alabama defender explains consequences of penalties in practice
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – New Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele has been emphasizing the little things during the Crimson Tide’s preseason camp, according to the defensive players.
One of those includes eliminating penalties.
“Really penalties is the main thing we’ve been focusing on,” linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “Just making sure everybody is doing their job and no more mental errors. That leads to points.”
Alabama, as a whole, committed 7.9 penalties per game last year, which was the second-most in the SEC behind Tennessee (8.1) and tied for 126th nationally – out of 130. The flags resulted in 68.7 penalty yards per game, which was also 13th in the league and 123rd in the country. In 2023, the Tide will look to cut down on the miscues, and penalties have clearly been something Steele has circled this offseason in his return to the Capstone to lead the defense.
In his only press conference before or during the 2023 regular season, Steele was asked how he goes about preaching discipline to UA’s players when it comes to penalties at practice.
“It’s no different,” Steele said. “Penalties, those type of things, it’s no different when you have something to correct, then you place an emphasis on. Obviously, we have officials at practice. We chart every official. There are repercussions for your actions, and it stays in front of you. And in most cases in life, as you know, if you keep something that you need to correct in front of you continuously, most people learn and it gets corrected.”
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Penalties have been an issue of late for the Crimson Tide, whether it was committing a Saban era-high 15 for 100 yards at Texas early last season or a couple of costly mistakes, including a pass interference flag that wiped away an interception, late in the road loss at Tennessee.
Alabama was one of only 11 FBS schools that committed 100 or more penalties last year, being flagged 103 times over the course of its 13 games. To try to reduce that number, practices have included punishment for those the earn flags, as defensive back Malachi Moore explained.
“With the penalties, the first penalty that you get, you got 10 up-downs by yourself after practice,” Moore said. “After that, if you get one or more, it’s 10 up-downs for every penalty that your position group gets. That keeps guys conscious of not making mental mistakes or mistakes that’s gonna put us back.”
Alabama will return to the practice field for preseason workout No. 4 today at 2:30 p.m. CT.
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