Everything DC Kevin Steele said at Alabama's preseason Media Day

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama held its annual Media Day on Sunday at the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility, where Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban, defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees spoke to local reporters. Below is everything Steele said in his only media availability before or during the 2023 regular season.

“Obviously excited to be back at Alabama. It’s a very, very special place for a lot of reasons. But the commitment to excellence that touches on a daily basis, no matter what it is, it’s unparalleled. And so it’s exciting to be back.

“As far as defense, we all know this: we have arguably – to some people but not to me – the best defensive mind that I’ve ever been around in the building. So the scheme of how we do things and go about things is Coach Saban, and we obviously help every way we can in that. But we are who we are.

“And then as far as the players, I think probably the most exciting thing about this group is they are coachable, they are coachable. It’s a work in progress. We’re focusing very hard on relentless effort, physical and mental toughness, do your job mentality, and they’re very coachable to that, which is positive.

“The thing that probably goes unnoticed sometimes, doesn’t get talked about a lot – I’ve been doing this a while, so I know when it is right – is that we have a very, very strong group of guys in the room with Coach Robinson, Coach Bala, Coach Hutzler, Coach Roach. Those guys are outstanding football coaches. They’re very smart. And that’s huge, huge benefit. And then we have unity in there. We get along. The room is very positive in that aspect. So it’s very positive.

“So you put those two things together, you go to work and apply the process that Coach has in place, and then good things can happen.”

On what the Alabama standard means to him…

“That’s kind of a loaded question in some regards. This process is built – and it started in ‘07. I was here. It hasn’t gone anywhere, it really hasn’t. Obviously, offensive football has changed. It’s harder on defense right now at this present time than maybe it’s been in a long, long time. But the process is the process, and that’s the things I talked about earlier in terms of physical and mental toughness, relentless effort, dominate your opponent and do your job. It’s just simple principles. Obviously, schematically, we have a defense that can put pressure on offense. I mean, it’s built. We have a lot of moving parts in that regard. And it’s just knowing your job and doing your job.”

On if Saban had a specific directive for him…

“Part of that question is a question for the head coach, why he did what he did. But Coach always has directives for whatever is going on in this building at any point in time. So yes, this is what I want and this is how I want it. Was it different than what it was before I got here? I don’t know. I wasn’t here. It wasn’t any different than it was the other two times I was here.”

On what is so special about the defensive line…

“Right now, we’re early in fall practice, but they’ve worked really hard in the summer as a defensive line group. We’ve got talent there. They’re very coachable. And we’ve got some guys that are developing leadership in the room. That’s still a work in progress. But we have the talent. We’ve just gotta work the process.”

On what he sees in Deontae Lawson…

“Deontae is a guy that’s very smart. He works very hard. But he also has time on task. He’s been there, and so that always helps in college football. There is a difference in an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old, and particularly, if you’ve done the task over and over and over. So he has a lot of snaps under his belt. He knows the expectation, he knows the process and he’s very smart and he’s relentless in his approach in working toward improving himself and the defense.”

On the secondary’s versatility, development… 

“Again, we’re early in the process. In the summertime, we do get some work with them, and we had spring practice. Again, the same thing, we’re Alabama. We have talent. There are talented guys out there. We’ve got guys that have played a lot, and we’ve got some guys who have not played so much yet. But it’s starting to fit together in terms of who’s where and what and then what their strengths are and how to utilize those.”

On how defense is more challenging than 10-12 years ago…

“It is a challenge defensively right now in terms of the tempo. Several years back kind of started the thing, and then the multiplicity of formations that has gone off the roof in terms of that. We even have people that if they spread out any further, they’d be on sidelines, they’d be the bench. They are using the whole field. Those kind of things have happened, but then also, the RPOs and then the eye candy that goes with that, play-action type stuff where you’ve got pullers and running backs going opposite, which that’s going down the exit ramp.”

On if things have been simplified so players can play with confidence…

“Do your job. Defense is a reaction. The offense knows what they are doing. They call the play, everybody knows, they run it. We have to adjust to everything. I cannot speak of the past. I know this: there’s always an emphasis in the process that Coach Saban has of do your job – know your job, do your job. And this group has been phenomenal at embracing it.”

On the process of incorporating things that have worked at past places…

“Incorporating things that worked for me into this system is really kind of, if you really knew what I’m saying here – the system I was running was this system. Now, incorporating maybe little nuances, that happens with all of us. We spend all offseason studying different teams, studying different defenses. The whole staff will bring ideas to the room. We’re always evolving in that regard. As far as for me coming back in here, the verbiage, 80 percent of what is done here defensively, that’s what I was doing at other places. Even the words were the same, so I didn’t have to bring a new dictionary in. There are some nuances that have changed since I left. They primarily still stay conceptually within the base of what we were doing, just the application of the concepts. In that regard, we’re always evolving.”

On how to practice eliminating penalties on defense…

“It’s no different. Penalties, those type 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.”

On his emotions when asked to return to Alabama…

“Shocking. I did not see it coming. It was not something I expected. But obviously when you get a chance to coach at the University of Alabama for the best coach that’s ever done it, sometimes you look in the mirror and say, ‘Why me?’ But I’m very blessed to be here. You couldn’t ask for anything better. If you’re going to coach college football, to coach at the University of Alabama for Coach Saban, that’s what you wanna do.”

On Caleb Downs…

“Obviously, you know that some of the questions that get asked, the head coach needs to answer. But as a collective group, it’s Alabama. We have talented freshmen, and they are working very hard. Trying to find where to place those guys is still a working process, but we’ve got some really talented young freshmen, very smart, football-smart young freshmen that can have the ability to be playmakers.” 

On Jah-Marian Latham…

“He’s an extremely hard worker, extremely hard worker. It just doesn’t get too tough for him. He’s mentally tough. He’s physically very competitive, just relentless in his work ethic.” 

On Chris Braswell…

“Very talented. Very talented. Smart football player, has the ability to rush the passer, to get on the quarterback. He’s really – when you look at him and watch him, you may not think about it – but he has a physicality about him.”  

On Tommy Rees…

“Tommy was unique for me because I knew his dad before Tommy was born. He is a extremely, extremely bright football coach. But as a — I kid him about this — Notre Dame quarterback, Chicago, he’s very tough. He’s got a defensive mentality. I don’t know if he’d appreciate me saying that about him, but he’s a very tough football coach, very, very smart. But he’s the same every day. That’s the best part about Tommy, he’s the same every day. He’s got ice water in his veins.”

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