Everything Nick Saban said on Monday of Chattanooga game week

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama coach Nick Saban spoke to reporters Monday to kick off Chattanooga week. Below is everything Saban said to begin the 11th game week of the season.

Saban’s opening statement…

“Obviously, this was a great win for us. Really good for our team to come out, start fast in the game, play fast, obviously ready to play. I think the big point of emphasis that we’d like to make moving forward is we still got to stay focused on execution. It’s not just about making plays. And most of the issues that we have in games, offense, defense, doesn’t really matter, come down to are we communicating and is everybody on the same page? When we do that, we seem to have really good results, and sometimes when we don’t, we give up plays that we probably shouldn’t give up. So that’s going to be the big point of emphasis in watching the film today with the players is to get them to really sort of focus on the importance of communicating and everybody being on the same page, whether it’s who we’re blocking upfront, how we’re covering and adjusting to motions in secondary, whatever, so that we get on the same page.

“Chattanooga obviously has had a really good season. The players play hard. They compete well. Rusty Wright has done a really good job there. I think they’re like second in their league, 7-3, only lost two games in their league. One of the most productive offensive teams. They’ve got a good quarterback. They got good receivers. The run the ball with good balance. They’re really well-coached. Defensively, this guy Jay Person has got lots of sacks and lots of tackles for loss, and these guys play hard. Like always, this is a great opportunity for these guys to play in a game that they probably dream about. 

“For our team, this is either a game that you focus on correctly, you go out and practice and prepare correctly and you build on the momentum that you’ve improved with over the last weeks. And that helps you get better for what’s coming up in the future. If don’t do that, you don’t have a good showing. You sort of lose your rhythm, and rhythm is a little bit like momentum. Sometimes you lose momentum in the game, it’s hard to get it back. So you got to always play the next play and keep answering the bell, and that’s really kind of how we need to approach this game in terms of what our focus is and how we want to continue to improve as a team. If you’re going to peak at the right time, you can’t have peaks and valleys. You got to keep going in the right direction, and that’s what we want to get our players to focus on this week in practice in preparation for this game.” 

Saban on how Miss Terry motivates the players…

“Her and Terrion are really kind of buddies. I know she sort of texts with him and all that, and I kind of get on him. So it’s just like kind of raising your children. I’m the guy that’s always trying to get him to do right, and she’s the momma who’s always trying to make him happy (laughs). That’s the way it’s been for a long time.”

Saban on Chris Braswell’s growth since arriving at Alabama…

“Bras is a really good competitor, a hard worker. Really works hard in practice to get it right. I think a lot of guys that play outside ‘backer for us, when they come here they don’t have a lot of background and experience in standing up and playing. A lot of them play with their hand in the dirt in high school. So the whole idea of standing up and playing, dropping some, how do you rush off the edge when you’re standing up rather than in a three-point stance? I also think that opens up a whole panorama of knowledge of the game, coverages and things like that. And I would say that Bras has certainly improved physically because of how committed he is to being a good player. But I think from a mental standpoint, that’s where he really has a much, much better understanding of all the things you need to do to play that position.”

Saban on the offensive line play at Kentucky…

“They played really well. I think Kentucky’s big up front. We talked about trying to be the most physical team. I think they did a good job of that. I think we ran the ball in the second half better than we did in the first. And some of that was just how were they playing. But I was really pleased, especially in the second half, with how we controlled the line of scrimmage. I think for the most part the pass protection was a little better, and we want to continue to improve in all those areas.”

Saban on facing the SEC gauntlet; the team’s transformation since Week 2…

“We’ve talked a lot about how this team has been able to show great resiliency and perseverance, to really stick with it. They want to be good. They want to be coached. They’ve stayed focused on what we need to do to continue to get better. And I think by doing that, the confidence has built, the respect and trust has built, which helps confidence. And I think we’ve got a lot of guys that are playing really good football now. And we had a lot of guys that really stepped up in this past game and played well, like at receiver. We had two receivers out. These guys played really, really well, I mean, the receiver group. I mean, I think you’ve probably got that we took the whole group and said, ‘You guys are the players of the game.’ We had a couple of guys that had to step up on defense, with some starters missing. But it just seems like, whether it’s been on special teams or however it’s been, every guy is kind of all-in to try and do what they can to try to help the team. The leadership has been good and the transformation has shown in terms of how we’ve been able to execute week in and week out.”

Saban on Alabama’s defensive leaders…

“Tim Keenan’s a good leader up front. Deontae Lawson is a really good leader at linebacker. Dallas (Turner) is a good leader at outside ‘backer. Malachi (Moore) is a good leader in the secondary. We have some guys at each position that set a pretty good example in terms of how you need to prepare for a game, how you need to try to practice, and Bras is one of those guysm as well. He’s on the leadership because of the example that he sets in how he goes about what he does.”

Saban on what it means for guys to stick around for Senior Day…

“Well, I think there’s a lot of examples of guys that have done that probably in a lot of programs. But you know, I’m just here to speak about our program. But a guy like Mac Jones who didn’t play until his fourth year and played very well when he did develop. I think it speaks volumes of their commitment to the program and seeing that if they do the right things, they’re going to have success. Had guys here that do well in the pros, the NFL even though they’ve had maybe not a significant role their entire career here, but played well at some point in time, and that gave them an opportunity.  I think that one of the big things that we try to get guys to understand is, we have good players on our team. So you’re going to have a better chance to develop because the competition in practice is actually going to be beneficial to your development. And I think that if guys can stay focused on long term in terms of what they’re trying to develop and improve. 

“We’ve got all these freshmen who want to play as freshmen. And we’ve had, I don’t know, you can count them up — How many guy go out early for the draft? So if it’s 45 guys, I don’t know if that’s the right number or not, I’ve had 32 phone calls times 45, whatever that number is. In the thousands, right. I’ve never been asked once how much a guy played as a freshman. Never. Not once. Everybody wants to know what did you develop into? But yet, the whole mindset is, if I don’t play right away. But that expectation gets created by a lot of external factors too. Not to put any of the blame on you all, or anybody that says a guy’s a five star and he should make this immediate impact and all this stuff. So that becomes the expectation. So whenever it doesn’t happen, a guy’s frustrated. I get that. I understand that. We’ve got to try to get guys to be able to stay focused on what they have to do to develop as players, make improvement so that when they do play, they create value for themselves. Rather than worrying about just playing. But if you go out there and don’t play well, what kind of value are you creating for yourself? And what kind of confidence are you building? So all these things are things that we really try to emphasize with our young players, and the guys that buy into that, they end up doing pretty well.”

Saban on his reaction to the firings of Jimbo Fisher, Zach Arnett…

“I don’t ever like to see anybody get let go or whatever you want to call it in this business. I know how hard everybody works. I know how difficult it is to build a program, to get players to compete at a high level on a consistent basis. Just have a lot of respect for people who really work hard to try to change the lives of the guys that they’re coaching and make them better people. Help them do the right things in terms of getting an education, as well as trying to develop them on the football field. But we are in a business that you get evaluated based on outcomes and your performance. I hate to see anybody have to go through this. I’ve been fired before. It’s no fun. It’s no fun for your family. But I’m sure that both those guys have great reputations in terms of what they’ve been able to accomplish over the course of their career. And I’m sure they’ll have many more opportunities to be successful in the future.”

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