Nate Oats wants to see more blue-collar competitors in practice
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Nate Oats believes Alabama’s practices are all competitive, but the head coach wants to see more blue-collar effort from his players now that SEC play has started.
Speaking to reporters before the Crimson Tide’s SEC home opener against South Carolina on Tuesday, Jan. 9, Oats said he told his players how last year’s team battled in practice.
“Last year when we got done with practice, (Noah) Clowney would always go over to the board,” said Oats after Monday’s practice. “We track blue-collar points in practice, and he was wanting to be the winner in blue-collar points every single day in practice. And then it got other guys competitive, so then (Nick) Pringle is competing with them.
“We’ve got to get a little bit more of that this year. We need some guys that want to really compete, be the hardest playing guy on the floor every time they’re out there.”
One player who exemplified that Monday was guard Aaron Estrada, who Oats said “crushed” everybody in blue-collar points in the final tune-up before Tuesday’s home game against the Gamecocks (6 p.m. CT on SEC Network). Estrada earned the Hard Hat Award, given to the player with the most blue-collar points, after Alabama’s 78-75 victory at Vanderbilt.
“But we need some guys that really praise other guys’ effort plays and then want to get everybody’s effort plays going up with the blue-collar plays, screen assists,” Oats said. “Just stuff that makes the team better that’s not necessarily scoring.
Top 10
- 1New
LSU-OU WBB fight
Multiple ejections after dust up
- 2Hot
Pearl needles Alabama
Auburn coach had to say it
- 3
Cam Newton
Arch Manning, Saban to Cowboys
- 4
Arch Manning NIL
Texas QB signs with Red Bull
- 5
ACC, ESPN extension
New deal reached through 2036
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“We need everybody to start recognizing it more, want to do more, be a great teammate. Things like that we’re trying to emphasize.”
The Crimson Tide (9-5, 1-0 SEC) has now won three games in a row after a brutal three-game stretch against Purdue, Creighton and Arizona. While Alabama picked up a road win Saturday in Nashville, the team was unable to close either half the way Oats wanted, allowing the home Commodores to keep things close before the Tide escaped with a win.
His message is effort plays are needed not just in practice but for 40 minutes in games.
“There’s no easy games, whether it’s a home game, road game,” Oats said. “We made it look easy last year at times, but that’s not the way it typically is.
“Our guys got to get a little bit more killer instinct, and they’ve got to understand that every possession is going to be a tough possession. As soon as they let their foot off the gas, other teams are going to make a run, and that’s what happened to us Saturday.”
Not a member, Alabama fans? Join BOL today!
Have you subscribed to BamaOnLine.com yet? You can sign up for ONE MONTH of premium access to our Alabama coverage for just $9.99! Be able to read all of BOL’s premium articles and nuggets covering Alabama sports and recruiting and also join thousands of other Crimson Tide fans around the globe on the BOL Round Table message board! CLICK HERE!
