'These guys are on fire': Coach praises Alabama's intensity, especially from Tyler Booker
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard never lacks energy, whether on the field or talking to reporters. He was asked what he has seen in practice that has him excited, despite the Crimson Tide coming off a second loss to Tennessee.
It was the intensity Shephard had seen from Alabama’s players in the first two workouts.
“Oh, man. These guys are on fire,” Shephard said on Wednesday. “They are freaking flying around. They’re taking to their hard coaching. That’s how we always are, but they’re taking to it.”
Shephard singled out veteran left guard Tyler Booker, who is one of Alabama’s captains.
“Booker had a fire in him this week,” Shephard said. “He is all over every single player on this team’s rear end every single play. I mean, getting in their face, pushing the tempo, the envelope with each one of them and telling them, ‘This is the expectation. I’m not gonna tell you this over and over again. You’re gonna do it the right way or get out.’
“And I love that about our left guard.”
Alabama (5-2, 2-2 SEC) will look to bounce back after losing its second game in three weeks when it welcomes Missouri to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26. But there is still plenty of talk about the Tide’s last time out, a 24-17 loss to the Vols.
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Shephard, who is in his first season at Alabama, was one of the last people in crimson to exit the field at Neyland Stadium after the Week 8 defeat. He was spotted looking up at the crowd, seemingly soaking in the moment, and clapping before heading to the locker room.
After Alabama’s second practice of the week, Shephard described his postgame actions.
“I never want the University of Alabama to really ever seem like a sore loser or anything like that,” Shephard said. “We’ve got pride in what we do in all things as a university. We expect our fanbase to be elite in everything that they do. We expect our coaches to be elite in everything that they do. We expect our players to be elite in everything that they do. That’s what comes with the association with the University of Alabama. We hold ourselves to a high standard.
“So I had gone across the field and being respectful of the game, being a good sportsmanship and had shaken hands with a number of their players, their former coaches, coaches that I had known and so on and so forth to tell them congratulations. And then, of course, a flood of people come out there. I’m not worried about that. And of course, in that moment, I just took a moment to take a look up there and see what was happening.
“And said, ‘You know what, I don’t want to ever feel this feeling ever again.’”
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