Nick Saban explains the difference between mental errors and 'doing your job'

Last week against Texas, Alabama did something no other team had done during the Nick Saban era by committing 15 penalties. Although mental errors could have contributed to those mistakes, Saban said that’s not the only reason.

He said players also have to, in his words, do their job.

Saban acknowledged the mental mistakes his team made against the Longhorns and said they’re fixable. However, he pointed more toward execution and players doing what they’re supposed to do. That, he said, is the most important takeaway from that game.

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“It’s not just mental errors. Mental errors are all correctable,” Saban said during his Wednesday press conference. “It’s also focusing on the fundamental way that you need to do your job. Whether it’s hand placement when you’re blocking somebody, whether it’s hand placement as a defensive lineman when you’re striking a blocker, all those things help you have a chance to be successful on that particular play. Footwork, covering somebody, how you run routes, how you release, how you come out of the route at the top of the route.

“All those things, when you say ‘play smart,’ that means you’ve got to do it correctly. … So, that’s not a mental error, aight? That’s just a lack of fundamental execution and sort of buying into the fact that if I do this right, that’s going to give me the best chance to be successful. That’s just something that I thought we did fairly well in the first game, but we did not do nearly as well last week on the road. So, that’s something that we’ve got to develop consistency in.”

Nick Saban gives classic rant about players believing media hype, difficulty of opponents

Nick Saban jumped on a question that implied some of their opponents were easier than others, and provided a special rant about media hype. During his press appearance on Wednesday, the Alabama head coach seemed to take issue with a question about evaluating his team’s growth against opponents of varying skill.

He did so in classic Saban fashion, too.

“That’s your opinion on quality of opponent. It’s not mine,” said Saban when asked about playing against Texas last week and Louisiana-Monroe this week. “I respect all of the people that we play. And I respect winning and what you have to do to win, a’ight? And every player should not be focused on who they’re playing against — relative to their motivation — but every player should want to be the best player they can be.

“So why would it matter whether we’re playing Texas or playing somebody else? That’s how you get good, that’s how you develop the right habits, that’s how you’re consistent.”