WATCH: Nick Saban on SEC Teleconference ahead of Vandy
Alabama (3-0) is set to open up conference play at home this Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores (3-1). Leading up to every game, SEC coaches hop on a weekly teleconference to speak to the media. Below, we’ve included everything Saban said during that media availability.
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Opening statement…
“I think Vanderbilt’s off to a really strong start this season. It’ll be a challenging game for us on Saturday. I think Clark Lea has done an excellent job of sort of changing the culture there. They do a great job of coaching on both sides of the ball and special teams. They’ve got 14 starters back, and they’re scoring 42 points a game. So the focus for us is to get our team to improve but also play with consistency down in and down out, game in and game out. It’s the start of SEC play, so it’s a really important time to do that.”
On mental health and how Alabama helps players…
“We try to do it through education and counseling. I think the players have become more and more open to this type of help. I think, at least at our program, they develop a trust for these people because there’s a significant number of people through the years, regardless of how significant their issue has been, they’ve been helped by this. Yeah, we don’t seem to have an issue with that, but I think it’s because the players have built a trust in the people who are involved.”
On Alabama freshman OL Tyler Booker…
“He’s doing a good job for us. He’s improving every game, every week, every practice, and that’s really what we want him to focus on. He makes really good choices and decisions about how he goes about his work. He’s a good person. He’s got great character, competitive character, and he’s improving. He can play with power, which is something that’s always welcomed in the offensive line. And he’s created competition at several positions. All those things are really assets for our team.”
On walk-on Jackson Roby getting playing time against ULM…
“I think walk-ons – and Jackson Roby’s been in the program for a long time. He’s invested a lot. These guys that are on the scout team all the time work hard and they get very little positive self-gratification. They don’t get to play in the games. Sometimes they don’t even get to dress for the game. And I think the players on the team really appreciate what they do. Even though you’re an offensive lineman, you’re over there playing against the defensive players, they appreciate the fact that you’re helping them get better.
“And on the other hand, the players at your position are all rooting for you because they wanna see you get some positive self-gratification for all that you do. But you couldn’t have a really good program, because it impacts the way you practice, if you didn’t have a good number of guys like Jackson Roby who help the team prepare for each and every game and they don’t get a lot of positive self-gratification – externally. We try to recognize them internally, but externally, they don’t get a lot of accolades.”
On Vanderbilt’s versatile defender De’Rickey Wright…
“I think he’s a really good player. I think their defensive players really play. They’ve got a good scheme. They play hard. They’re well-coached. He certainly has developed into what we thought he could be and is playing extremely well.”
On getting top recruits to buy in when they get to Alabama…
“What we try to do here is get players to focus on development and understand that they don’t create any value for themselves unless they focus on development so that when they get an opportunity to play, they’re actually ready to play and create value for themselves. That’s kind of how we try to manage it. Most players buy into that because they understand the importance of that, and they also respect the other players that are here and they respect the fact that – I mean, every coach is gonna try to play the best players, and that’s how they should want it to be because when they become one of the best players, they should get the opportunity to play, as well.”
On what stands out about Vanderbilt in recent studies…
“I think that the biggest difference is, I mentioned the word culture. These guys are playing with a lot of confidence. They play together well as a team. You can tell they’ve got really good team chemistry, and they compete, they play hard. That’s what you look at. They execute well. They play smart. So those are the things that sort of jump out at me, and I think those are all really good things in terms of their team having a chance to be successful.”
On progress that’s made in Year 2 under a new head coach…
“I don’t wanna say it should be that, but I think the most difficult thing is to change the culture. And when you inherit a team and you’re trying to change the culture of the whole team in the first year, you get some buy-in, you don’t get total buy-in, but as the program progresses, you get more buy-in. And when you get more buy-in, you get more players that are doing the things you want them to do them and obviously, you’ve got a better chance to be successful. That probably happens to a different degree in every program, but that’s certainly, from a coach’s perspective, what you’re trying to gain.”
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