To Nick Saban, Alabama Football Must Choose Energy Over Feelings
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — If there was one thing that Southeastern Conference fans knew heading into the 2020 season, it was that this year was going to be more draining on the players than it has been in years past.
When the SEC announced that it would be conducting a 10-game, conference-only schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, programs, media and fans alike came to the realization that this could be a potentially tough season for players and coaches.
In the SEC it just means more, and the same goes for the players and coaches who pour their hearts and souls out onto the field every grueling weekend.
Now at the halfway point of the gauntlet, now is more important than ever to evoke energy from your team as it enters its last competition before a much-needed bye week. Alabama football still must overcome first-year head coach Mike Leach and Mississippi State on Saturday evening in Bryant-Denny Stadium, but despite the Bulldogs’ 1-4 record, the team will not be one to go down easy.
Leading off his weekly Wednesday virtual press conference, a visibly-frustrated Nick Saban took to the podium and began with an opening statement concerning the energy of his players.
“I really think it's important this time of year for players to choose energy,” Saban said. “And then I think when you choose energy your feelings follow. When I think you put your feelings first, I don't think there's any football players in the country anywhere in any league that when you get halfway through the season and you've had five difficult games against good opponents, that people feel great.
“So when you put your feelings first, then your energy level's not going to be what it needs to be for you to practice and prepare and to improve and do things like you need to do it. So that's certainly a challenge for us.
“This time of year, you don't want to have self-pity. What this team has done to this point, they've put themselves in a position to have a chance to be successful. And we want to be able to build on that. But everybody's got to have the right mind-set to do that and you've got to believe in practice and preparation to be able to do that.”
Energy has not been something that the Crimson Tide have been lacking in so far this season, but an eventual burnout was never out of the question. Alabama has had a tough schedule so far, playing both No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 5 Georgia in Tuscaloosa as well as an offensive shootout on the road at Ole Miss. Throw in a solid defensive test at Missouri to start the season and most recently a road game at Tennessee that saw Alabama lose arguably its most-potent offensive weapon in Jaylen Waddle, and it’s perfectly understandable why spirits would be starting to lower.
While the Crimson Tide’s offense has remained steadily prolific so far this season, its defense has had to prove itself week after week. While the secondary has begun to develop stronger communication, which has shown better results on the field, questions at edge along with some remaining holes in secondary still exist.
Leach has brought his high-powered offensive prowess to Mississippi State, and the Bulldogs are much better than their 1-4 record says. However, Saban made it abundantly clear that if there’s anyone that underestimates Mississippi State this weekend, it certainly won’t be him.
“We're playing a team that's going to throw the ball 67 times in a game and we're going to have to play really, really well to keep them from scoring a lot of points, which they're capable of,” Saban said. “Their defense has played very, very well. They do a lot of stuff up front that creates a lot of problems for you. So that's a challenge for us.
“So we need to really have great preparation because this is a different kind of team for us to prepare for. And I think that's going to very important to us being able to perform the way we want to perform on Saturday.”
Could Saban be overreacting to a lack of energy in practice by a few players, or could it be a much larger problem in Alabama’s locker room that we simply aren’t aware of? It’s tough to tell given the limited access that fans and the media have had to the team this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. While Saban is known to frequently attend press conferences frustrated following a lackluster practice, something has seemed to be pressing on the almost-69-year-old head coach’s mind this past week.
With the loss of Waddle for the season and him most likely having played his last game in a crimson jersey, that mid-season loss could be the cause of frustration. In 2018, Alabama had Jalen Hurts suffer an injury at Tennessee. Last season, it was Tua Tagovailoa. This year, Waddle. Midseason injuries have seemingly become a normal part of the season for Alabama, but if this is what is bothering Saban, this one seems to be affecting him more than the two prior injuries.
In all likelihood, it isn’t Waddle’s injury that is affecting Saban, but is rather affecting his team’s spirits. Waddle is a beloved figure on the Crimson Tide’s offense and is liked and respected by all. Losing that key motivating factor to players would understandably cause a lowering of spirits among his teammates and thus a lowering in energy output.
Regardless, Saban’s frustrations with the energy exhibited by his team seem to be very much warranted. At a time when they need to put forth more energy than ever to gear up for Mississippi State and finally reaching a bye week in the midst of a gauntlet of a schedule, it could not have at a worse time.
That being said, Saban being aware of the issue should not be discouraging to Crimson Tide fans. If anything, it means that he is putting an extra emphasis on the issue to ensure that it is cleared up by Saturday night.
