Everything Nick Saban Said Wednesday Ahead of Ole Miss
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nick Saban will speak with reporters on Wednesday afternoon as his team continues to prepare for its road game against the Ole Miss Rebels.
Saban will enter Saturday 2-0 against Lane Kiffin, the former Alabama offensive coordinator and current head coach at Ole Miss, and an overall record of 29-2 against his former assistants.
Live Updates
- Saban's press conference is slated to being at approx. 6 p.m. CT
- Saban took the time to thank veterans for their sacrifices as Veteran's Day approaches.
- "We all have issues and things that happen in our life that we still have to deal with, but you have to have the right mindset in order to regain momentum when those things happen," Saban said.
- Saban noted that Ole Miss has a plethora of significant players that they acquired from the transfer portal. He then equated the transfer portal to free agency in the NFL, a comparison that he has made before.
- Jaxson Dart looks like "a bright guy" to Saban, who referenced what he's seen from him on film. Saban also said that he is a big, physical guy that presents a big challenge.
- "You have to have a systematic approach," Saban said when talking about a day-in and day-out approach as a coach. He also spoke on creating a culture of players that create value for themselves and in turn elevate the program. The Bama Standard.
- "I think Will's been great," Saban said of placekicker Will Reichard. Reichard became Alabama's all-time points leader this past weekend at LSU. "He's very consistent in practice, very consistent in his routine," Saban said. "I just love the guy as a specialist."
Nick Saban Transcript - November 9, 2022
Opening Statement
"I think one of the biggest challenges that we all face is the challenge to create the right habits in what we do day-in and day-out. To do the little things right, have fun doing it, have the right energy, enthusiasm — sort of approach things with a disciplined mindset to create those habits so you're gonna have confidence in the fundamental execution. You gotta invest in that in practice and it takes good energy and enthusiasm and focus every day to be able to do that. I was pretty pleased with the way the players did that today so hopefully we can build on that and it's going to help our execution come game day.
"We have a lot of respect for Ole Miss. We understand the challenge that we have this Saturday in Oxford. They've got a lot of good players, they're well-coached, there's challenging schemes on both sides of the ball so we're doing the best we can to get our players ready and confident to be able to play with confidence when the game comes.
"One thing I'd like to mention: Veteran's Day [is] coming up this week, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the veterans who served our country who make the sacrifices they made for the quality of life that maybe so many of us take for granted that we certainly shouldn't. It's hard to feel bad if you have gratitude for what we have, and we have one of the greatest countries in the world and all of these servicemen have made sacrifices so that we can maintain that and we appreciate what they do more than you know."
On the energy in practice this week and if it can serve as a predictor for how they'll perform in the game...
"No, I can't tell. You hope that when guys practice well — and I believe in this — that they will play better in the game. But there's so many things that happen in the game that you have to be able to maintain your individual momentum to be able to play the next play and execute when your best is needed.
"I mean, when an 'Oh s***!' moment comes up in the game, you gotta be able to play the next play just like you gotta do the same thing in life. We all have issues and things that happen in our life. Some we create, some we don't create [but] we still have to deal with, but you gotta have the right mindset to be able to sustain the right energy level and regain momentum when those things happen. And that's one of the things that we need to get better at.
"We talk all the time about playing one play at a time for 60 minutes in the game like it has a history and a life of its own and no matter what happened on the last play, focus on the next play. Don't look at the scoreboard, don't worry about the outcome — just do the things you need to do to get the outcome that you want. And that's something that we need to improve on and it's something that's been harped on all year long.
"So even if you practice well, if you don't go in the game with the right psychological disposition to sustain momentum and how you play play-in and play-out even when things go bad, even when you're playing on the road — it doesn't matter where you're playing — then you're not going to be able to maintain the kind of focus you need to be able to execute."
On the impact of the transfer portal for Ole Miss...
"Well, I think you can go through all the teams that we play and they have significant players that have come in from the transfer portal, and Ole Miss certainly has significant players. LSU had significant players last week that made their team better. It’s almost like, can you only build your team in the draft, or is there such a thing as free agency now in college football? For years, NFL teams used both of those things to help build their team. I think some teams are doing that. Some teams probably need to do it a little more than others.
"But I think it creates a lot of parity relative to how fast you can rebuild a team, how fast you can sort of get your team to where you need to be to be very, very competitive. I think Ole Miss, Lane’s done a great job of that. He’s got a lot of significant players, and you couple that with some good recruiting and it helps your team be really good, and they got a really good team."
On Jaxson Dart and the Rebels' pick-up offense...
"He looks to me like he must be a really bright guy because he does a really good job of executing the offense. He can make plays with his feet. He’s athletic. He’s a big, strong guy. So he’s a good runner. A different kind than what we played a week ago. He’s a really good passer. And he does a good job of faking the ball, which is important in a lot of their shot plays in terms of what they like to do — because they run the ball so well, they’ve got really good play-action passes. He’s done, I think, a really, really good job for them all year long."
On what goes into coaching at a high level...
"I think you have to have a systematic approach. I can’t speak for Lane, but he was here and did a really good job when he was here and he’s obviously done a good job every place he’s been since he’s been here.
"For me, I can speak to a systematic approach that, in terms of trying to develop a culture in an organization, that develops a standard and expectation for what people need to do so they can create value for themselves and we can have success as an organization, they can have success individually, we can have success as a team and have good people in your organization that are actually carrying out the principles and values of the organization, the standard you want to set in terms of the culture, whether it’s discipline, work ethic, people being responsible and accountable to do their job, pay attention to detail. So all of those things, sort of, make a team what it is.
"Obviously you’ve got to get the right people, so you’ve got to do a good job of recruiting in all parts of your organization – coaching staff as well as the kind of players you bring in. So I think all those things are critical. Having a good system, offensively, defensively, that players have a chance to be successful in, I think that’s obvious too as part of the overall system and program."
On Will Reichard's career at Alabama...
"I think Will’s been great. I’ve been coaching for a long time and I know a couple seasons ago he was perfect for the whole year, in terms of field goals and extra points. Every time he kicks. He’s done a really good job for us this year. I know he missed a couple but they were long ones, they were tough ones. But he’s been very, very consistent. He’s very consistent in practice. He’s very consistent in his routine. He’s got the right mindset to not get, sort of, rattled in situations and he’s very, very competitive. I absolutely just love the guy as a specialist. Sometimes your specialists are a little different. He’s just phenomenal."
