What Nick Saban Said on Monday of Texas A&M Week
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After Texas A&M beat Alabama last season and offseason drama between head coaches Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher, this Saturday's matchup between the Crimson Tide and Aggies has been highly anticipated for months. While two early-season losses by Texas A&M have detracted some of the original excitement around the game, it is still a big week in Tuscaloosa with the Aggies coming to town and Alabama back at No. 1 in the polls.
Saban is set to speak to the media Monday afternoon to recap the Crimson Tide's road win in Arkansas plus look ahead to the game with the Aggies.
Follow along for live updates throughout the press conference, with a full transcript and video to be posted after.
Live Updates
- "We did a lot of really good things [against Arkansas.]" Saban talks about explosive plays on offense.
- Saban called the third quarter at Arkansas "disastrous" in every way.
- "Texas A&M has a really, really good team. They have a lot of good players, and Jimbo does a good job coaching them."
- "What happened in last week's game's not going to have any effect on what happens in this weeks game."
- Saban says there's no real update on Bryce. He's still day-to-day and will be evaluated on a daily basis. Saban says Brian Branch isn't going to practice today, but should practice after today. He says Justin Eboigbe has a neck injury that is going to be looked at by specialists before they let him play again.
- Saban says Kool-Aid McKinstry was trained in fall camp at the Star safety position, but he had not been practicing it because Alabama has three other guys they can use there (Brian Branch, Malachi Moore and Jahquez Robinson.) Branch got injured in the game against Arkansas, Moore went out and Robinsons was injured before the game, so that's why McKinstry had to go in.
- Saban says Arkansas is the best he's seen the offensive line play.
- When you don't know who the starting quarterback is going to be, Saban says you just have to prepare for both guys.
- "The question is, 'Do you need to lose a game to learn?'... "The middle of the season is not the time to think about getting rest."- Saban when asked about what teams can learn from close, tough games.
- "Sometimes you've got to know when there's no play to be made."- Saban on the only thing he would tell Bryce when trying to avoid the injury. He said Bryce should've either just been tackled or thrown the ball away, but not tried to do both.
- Saban said he doesn't get affected by outside noise because he doesn't listen to the media. However, he does know that his players do listen to it, so he has to manage that. He tried to warn against rat poison going into the A&M game last year and says no one listened to him.
- Saban is finished at the podium after 16 minutes.
Full Transcript
Opening Statement
"After reviewing in the film, I don't feel a whole lot different than I did after the game. You know, we did a lot of really good things in this game. Made a lot of explosive plays offensively. Did a good job of creating balance, run and pass. Defensively we played really well for the first couple quarters of the game, but really we lost our intensity in the third quarter. Had a disastrous third quarter relative to statistics, relative to errors in the kicking game, relative to feel position, time and possession. Whatever you want to talk about, but have to give the team a lot of credit for gaining the resiliency to come back and play really well in the fourth quarter, which was really the difference in the game. So a lot of lessons to be learned here. And hopefully our players will learn that I think we had the right mindset playing on the road. We started out the game really, really well. I don't think we sustained it like we need to. And you know, that's the next step of what we need to learn.
"But Texas A&M has a really, really good team. These guys have a lot of good players. You know, Jimbo does a really good job of coaching them. A lot of challenging things on offense. That's always been the case with him being a really, really good offensive coach and play caller. They got some very explosive players on offense. Evan Stewart's a really good receiver. Achane, I think I'm saying his name correctly, No. 6 is really an explosive player, not only as a returner, but as a runner and a receiver. I mean, this guy is a very, very talented guy. So they've got a really, really good offensive team. They've got a really good defensive team, one of the top defensive teams and the SEC. They've got really good specialists. So this is a really good team all the way around. And what happened in last week's game is not gonna have any effect on what happens in this game. You know, we could go say it was the same situation a year ago. They're gonna play really well against us, and we got to be ready to play our best, you know, as a team to be able to take advantage of it.
"I know you're interested in the injury situation. Really there's no updates on Bryce. You know, he's got a little bit of a shoulder injury. It's not a long term, you know, type injury. He's gonna be day to day when he can get back to, you know, throwing, and we'll just have to evaluate it day to day. So I can't tell you if that's going to be today, tomorrow or the next day. Brian Branch, not going to practice today but should be OK after today, Justin Eboigbe has got a neck injury that we're having specialists look at to make sure we manage correctly and we're not going to allow him to play until we can get the exact most expert plan of action for him and his future.
Kool-Aid getting more training at Star?
"Yeah, well, we trained them and I guess I wasn't totally specific or wasn't trying to be dishonest, but we trained them in fall camp to be able to do this, so it wasn't like he's never done it before. We just hadn't practiced him because we thought we had three capable Stars. Jahquez Robinson you know not being available for the game because of an injury left us two and both of them went down in the game. If we have three, I'm fine with that. But if we need to we will train him some at that position. Kool-Aid's a really bright guy. He's very smart. He understands football. So it's not really hard. He's not one of those guys that need a whole bunch of reps to be able to play a different position, because he has a pretty good understanding of the concept, but we will."
Offensive line's performance at Arkansas?
"They did a good job in this game, especially. I think this was the best game we've played. I think they've shown improvement every week. I think that's important. I think that you're talking about a team that had 15 sacks going into the game, led the league in sacks. And they say they got one sack. I guess it must have been on Bryce's scramble. He must have lost a half an inch or something on that play.
"I thought they did a great job in pass protection, too, against some pretty good pass rushers and a pretty good pressure scheme."
Preparing for Texas A&M uncertainty at quarterback
"We've seen a little bit of both guys. We don't really know the circumstances of the situation but we have to prepare for both guys. I mean, we do this a lot, especially when the skill-set of the two guys is a little bit different. We have no way of knowing if 13 plays, if they're going to do something different with him. We just have to prepare for what we know they've done in the past and be ready to adjust in the game if there's something different."
Benefits from playing a close game
"I would say that we've only had, what, two teams around here in 15 years that have gone undefeated. That didn't mean that the teams that lost a game necessarily didn't have in some cases the same amount of success as the other. The question is, do you need to lose a game to learn? Do you need to lose a game to get it right? Do you need to lose a game to say it's important to practice the right way, do things the right way, take care of myself the right way.
"The middle of the season is not the time of the season to think about getting rest. You rest at the end of the season. The season is a grind. Practice is a grind. Preparation is a grind, mentally and physically, on players. But you've got to make a choice: Are you going to grind through that and continue or can you learn from the lessons when you win as well as when you lose? Or do you have to lose to learn the lessons? And I think that's a dynamic that every team has to prove that they can continue to do these things over the course of the season."
How have they handled similar Bryce injuries in the past?
"Well, there's nothing to handle. What do you want me to handle? I mean, the only thing I would tell Bryce is, don't put yourself in a bad position. He could have thrown the ball away before and he could have just let the guy tackle him. In either case, he probably wouldn't have an issue. But putting himself in the awkward position of trying to throw the ball on his way down, and then landing the way he did, just try to avoid those types of circumstances and situations for any injury.
"But again, that's not a criticism, it's a teaching moment that players have to learn. And the thing about great competitors, and Bryce is a great competitor, is they always want to make a play. They're going to go to the last nth degree to make a play. But sometimes you've got to know when there's no play to be made. And now it's time to not put myself at risk."
Working on special packages for Jalen Milroe?
"We already have one. You want us to put a new one together just cause he might play or use the old one? I mean, we can do either one. I'll go to the offensive coaches and see.
"I don't talk to Jimbo on a regular basis, but I'll call him and tell him right after the conference if you want me to. You guys think I'm going to tell you what we're going to do with our offense and our team? You might as well make it up.
"I saw today where there was headlines in the paper that I'm going to keep it a secret what we're going to do with Bryce. It sounded like me making that statement. (voice rising) I never said that, but it was there in black and white. So you can make up whatever you want to make up. Look at somebody else's running quarterback and say they should put these plays in. I think that'd be a better way to do it."
Kool-Aid McKinstry's character?
“Kool-Aid is very competitive, a very smart guy, is a hard worker. Kind of understands what it takes to be successful, does a really good job of applying techniques and trying to do things the right way. And I think that has played well for us so far this season, done a really good job on the punt return. But I think the punt return team has done a really good job of executing, as well. But I think these kinds of guys that have this kind of competitive character are smart, make good choices and decisions in the game, whether it’s what technique to use. The guy I’m covering, how do I need to do it? All those things enhance a guy’s ability to be successful, and Kool-Aid does that extremely well.”
Handling social media, outside noise, etc.?
“Obviously, at times, we haven’t handled it very well because I was talking about rat poison last year when we played this game, and nobody wouldn’t listen. Players wouldn’t listen, y’all didn’t listen. They had lost the week before. We were big favorites. It was like no big deal, just show up for this game and go play the next game. I don’t get affected by it because I don’t listen to you all. I don’t really don’t have any interest in what anybody thinks about any of this stuff. I do have an interest in how it affects and impacts the players on our team, and I think it does. And I think they have to show maturity in how they manage and know that external opinion, external noise, whatever you wanna call it – rat poison, whatever it is – absolutely has nothing to do with the outcome of the game.
“Just like fans have nothing to do with the outcome of the game. They don’t block, they don’t tackle, they don’t catch passes, they don’t make sacks. All they do is make noise, and if you wanna take them out of the game, just play well, execute and then they won’t be there. They’ll leave. So there are external factors that cannot affect how you think as a competitor in terms of respecting winning, respecting what you have to do to win and how important it is, knowing that we’re going to get the other team’s best game because they can all get well beating us. So that’s how I try to handle it. Does anybody listen? Sometimes, sometimes not.”
How did blocking sets up Jahmyr Gibbs’ cutback lanes?
“I think that’s the sign of a really good running back is you help the offensive line by how you stretch the play, press the hole, whatever it is so that you lead them to their blocks. Then when people overplay the blocks or get hooked, you stick your foot in the ground and hit it. And that’s what he did on both of his runs. That’s what he does very well, whether it’s an inside run or an outside run. So that’s part of being a good back. It’s not just take the ball and run it. You have to understand how are we blocking this play? How do I set these blockers up so that they have the best chance to succeed at their blocks? Which these plays were well blocked. He did a great job of running these plays, stretching, finding the seam and cutting. So you’re trying to cut the defense some kind of way. So you’ve got these guys playing outside, you cut these guys off, you press it and that’s where you try to hit it, and that’s what happened.”
