'Every Battle Is Won Before It's Fought:' How Walkthroughs Prepare Keelon Russell

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — As Alabama was going through its pregame walkthrough last Saturday, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was struck by how much quarterback Keelon Russell had grown.

"The Saturday walkthrough, it went crazy in a good way," Grubb said. "We were getting set. Keelon was motioning one of our tight ends, and one of our receivers moved his feet and Keelon stopped everything, made sure everyone was set, snapped the ball with seven seconds left on the clock on a walkthrough before a game."

The moment foreshadowed the day's eventual 49-18 win in a game in which Russell delivered the most polished performance of his young career. Alabama's walkthroughs have proved to be one of the most important aspects of the team's preparation for games.

"The walkthroughs are really for us to get the details right, you know, do the little things right," running back Daniel Hill said. "Just learn the new plays, new installs, things like that. So the walkthroughs are very important for us."

That statement is true for just about every team at every level of football, but despite how essential walkthroughs are, they are not something that gets brought up all that often. Russell made a point to highlight Alabama's preparation after Saturday's game.

"We work hard. You know, preparation is key for us," Russell said. "Grubb says that every battle is won before it's fought, and when we attack practice, when we go to our walkthroughs or anything in general, when we're not on the field, we've got to have a 1-0 mindset. We've got to go into anything that we do acting like this is how we're going to do it in the games, and we had a phenomenal walkthrough on Saturday. And like I said, I want to thank them. Like, the walkthroughs are special. Grubb even was hyped about how special our walkthrough was."

A week ago, Grubb talked about the importance of making Russell's job "friction-free," and cited a moment from practice the week before when a running back was lined up on the wrong side. Anecdotes like that are becoming increasingly rare as the entire offense develops and works to cut out the operational issues that plagued the Crimson Tide's first three games.

"That's where we get our, you know, confidence from and our momentum from," Russell said. "It's the walkthroughs or the practices and how good we do in these practices and walkthroughs. So that's really what we key in on, you know, to get ready for the games."

Russell is riding high right now following two straight dominant showings at Bryant-Denny Stadium, but there is still plenty for him to improve at entering a ranked matchup on the road against an undefeated Mississippi State team.

"I feel like Keelon's ahead of the curve on some of those things, and he will continue to have to work on things that are going to pop up, you know, in hostile environments like what he'll see on Saturday," Grubb said. "But those are a couple things, and obviously taking care of the ball better. I did feel like he did not, you know, put it away as as good as he could on the sideline a couple times running it. He takes that really serious, and I know he'll work at that this week."

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