Hey Coach and the Nick Saban Show: Chattanooga Week

The Crimson Tide Sports Network hosts its weekly "Hey Coach Show" on Thursday nights during the fall. The program is hosted live at Baumhower's Victory Grille next to the University of Alabama campus.

This week's edition is the fourteenth of the fall semester and Alabama football head coach Nick Saban was in attendance to talk about the Kentucky win and preview the upcoming matchup against the Chattanooga Mocs.

Eli Gold will be joined by Nick Saban as always, but the early part of the episode featured soccer coach Wes Hart, and the media guest is Charlie Potter of On3Sports.

Segment 1 with Eli Gold, Charlie Potter and Nick Saban

Gold, "I love that you walked in the door and first thing you did was say hello to Kerry Goode. People realize how much you and the family of Alabama football mean to people who are battling and going through things like Kerry is."
Saban, "I also think people should appreciate that as much as Kerry is battling, how much he's helping people. That's the thing that I admire most about him. Everyone should give him a hand for doing that with all that he's up against."
Gold, "He's battling so much and still has such a bright outlook on life and I'm just not sure if I could do that."
Saban, "Well it's all about your heart, and it's all about who you are and what you think about other people and how much you appreciate having relationships with other people and helping other people...."
Potter, "Wide receivers, how have they made progress from the start of the season?"
Saban, "Well I think that the entire group and the entire offensive team has made tremendous progress in terms of how we've improved in the offensive line. I think the receivers were outstanding at Kentucky, even though we were down Ja'Corey Brooks and Jermaine Burton....I think Jalen's improvement has done some much for that group in terms of confidence...."
PeeWee on the Phone, "Here in the past few weeks they've done nothing but get better and better each week. On Kadyn Proctor, how has his confidence helped him and his play and also how has Jaeden Roberts effected all the offensive lineman?"
Saban, "I think Kadyn, first of all, has gained a lot confidence through the course of the season I think a lot of players around him have gained confidence. But I also think around him have learned how to help him play better. I think one of the things that was a problem early and sometimes still is a problem is communication. When player communicate and you have a chance to prepare for something before it happens, I think players have so much more of a chance to be successful.... I think Jaeden Roberts has done a good job at guard, the thing that Jaeden has done for us is play with power at guard....."
Potter, "What does it say about Jalen Milroe who played through pain in last week's game?"
Saban, "Yeah, well the ability to overcome adversity, the mental toughness or whatever you want to talk about...Jalen really wants to be a good player. So that's where your focus comes from and then your passion for it is how bad do you want to it... and then you've got to have mental toughness to overcome adversity.. Jalen's always wanted to do these things and he's always been a tough guy. Sometimes because he is a quarterback I cringe a little bit when he runs into them instead of getting on the ground, but you've got to admire the toughness and I think that inspires the rest of the guys too... he was a little slow during the week but he's coming around. He was actually back to 100% full speed yesterday."
AL.Com question "What makes this senior class special?"
Saban, "I"m glad you mentioned it. This is always a game because, the students aren't always here because of Thanksgiving. This game does not always draw the attention and crowd that we would like. But from the standpoint of showing your appreciate for a class of guys and what they've done for the University..... To show your appreciation I just hope everybody comes out and shows your thanks... I don't think people appreciate how hard it is to be a student-athlete.... These guys put a lot into it and I think sometimes people take that for granted. I understand we're in the entertainment business and they understand that too but I think the hard work they've put into everything that goes into being a student-athlete is something everyone should come out and pay respect to."

Segment 2 with Eli Gold, Nick Saban and Charlie Potter

Gold, "UTC has a nice quarterback and a good passing game."
Potter, "Yeah he's a good player and he's got some good players around him. Coach Saban was complimentary of them last night, so this is an offense that can pose some challenge but they are an FCS opponent. I think brining in players from a Power 5 conference it shows they can get things done too."
Gold, "Coach we would've never seen guys transfer down in the old days, he's good?"
Saban, "He's a very good player, he's a smart player, very accurate with the ball and a good athlete. They've got a good receiving core. They're one of the top teams offensively, in their division. He does a lot of reading, they throw a lot of RPOs, really well coached team. They really play hard on defense and they're very, very aggressive. I watched the 2016 game, it was kind of amazing all these guys who're playing in the NFL, and we're out there playing against these guys and we're behind 3-0. I don't know how many guys they had in the NFL. It just goes to show you, if you're not ready to play and complacency kills momentum. If you don't respect the other team and you don't build on the rhythm and the momentum of how we've improved. It just like in basketball when you go on a run. Sometimes when you go on a run the other team doesn't get the momentum back. That's what I've been trying to get across to the players... this game can hurt us a lot more by us not having the right mindset...I can promise you there's not one guy that's not dreaming about 'is there any way in the world we can beat Alabama' and we have to respect that and do a really good job."
Young child in the restaurant, "Who's the best player you've ever coached"
Saban, "Oh boy, it's a good question, but I think it would be unfair to so many players, because we've had so many great players to say that one guy was the best player. Even to pick out a guy, like we've had seven first round draft pick wide receivers, to pick out one of those guys and say that one of those guys is better than the other six would almost disrespect the other six guys because they were all great players. We just had so many good players. I think the things I admire most about the good players that we have is they're talented guys, but they have the right kind of character. They do the right things, they treat people the right way, they have compassion for other people, they're hard workers, they set a good example in what they do, they care about their teammates. So that's what made them great players to start with. If you want to immolate something, immolate that part of who they are because whatever you choose to do in your life then, you'll be successful."
Potter, "You've talked about senior day taking you back to recruiting stories, do you have any standout memories about the guys in this class?"
Saban, "Wow, if you'd show me a list, I'm sure I'd have a good story about somebody. That Ross Pierschbacher story was something else, It's in a snow storm, Mario Cristobal's the offensive line coach, he grew up in Cuba, lived in Miami all his life, he's never seen snow. I tried to talk him into letting me drive from the airport to the kids house and he wouldn't let me do it. It was a bad deal, but we survived."
Gold, "A guy that you did recruit that surprised you by coming to Alabama that you didn't think would come?"
Saban, "There's all kinds of surprises in recruiting. There's surprises about guys who'll tell you they're coming for a year, and then all of the sudden they tell you they're not coming, so it goes both ways. Then, like Kadyn Proctor, he was committed for a long time to Iowa and then at the last minute he and his mother decided that this was a better place. No disrespect to Iowa we had an opportunity for him. There's always sort of stories like that. One of my favorite all time stories and you may have heard it before. Andre Rison was a pretty good NFL player and most people would recognize that name. When I was an assistant coach at Michigan State we went to recruit Andre Rison. Everybody knows Joe Manchin too, I think he was the governor of West Virginia back then. So Terry and I are driving home for Christmas and Joe calls and say, "Alberta Brown wants to talk to you." I said, "Why? The lady who owns the garbage business? Why would she want to see me?", he said "That's Andre Rison's grandma, and she told me all the stuff that this other school was doing and all the things we needed to do to get him.' The problem was it was Christmas Eve and Miss Terry's mom has her Christmas party on Christmas Eve and so I stayed there too long and missing the Christmas party, nearly all of it. But we got Andre Rison."
Adam on the phone, "How are you doing coach? How do you deal with expectations and handling your marriage and personal life?"
Saban, "That's interesting. I kind of have standards and expectations for what I expect from each individual player. I try to do the same thing with our team. I'm probably our greatest critic. I don't read the internet or listen to outside noise, because I don't want it to affect the way I view our team. I know there's always great expectation when it comes to our program....I don't really feel like, I don't have pressure, I have pressure, but my pressure comes from me...We have a high expectation for everyone in our program. I know from a fans perspective there's nothing that matters more than winning and losing, but from a coaching perspective the thing that matters is the teaching and developing of the player."

Segment 3 with Eli Gold, Charlie Potter and Nick Saban

Harrison on the phones, "No doubt that Chattanooga will be ready to play. I've watched highlights and one thing they do is run trick plays."
Saban, "Yeah, well they have two receivers that have thrown passes. Number 6 and number 2. One was a high school QB. They'll run reverses, and reverse passes. What we do on Thursdays is we show the trick plays and gimmicks. Then we'll sprinkle them in practice so they have to recognize them. You don't know what they'll do in the game. I agree with you, they do run a lot of interesting plays. The defense is going to have to play their assignment and be prepared for the uniqueness of what they're bringing."
Saban, "These guys have in my opinion, quality specialty guys and skill position players on offense equivalent to SEC teams. And the quarterback, this guy was at UCLA, he's a good player. You've got to play good man, you control how you play. We need to be ready to play, we need to execute and play the way we need to play to our standard and allow the momentum to grow for us."
Potter, "Former Alabama player Lorenzo Ward is UTC's defensive coordinator. What stands out about him?"
Saban, "They're good on defense. They're very, very aggressive. They play a lot of quarters coverage, their secondary's safeties are really hard run fitters, which gives you an extra guy in the box which you usually don't have anyone in the offensive line assigned to block a safety in the box. They have two good edge players, number 53 and number 30, I'm not great at remembering names, they both have quickness. They play hard and play sound on defense. You've just got to beat them."
Restaurant visitor, "What was your most memorable game?"
Saban, "I hate to sound crazy but it was the last one. And the most important one is the next one. No, there have been a lot of great games, a lot of great games. Championship games where we've had success are so memorable I can't even explain the emotion of the team, then almost the sadness when you've got the group of guys that have accomplished something that is special to win a championship. You know when you're in the locker room at the end of the game, there's so much joy and jubilation but you know it's the last time you'll be together. So there's not one particular game that I could say are special. All the championship games and playoff games that we've had. To be honest with you, I think more about the ones that we lost than the ones we won. The three championship games that we lost haunt me a lot more and I think a lot more about things we could've done differently. I should have called timeout, something that I could've impacted the outcome and I didn't. I think about that a lot more than the ones we won."
Gold, "How do you become an Alabama fan out if San Fransisco being so young?"
Visitor, "Umm I like the 49ers too, but I mean, it's the Tide. I'm always going to love the Tide."
Gold, AL.com Blog, "Do you still use Dr. Elko, have you considered John Maxwell?"
Saban, "I don't know the name John Maxwell. I don't think we've ever had him. We still talk to Dr. Elko on a weekly basis, he comes in and speaks to the team on occasion. He does leadership seminars with the team a couple times a semester. Most of the speakers that we have we don't have during the season. We have most of them in the offseason and in fall camp. During fall camp we have a speaker almost every night of the week....We really try to teach cause and affect with our guys and consequences for our behaviors. We try to educate the guys whether it's drugs, alcohol, gambling, agents, how to treat the opposite sex and all kinds things. If you make a mistake in this day and age in any of those areas it can be really detrimental to your future and opportunities to be successful."
Potter, "Are you paying money in a swear jar? What went into that?'
Saban, "Yeah, it's costing me. What the players are campaigning for and I haven't given into as of yet, but it would make me a better person if I would do it, but they want me to pay for any swearing on the field. That would be very costly. I might need to get a loan from Miss Terry on that one."

Segment 4 with Charlie Potter, Eli Gold and Nick Saban

Potter, "You talked about a few players seeing a crowd leaving. You've mentioned hateful competitors in the past. Is that a difference for this year's team?"
Saban, "I don't like to compare teams. I think what this team has done and didn't say anything about that to the guys about playing on the road, but it has been one of the things we've tried to use to make a point about road challenges. Some of the guys mentioned that to me and I wasn't really paying attention. I was more paying attention to the 74-yard run we gave up when we put in the second-team defense....You have to continue to make plays in order to take fans out of the game. One of the best experiences I had when we coached at Ohio State, Woody Hayes used to come back around and he said about a trip to Wisconsin, 'the number one things you have to is make the fans sit on their hands. If you can make the fans sit on their hands you guys will be fine'. So with a minute to go in the half we fumbled a punt and they scored and I thought the press box was going to fall off. We ended up losing and never could get that momentum back.."
Nick Saban's Final Word: "Well I think that we've touched on it before, but I think this last game that this team's going to play in Bryant-Denny Stadium its really, all the fans come out, support the team, this team has done a fantastic job of working really hard to improve and giving you something to be proud of and going to the SEC Champioship game. The seniors who have played and given up four years of hard work to entertain you and help you, this is your opportunity to give back to them and to have the proper respect for the team that you're playing and the support that we need to be able to play well. Because we can lose in this game, sometimes even if you win if you don't carry out the momentum and that momentum has been fantastic and our fans have contributed to that momentum in an unbelievable way this year, maybe more than I can ever remember, in the LSU and the Tennessee game so to continue that I think is something that's really important to our team being able to continue that momentum in the future."