What Nick Saban Said on Wednesday of Bowl Practice Week
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head coach Nick Saban met with reporters on Wednesday evening ahead of the Crimson Tide's CFP matchup with No. 1 Michigan.
Of course, Wednesday was also Early Signing Day.
Here's a full transcript of the media availability:
Opening Statement
"Challenging day, nonetheless. I know because it's Early Signing Day, people want to talk about signings and we just got off the practice field. So prepping for practice, prepping for a game, trying to finish this part of recruiting at least [and] there's still some other guys out there we're obviously interested in that may be signing in the next few days, or some guys that will wait until February — but we're really pleased with the class. Got a lot of good players, got a lot of mid-year guys which I think is really important or helpful in their development."
"This is a product of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. I think our coaching staff did a really good job. The people who support us in the university community do a great job, whether it's the academic university community, or folks that work in academics — all the people that work in athletic administration. All these people work really, really hard on helping us put together a really, really good class so I'm excited about these players. I'm not going to go through them individually or anything but some of them are here. I think we've got several guys that are already practicing, we got a few more guys that may join us later. I think there's a total of maybe 19 mid-year guys or something like that so that's probably a really good thing."
"From a practice standpoint, players had good energy and enthusiasm today. It was nice enough to go outside. So the focus is still on excellence is not free, you've got to pay the price up front, and there's a price to pay for it. Working on fundamentals, finishing the play, pushing yourself through, focusing on blocking and tackling and taking care of the ball. A lot of things that we need to pay attention to detail to try to get our momentum back as a team and our confidence back so that everybody's playing together and we got a great understanding of what we need to do to have a chance to play winning football when the game comes."
Dre Kirkpatrick Jr.?
"I think that's the first legacy for Alabama, not necessarily the first legacy for me. I coached Mark Ingram's dad at Michigan State but the first generational legacy player that played for us in Alabama and now has a son playing here, I think it's great. His dad's been a really good ambassador for the program, was a great player here and had a great NFL career so you really appreciate that part of it. But I know how proud he is of his son on what his son has been able to accomplish and his son to have an opportunity to come to Alabama."
Early enrollees adjusting to bowl practice? Benefits?
"I think just exposure, obviously. The first three days [of practice], those guys have to go through acclimation period, so they gotta be in shorts for so long and then helmets and shoulder pads, so they haven't even been allowed to put full pads on yet. But I just think the whole experience of being in meetings, learning the stretch program, learning the weight training program, being in meetings and starting to learn the offense or defense, being around the players on the field, seeing how a college practice really goes and how they can contribute and how they can improve."
"A lot of them come up and meet with the coaches so that they learn a little extra if they don't understand something in a meeting. So I think this total experience is a really positive thing for them, in terms of their adjustment to how they're going to transition into school in January and that whole process that we go through in spring."
Julian Sayin?
"Julian is an outstanding player. The ball comes out of his hand really nice, he's accurate, he's smart. He's had a great high school career and been one of the best and most productive players in the country on a very consistent basis and we like him a lot. I think as all players, I tell all players you really got to focus on your development. That's the most important thing — What are you going to become? And I think he's got the right mindset to do that."
Aeryn Hampton?
"Bubba's kind of a dawg, man. He's one of those guys that's a great competitor and makes a lot of plays. Whatever he plays on offense, wherever he plays on the field, he doesn't come off the field very often. They had a very successful season this year, I know they had a disappointment in the playoffs but this guy's a great competitor, can do a lot of things and we're really excited about having him."
Impact of social media on recruiting?
"I don't know. You're asking the wrong person. I mean, we try to be honest. We try to be upfront. We try to sell people on the fact that they can create value in their brand, that we're gonna make a great investment in them here, personally, academically and athletically. There's a lot of guys that still buy into that. I think name, image and likeness has maybe spread where guys go out because some guys are interested in how much money they can make and that's OK. We're trying to invest in the players in their future so they could create more value for their future. There is a lot of players that still buy into that."
Julian Sayin's ability to play under center?
"We don't get under center a whole bunch but that's something we want to be able to do and we want the quarterback to be comfortable doing, so anybody who's done it in high school or grew up doing it, it's the natural thing for them so I think it's good. I think it's a good thing they're not so one-dimensional as a player and then they're uncomfortable doing new things that you have to do, because I'm sure wherever anybody goes there is going to be new things at every position that they have to learn to do and grow comfortable learning. That's one thing that's pretty huge for a quarterback."
Dre Kirkpatrick Jr. and his father as prospects? Compare them?
"They're different people. You know, I mean, they're both good people and great family. I don't like to make comparisons. I don't think that's fair, but little Dre is a mature guy that kind of knows what he wants. He's a very competitive guy and his dad was, had a lot of those same characteristics and that's why he became the kind of player that he was."
Offensive line recruits?
"We think they have a lot of potential. They're guys that obviously — that's a developmental position. Those guys are guys that we think have a lot of ability. We know a lot about them. We had them in camp. We're excited about having them here. We think they can develop into good prospects and good players. I still think we're kind of out there in the market looking for some more those kind of guys — offensive linemen. Just from a numbers standpoint and from a quality, experience standpoint, so we're excited to have them and we're still out there looking to try to add some people at that position."
Maintaining commits, pursuing guys late?
"Well, you know, our focus right now is on the game, alright? We're trying to get ready for a game and I know we gotta recruit, and we're trying to recruit, and there's a lot of stuff, a lot of guys in the portal, there's still some players out there that we're recruiting that we think are outstanding players, so we're continuing to try to do the best job that we can in every regard, from coaching our players standpoint to trying to get quality players to come here. But the whole recruiting process when we made an Early Signing Day years ago, we said 'This would become the signing date.' Well, it also just moved the recruiting calendar up like six months. Players visit in the summer time — that's when most guys visit. I mean we used to have tons of guys visit in January — we'll have very few visit in January. The whole thing is kind of just pushed forward so I don't know how to answer. There's just a lot of things happening right now that take our time and focus and attention. Recruiting is important, the game is important, our team is important. We're trying to manage our time the best we can to do a good job in all those areas so that we can finish."
