Teaching moment: Nick Saban stresses discipline, small details against ULM
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With another football game looming, Nick Saban typically uses his Wednesday press conference to hyperfocus on the task at hand.
On Wednesday, Saban took a different approach to his mid-week availability talking about the importance of teachers and how they affected not only his life but the lives of students across the country.
“Man I can tell you every teacher that I had in every grade because most of the time I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do, so I was always getting corrected,” Saban said.
While Saban smiled and listed through every teacher he had during grade school, the 16-year head coach now finds himself in the role of a teacher, trying to re-establish the importance of discipline after Alabama committed 15 penalties for a total of 100 yards in the 20-19 win against Texas.
“I think the big focus, as I said earlier in the week is, continuing to be able to play hard but play smart, play with more discipline, make good choices and decisions,” Saban said. “Intelligence, intensity, sense of urgency, those things are really important, but you got to focus on in the right place in terms of what you need to do to do your job correctly because that creates value for you, but it also creates value for the team.
“I think one of the things that we're trying to get our players to understand is there was a lot of emphasis on winning games, but true competitors want to play to the best of their ability and try to dominate the competition, whoever it is.”
Saturday’s performance eclipsed the previous penalty record in the Saban era when the Crimson Tide was flagged 13 times for 96 yards in the 2019 Iron Bowl loss to Auburn.
More concerning than the number of flags was how many of those infractions went for first downs. Alabama had five penalties which gave the Longhorns a new set of downs, one of which led to Texas’ lone touchdown in the game when Will Anderson Jr. tackled Texas’ Ja’Tavion Sanders when he was already out of bounds.
It wasn’t just penalties that caught Saban’s attention this week. He also harped on the importance of the “small details of the game” whether it was hand placement on blocks or correct footwork by the defensive backs when they’re guarding a pass.
While those aspects of the game won’t show up on the stat sheet, Saban reiterated their importance, especially for the offensive line.
“It’s not just mental errors,” Saban said. “Mental errors are all correctable. It’s also focusing on the fundamental way that you need to do your job. … I think as an entire group as an offensive line, we need to do all of those things better. We need to play better together. We need to play fundamentally better just like every other position I’m talking about.”
Alabama showed a bit of what the offensive line can do when it gets all of the little things right on Jase McClellan’s 81-yard touchdown.
In the play, J.C. Latham blocks down on the defensive end, leaving a gaping hole on the right side of the line. Then Emil Ekiyor Jr., while he currently is blocking his assignment, walls off the Texas linebacker which allows McClellan to burst through the line untouched en route to the score.
It was the lone rush that went for 10 yards or more in the win, but Saban admitted after the game that the running game is still not as consistent as the team needs it to be.
While Louisiana-Monroe may be just the opponent to help get the running game in order, Saban isn’t taking any chances with the Warhawks coming to Tuscaloosa.
“That’s your opinion on quality of opponent, aight. It’s not mine,” Saban said. “I respect all of the people that we play, and I respect winning and what you have to do to win, aight. And every player should not be focused on who they’re playing against relative to their motivation, but every player should want to be the best player they can be. So why would it matter whether we’re playing Texas or playing somebody else? That’s how you get good. That’s how you develop the right habits. That’s how you’re consistent.