TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Terrion Arnold heard Texas A&M receiver Ainias Smith’s recent comments regarding Nick Saban, he’s just not really sure what they mean.
Monday, Smith made headlines when he called this week's matchup against Saban "more personal" due to the head coach's attempt to block his older brother's transfer from Alabama to Georgia in 2016. Later, the senior receiver said, “ I know what Nick Saban wants, and we're gonna mess that up.”
That’s the part that has Arnold a bit stumped.
“When I seen that, I was kind of like, ‘What does Coach Saban want?’” Arnold said with a smile. “I’ve been here three years, and I don’t know what the guy wants. If we’re being honest, I don’t even really know.”
Arnold is a trash-talker himself. The redshirt sophomore said he’s already planning on exchanging words with his friend, Even Stewart, who is the Aggies leading receiver with 24 receptions for 357 yards and four touchdowns this season.
“When you see me guardian him, you’ll see me talking to him,” Arnold said. “Telling him like ‘Man-to-man this rep, you got to win.’ Or he’ll be like ‘I’m coming, I’ve got this type of route.’ When I line up, it’s just kind of like friendly competition or just something to keep yourself motivated during the game.”
Well, sometimes it’s friendly. When asked whether he takes comments such as Smith’s personally, Arnold took on a bit of a different tone.
“If you had another reporter, and you felt like he was asking you certain type of questions and trying to get a reaction out of somebody else and he was coming at you, how would you take that?” Arnold responded. “So if I’m in the game and he’s saying that he knows what my coach wants, I mean obviously when I go out, I’m going to be like, ‘You know what Coach Saban wants, huh? Dang. What he want?’
“Just little things like that. He plays in the slot primarily. If Malachi [Moore] goes out there and gets a PBU on him, you walk beside him like, ‘Hmm, you know what he want.’ Just little things like that, try to get in somebody’s head.”
Along with using trash talk as a motivator, Arnold said it also helps him find out what type of competitor he’s going up against. It’s easy to come with the heat early in the week. Backing up your words over a full game is a different story.
“If they shut down, then you know they can’t play 60 minutes of football, and that’s the type of person they are,” Arnold said. “But if they keep going, it really gets you going. It makes the game entertaining for the crowd. It makes it entertaining for you. I mean you have a chance to really got out there and put on a show.”
Arnold and Alabama will have an opportunity to get the last word on Smith and Texas A&M on Saturday as the Crimson Tide travels to take on the Aggies at 2:30 p.m. CT.
This story will be updated.
