Everything Alabama Football Said on Monday Ahead of the CFP Title Game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Ahead of its first practice in preparation for the College Football Playoff National Championship against Georgia, Alabama head coach Nick Saban and two athletes spoke to the media on Monday morning.
Alongside Saban was outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. and running back Brian Robinson Jr.. Anderson and Robinson were the defensive and offensive MVPs for the Crimson Tide in its 27-6 victory over Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl last Friday afternoon.
Follow this page for live updates and quotes from Saban, Anderson and Robinson. This story will also feature a full transcript as soon as it is made available to the media.
Full Transcripts: Alabama Football - Jan. 3, 2021
Nick Saban
Opening Statement
I think it's pretty obvious that we're very, very proud of our team, all the people who have worked hard throughout the course of the year to create this opportunity for our team.
The team's overcome a lot of adversity and resiliency through the course of the year. And really, really extremely proud of the way they've sort of put themselves in a position to have a chance to win a championship.
It's going to be a tremendous challenge for us to play against, I think, one of the best teams or the best team in the country in terms of consistency and performance and how they played all year long.
Georgia's got a really good team. They've got great balance on offense, defense, special teams. They've got really good specialists. So this is a really, really good all-around team.
And practice, preparation is going to be really, really important for us to go out there and be able to execute the way we need to to be able to have any chance of success at all.
Q: The word "warrior" has been thrown around your program a lot, used to describe players. What does that tag line mean to you when you say it about a player? And how important is that for your team, how important is that label for your team?
I think the warrior mentality just is sort of a great compliment to the kind of competitor somebody is. I think it speaks to your intangibles, your intensity and ability to sustain and play with great energy and enthusiasm.
So, it's, to me, the ultimate compliment to a competitor to be a warrior, war daddy, whatever you want to call them. And that's something that we really try to get our players to buy into, because it does create tremendous value for them when they compete at that kind of level and with that kind of standard.
Q: I'm wondering how you balance the need to maybe change some things because you're seeing an opponent again with also, hey, maybe we should just stick with what works here. What are the challenges there when you're facing an opponent for the second time, especially in such a short period of time?
I think it sort of speaks to itself in terms of we're obviously going to evaluate how we did in the last game, how they're going to evaluate how they did in the last game.
They're going to try to take advantage of things we did. We're going to try to take advantage of things and correct things we didn't do well. And, I think, in that there are some subtle changes that you need to make so that you put your players in the best chance to be successful.
They're always going to see something new and different. So players are always going to have to adapt in the game. I don't think you do everything the same, but I also don't think you can make a lot of changes that the players are not going to go out and be able to play and execute with confidence.
So the changes you need to make sort of relative to the things that you did well or didn't do, and some of the things that they were able to take advantage of that you need to make sure you make adjustment to.
Q: I was wondering how you would characterize Greg Sankey's leadership of the SEC during your time there?
I think it's been outstanding. I don't know why you would ask me that question. But it's certainly not my position to judge. But Greg has done an outstanding job. He's very bright. I think he has the best interests of college football in his heart and mind at all times. And I think he's really worked hard not only for the conference but also for the game. So I've had a tremendous amount of respect for Greg for a long, long time.
Q: I know you had a couple of injuries on the offensive line. Could you provide an update on those guys? And I know one is (indiscernible). And why was that unit so effective against Georgia in the SEC Championship game?
I think, first of all, from an injury standpoint, we really don't have a lot of updates. We're practicing today for the first time. So we'll kind of see how these guys progress during the week. We're hopeful that we'll get some guys back.
But I think if you're going to have any success against any team, especially against a team that has the number one defense in the country, it probably starts up front. So for our offensive line to play well and be effective – whether it's a run, whether it's a pass, regardless of what the circumstance is – I think most plays are going to start with how well can we do up front against an outstanding front seven unit who's proven that all year long.
So we're always trying to prepare our players to play extremely well, and we need to do it in this game. And if we're going to have any kind of success offensively it will start off on this game as well.
Q: You guys had a rematch situation in 2011, playing LSU a second time in the championship game. What kind of lessons did you learn from that experience?
I don't know that that experience is going to have anything to do with this experience. We've got a different team. They've got a different team. They've got a good team.
So, you know, I don't know. Our players were focused in the game. Those two games were extremely hard-fought, close games in both circumstances. And I would expect the same in this game. I think both teams sort of realized where they are. The opportunity that they created for themselves and everybody's going to be really zeroed in on trying to do the best job they can to take advantage of it.
So I don't know that there's anything that I can really take from that experience that's going to have any effect or impact on this one.
Q: How has this team changed since October 9th and the loss to Texas A&M? And could you speak specifically about the last two games, featuring the pass, I guess, against Georgia and Bryce, and featuring Brian, the ability then to feature Brian in the last game, the last semifinal?
I think that losing a game gave our team an opportunity to mature. We have a really, really young team. We don't have very many seniors that play a significant role, I don't know, three or four starters on the whole team. So I think with young players who sort of had a lot of success in terms of wins prior to the Texas A&M game, maybe a lost respect for winning or what it takes to prepare to win on a consistent basis.
I think it made people realize the importance of leadership, setting a good example, holding each other accountable. I think there were a lot of internal lessons that actually helped this team mature and grow.
And most of the time when people don't have success, they learn from it more readily than when they have success. And I think that was certainly the case for our team.
Q: Along the same lines, what you just asked, we all know how much talent you guys lost from last year's team but you also lost some pretty darned good leaders. How impressed have you been with how this team has evolved and kind of grown to get to this point?
I think that's been a really important factor for us, is that some of the leadership emerged during the course of the season as young players had more success and felt the need for them to step out and be the leaders because we just don't have a lot of seniors our team.
And I think that's been very, very helpful in people setting a good example and people holding each other accountable to be able to prepare the way you need to prepare to go out and play well against good teams.
Q: What allowed Brock Bowers to be so impactful the first time you guys played? And what have you seen from him in the game since Michigan?
I think this guy is one of the premier players in college football. I know he's just a freshman. But this guy's got great size. He's a good blocker. He's physical. He's tough. And he's got wide receiver skills in every way, shape or form, which makes it difficult being a bigger guy for bigger guys to cover him and it makes it also difficult for smaller guys to cover him.
So this guy is just a phenomenal football player all the way around. They do a really good job of featuring his talents as well. And he's been extremely productive in a lot of ways.
I know everybody always knows the passes he catches, but also a really good blocker and does a good job in his part of executing whatever he needs to do to help his teammates have success as well.
Q: Being an underdog to Georgia worked pretty well for you last time. Looking back on that, how were you able to maybe use that to your advantage, and how might you use it to your advantage as you're indeed a slight underdog this time?
I don't know. Being an underdog is being an underdog. They have a really good team that's very well respected. We have a tremendous amount of respect for them.
And I think it's important for our players to know what they need to do to be able to continue to have success in the next game, regardless of what happened in the last game. And regardless who was favored and who was underdogs and all that kind of stuff. Everybody has pride in performance. Everybody wants to go play well. And we certainly want to do everything as coaches that we can to help our players go out and play well and compete well in a game.
Q: I know you don't like to look back in the past, but 15 years ago today you landed in Tuscaloosa, I'm looking at video right now. It was quite the scene when you landed. What was that experience like that day, if you remember, and what has the last couple of years been here at Alabama for you?
Well, I'm 70 years old, so I don't think I have any form of dementia or anything like that. But I can't really remember what happened 15 years ago. I remember coming here. I remember it was great to have the energy and the enthusiasm, excitement that all the people sort of created. And that's what helped us be successful here, that energy and enthusiasm that people showed for the program and the support of the program.
But other than that, I don't even remember any emotions that I had 15 years ago. Been a lot of games, a lot of third downs since that time. So it's kind of hard to remember, but it's been a very good experience here.
We've got a great sort of organization at the University of Alabama from the top down to our administration and how they support our athletics, to our athletic directors that we've had that always set the table well for us so we have an opportunity to be successful in terms of how we support and try to create value for our players – personally, academically and athletically.
And I think that's been a real key to the success here is because of the team that we have. I'm talking about a team of people who try to create a positive atmosphere and environment for players to have a chance to be successful in.
Q: I'm curious about the semifinal games, they were both blowouts. Do you feel like going to an expansion with 12 teams would maybe help that and create more competitive games, or do you think that would diminish the regular season too much?
Well, I don't necessarily agree with your assessment of our game. I can't speak to the other game. But it was a really hard-fought game for us, I think. And we have a tremendous amount of respect for the team that we played.
I don't know that expanding – if this is the best four teams and they played each other, I don't see the logic in it if we had more teams there would be better games. I don't know how that adds up.
But I am really not in a position to answer that. There's a lot of other good teams, whether it was their consistency in performance or whatever happened to them in championship games or whatever, that may have had the opportunity to get in the playoffs that didn't.
But, look, I'm not the one that needs to be deciding what the playoff needs to be. There's a lot of good people out there that can make a decision as to what's best for college football.
But the more we expand the playoffs, the more we minimize bowl games, the importance of bowl games, which I said when we went to four. So I don't think that's changed. And I think it's also come to fruition.
Will Anderson Jr.
Q: How much do you think you guys have improved since the Auburn game at the end of the regular season?
I think we've improved so much. The communication has been good. Paying attention to details has been good. Everybody on the same page has been good. So we just want to keep building off of that and keep rolling to the national championship.
Q: Last time, obviously, you guys had a lot of defensive success, but one of the guys for Georgia who provides some problems was Brock Bowers, their tight end. What do you guys need to do this time around to make sure he doesn't have as much of an effect?
We haven't really talked yet, but as far as what we experienced last game from him coming to this game he's a tremendous athlete. He can make plays, really long. Very athletic.
So I think the key is just paying attention to his playing style and making sure we do a great job of covering him and making sure he doesn't get too loose. And the game plan we put in we just play our game and just make it as effective as it can be.
Q: Obviously you guys had a lot of success against Georgia last time out. How do you think that affects this game? Do you expect to see them do totally different things? Or do you expect them to try to improve on things they didn't do well? And what about you? Do you approach it exactly the same the second time around?
You know, that was last game. We have to focus on this game. It's going to be a whole, totally new game, new area, new setting, everything. So we're going to see something different that we probably haven't seen before. We have to be prepared for it.
And we're going to approach this game like we always approach every game – same mindset, same intensity, same energy. We're not going to try to do anything other than what we already do, just going to go out there and play Alabama football.
Q: How has your team been able to win in such a variety of ways this year? Some weeks you guys are winning high-scoring games with the pass game, other weeks you guys are winning low-scoring, defensive games. How are you able to win in such a variety of ways?
I think it depends on the game, how the game is going at the time. I think it's our mental energy, I would say, because you know we're always there physically. We're always there giving energy.
But I think it's a mentality we have. I think sometimes it's mentally for us. We know what type of game situations we get in. And as the game goes on, we know how we have to play the game and finish the game. I think it's all about our mental energy and mental standpoint and how we play. I think that's how I'll answer that question.
Q: We saw Khyree Jackson quite a bit in this last game. How do you think he played and how have you seen him progress over the course of the season?
Since Khyree has got here, he's been very hardworking. He took it day-by-day. I'm so proud of Khyree for stepping up in the big game as he did. He did a tremendous, excellent job. I'm proud of him.
He's such a great teammate to have on our team. He's really been able to help our defense achieve and be where we need to be. And he'll keep building off of it and get better every day. And we appreciate him.
Q: When somebody says it's hard to beat a team twice, what does that mean?
We don't really listen to all that stuff. We can't pay attention to that stuff. We know the challenge ahead of us. Georgia has a very good football team, very good players, very good coaches.
We just have to be prepared for anything. And no matter the outcome of the game we just have to play, no matter where it's at, we just have to play.
Q: As a team leader, what will you do and what have you been able to figure out to do with your teammates being so young? And beating Georgia just a month ago, I mean really beating them convincingly, what are you able to do to keep them focused and not be so overconfident coming into this ball game?
I really don't have to do anything. The type of team we have, we've never been that type of team to be cocky or anything like that, or we beat them; we're going to do this again. We're very humble. We know the challenges we have.
We know everything to expect from Georgia. We never want to go out to a game with a big head, you know what I'm saying? Everybody's been level headed. We've been good. Everybody has been humble. Everybody will come to practice ready to practice hard, play hard and pay attention to details, get everybody focused and get ready for this game.
There's no big head, no, none of that. We're humbled and ready to play the game and ready for the challenge, and I think that's where we're at.
Q: When you're being recruited by Alabama, obviously if you're being recruited with a lot of other good players you're going to win. And I know that's appealing. But how much does the idea of surrounding yourself with lots of other good players, even though it might make it a little tougher to play early, how much of that do you weigh in as just like being surrounded by other good players will make me better no matter what the results are here?
For me, I think that's one of the biggest things why I came to Alabama. Just coming from high school to here I wanted to surround myself by people who had the same mindset as me, same competitive nature as me, same standard and expectation as me no matter the outcome of whether I was playing or not. I knew I would be surrounded by great men, great coaches, great people in the facility.
I think it helps a lot. No matter if you're playing or not, you get a chance to see people compete. If you come here and you don't know how to compete you get to see how to compete and see how to overcome adversity. There's been so much adversity at Alabama for people that (indiscernible) here.
You get to see so much here. And it helps you in life. I think a lot of recruits don't understand that, being in college football you'll have some type of adversity. When you come to Alabama you see all types of adversity. It helps you with real life.
I think that's one of the biggest challenges that I took by coming here, being able to compete, go against the best every day. And it's helped me so far.
Q: You are reaching record-level sacks with Alabama, 17 and a half. You're right behind Derrick Thomas' 18. Have you heard anybody speak about Derrick? Have you watched his film? Or are there players you like to watch to develop your skills?
I didn't grow up really an Alabama football fan, so I can't really say I knew of anything I knew of Derrick Thomas. I didn't grow up watching football like that. I don't know too much about him.
But just to be mentioned with his name and all the success he's had here, and just to be even talked about with his name is really a blessing. But I really can't dwell on those type of things because we have so much here to do. We have to get a natty. We have to play, practice, everything. It's where my focus has been.
A couple of players I watch are Aaron Donald. I love watching Aaron Donald, the way he uses his hand. He's very violent and athletic and can get through blocks and shed blocks really well. I like watching his game, even though he's more an interior guy. The way he moves and works his hand, I try to copy that with my game.
Q: How much have you been able to see Stetson Bennett in his semifinal on film? And what's your scouting report on how much improvement or the biggest differences that you see in him from when you guys last faced Georgia?
To me, he's the leader on the offense. He helps them in tremendous ways. He gets them set up. He gets them lined up right. He really takes over on the offensive side.
His ability to move out of the pocket, I think that's one of his biggest and strongest abilities he has. He can extend plays with his arms as well. But we just have to contain him. I think that's the biggest part of his game is his legs and him running all around the field. We just have to contain him in the pocket and make sure he's not running all over the field on us and stuff like that.
Q: I don't know if this started with the Georgia game or maybe some point before that. But has this defense been playing kind of ticked off or a little extra motivated, maybe feeling you weren't getting enough credit or feeling you were overlooked or slighted in some way?
Most definitely. But I think it all comes back to how, what I was saying earlier in the past few weeks, stuff like that, all the pieces are starting to fall together. Everybody is starting to play to the standard, play to the Alabama standard. Everybody is always focused on what we have to do. I think everybody on defense knows what we have to do.
The intensity at practice has been real and energy has been good. Meetings have been excellent. I think where all the pieces are starting to fall together. I think that's why the defense has been playing the way it has. We talk all the time, we say we have one more game to play, put everything together, get all the pieces lined up right. And I think that's what we've been doing.
Q: When you walked up and you turned around and saw that logo, I can tell it means a little more for you. You were fourth and seven in the Iron Bowl with the season on the line and you stepping up as a leader. How much does it mean to have the logo behind you of the national championship and to wear that sweater with the national championship logo on it?
It means everything. It's such a blessing for it to be my second year and already going back to another natty. That's what you dream off when you're a little kid. And just to be in this moment and to be in this space with everything that's going on, I'm so blessed and happy. And I can't wait for the opportunity to come. It's really humbling. It's a great experience. It means a lot.
Q: There's a lot of fans, your fans and neutral observers that thought you should have gotten that invite to New York for the Heisman. I wonder, was there any motivation there or if you thought about it? And speaking about, you touched on some of the greats of the past at Alabama. Did any of those recent guys talk to you, some of those great linebackers maybe in the NFL right now?
To me, the biggest thing, I had conversation with my high school coach. And he was telling me that your body is your engine. And I'm a car. And the only thing you need to get going is that engine. And anything else that comes with it, any accolades, anything else, that just to make you look nice. As long as your engine is going in your car you're fine.
For instance, me getting that Nagurski Trophy, that was just a pair of rims on my car. So I think that's how you approach it. As long as your engine is there, you keep going. Anything else, that's just to make you look nice.
When he broke that down to me and explained that to me, I think that was one of the best things he could ever do. He really opened my eyes to me. It was, like, man, you were right. As long as I've got my engine, that's all I need for my car to keep going. Anything else that comes along with it that makes it look nice. Like, any accolades that come, that makes it look nice.
But as long as you have the engine, in the bigger piece, the bigger picture that we wanted to reach the three goals we set when you come to college – as long as you have those things, that's all we wanted.
Anything else, yeah, it looks nice, yes. I'm blessed to have it. But as long as you have that engine you'll be all right, you'll keep moving. When he expressed that to me it opened my eyes so much more and I'm so blessed to have him. That was good.
That was my biggest thing going into this game, I really could have focused on it. I had to help my teammates out and we had to get down to business and make sure we was good.
I couldn't worry about anything else, no Heisman or anything like that. None of that stuff motivates me to play any more than I already do. I have my own self-motivation, the only stuff that I have to motivate me to help me play. And I think that's what helps me.
Q: When you start looking at a team's success sometimes, flying under the radar a lot of times can be the trainer on that staff. I wonder what Jeff Allen's impact has been on you guys and the way that you guys have been able to trust him through what I know has been a tough run through COVID and everything else?
Jeff Allen and the training staff, they do an awesome job with injuries. Anything that goes on with us, they do a tremendous job helping us get right.
There's never any pressure or anything like that. They want to make sure you're good enough to go out there. They want to make sure you're healthy, everything.
My hat's off to Jeff Allen and his staff. We appreciate them. I'm so blessed to have met them, have them in my life. And I'm sure everybody in the facility can say the same thing, all the coaches and players can say the same thing because that's one heck of a staff and they do a great job.
Q: When you look at Coach Golding, what has impressed you the most about him in terms of his growth in the second year of you with Coach Pete? Coach Pete Golding, your second year with him, how have you seen him grow as a defensive coordinator?
I don't really know too much about coaching, so I can't really say the growth of his coaching ability. But what I can say is that he's done a tremendous job of getting us in the right place and helping us being able to make plays and helping the defense limit people from scoring and helping us get lined up right and stuff like that.
But as far as coaching, I'm not really a coach, so I can't say anything on his growth. But as far as his coaching ability, I respect it and I love him coaching us and he does a great job.
Brian Robinson Jr.
Q: Will Anderson just told us he's a car and he tries to keep his engine finely tuned. I was curious, what kind of car is Will Anderson? I thought he feels more of a tank but is he a Porsche, Jaguar, what is he?
Will is more like a dually truck, one of those big old mud-tire, driving trucks. I can't really explain, but he's one of them guys who can get real dirty, get himself up and get ready to do what he did all over again. That's what you use those big dually trucks for, off road type of stuff.
Q: You had a couple of guys on the offensive line step up with guys being out with injuries. How did you think that unit played, and how did you see a guy like JC Latham take advantage of the opportunity he got?
That's been the story with our offensive unit all year with guys going down and guys having to step up. So with JC coming into the game, he did a lot of great things for us during the game. I was just happy for him. I told him during the game, I was just like this is your moment. Don't turn back, just do everything you have to do to help this team win. I felt JC did that during the game.
Q: Last game obviously it's last game and this game is a new game. What things did you want to replicate offensively that worked last time?
Just being real dominant up front. That's the main thing for our offense, just being the most physical team up front and just open up everything for us and our offense, running game, just stay consistent. Just give the quarterback time to make plays in the passing game, just be the most dominant team up front.
Q: Talking to Will, he was talking about putting the previous game with Georgia in the past. What's the balance for you in terms of flushing some of the success of that game and the lessons you learned from it to try to take advantage of that for the second time?
With us playing them one time already, we could assume that they would come out and try to hit us with the same things that they played us with the first time.
But we've got to expect them to come out with some new things. We've just got to be able to adjust to it. I don't feel that we'll see the same thing that we've seen from them the first time we played them. I feel like they'll come out like a completely different team in the national championship game.
We can't get caught up on what we seen them doing in the first game; we've got to prepare for this this week.
Q: What was it like having coach Pendry back before the semifinal game. And did that contribute to, I guess, the physical nature of the game plan?
Not really. He was still attending. He was just only back for one practice. All the other days that he wasn't at practice, we still had to go out and prepare and practice hard. So it really didn't make a difference with him not being there or him being there. We still had to go out and prepare the game plan the same way.
Q: Last year, when you were watching Najee Harris, looked like he kind of turned it up at the end of the season and was a big difference-maker. What did you learn from that run last year that he had?
Just knowing how critical these games are. Win or go home. And when it's all on the line, you gotta go out there and give it your all to make sure you aren't the team that has to go home. As long as you're giving everything you can in your power to help this team win, everything else had just fall in place for you. That's kind of what I saw Najee do. I'm trying to kind of pick up where he left off.
Q: Growing up in Tuscaloosa, what was it like watching Alabama play in national championships? Do you have any memories that stick out to you? Any games that were your favorite to watch?
Just watching Alabama play in national championships as a kid was like the biggest college football game you can watch. And anybody who truly loved football or just sports just loved watching their favorite team playing in national championship games.
And the one game that probably stuck out to me the most was the first one I got a chance to watch. That was the game versus Texas in Pasadena, Mark Ingram Heisman year. That was the first time I got to see them play in a big game like that. And watching them dominate, that performance, it really stuck out to me.
Q: What can you say about the impact that Nick Saban has had on your life from the recruiting point to where you are right now, what he's done for you and how he's commanded the best out of you?
With Coach Saban, he always had faith in me since day one when he recruited me. He trusted that I was going to come here, do everything I needed to do to be successful. And since my time here, I can say he's done all that, he's done everything in his power to help me, just continue to grow on and off the field.
And, like I said, he held his word with everything he said he was going to do for me to help me be successful.
Q: How surprised are you to know that you guys are still an underdog to a team that you beat fairly handily a month ago? And do you think that might be another boost for you all?
Being the underdog is just one of those normal feelings. Sometimes we always feel like the underdog even when we expected to win a game. Just a mindset that our team have, just a mindset that our team live with, just having that underdog mindset.
I feel we'll be motivated. We'll come out with the underdog mentality and be ready to play.
Q: This year, half of your career statistical carries and production have come in one single year after five years at Alabama. I guess my question is how did you mentally and physically prepare to carry the workload for Alabama? And my second question would be, how did you mentally handle those years of knowing that your opportunity will eventually come?
Obviously I knew that the workload was going to increase tremendously. I had to prepare for that in the offseason, spend extra time training and just conditioning my body, preparing myself to play a season that I really didn't know what to expect. I just knew that I was going to be expected to do a lot more. So I had to kind of put myself in a position to do that.
From the following years, just as the years go by, I just felt like I couldn't waste that time just because I wasn't playing a lot or on the field as much as I wanted to be, I still had to train. I still had to prepare the same way as my opportunity was going to come at any moment; and with this being my opportunity now, I just felt like I'm preparing myself for it over the years, but working hard and still training hard.
Q: What's the dynamic of having this rematch without John Metchie available, obviously an important piece of your offense, and what's your challenge to run as effectively against Georgia as you did in the semifinals?
With John being down, obviously creating more opportunity for the younger guys, I feel like they've been doing a great job. So I just feel like we can kind of play again for Metchie, where we need them, from some guys on the team.
For me to just continue to protect Bryce, give him time in the pocket, give him time to step up and use his arm to make plays and just be real firm in protection, continue to be firm in pass protection, which allows Bryce more time where he can make more plays of his own.
Q: You mentioned sort of your path and how you had to be patient to get the spotlight. When you talk to recruits, guys coming on campus for visits, things along those lines, guys who were your friends, how do you tell, or maybe how would you describe to them the experience of even though you don't play as much at Alabama at first, you're still getting better. Do you impart that to people to kids who are considering Alabama, your patience will pay off because even if you're not playing you're still improving?
Well, sometimes I had to explain to some of these recruits that everything is not going to necessarily be handed to you, but everybody has their own story. Some people have just different opportunities. Some guys come in and they're granted the opportunity after their freshman/sophomore year. Some guys like myself had to wait four years beside four or five great players before they really get an opportunity to play.
But everybody's story is just different. But regardless of when your opportunity is going to be granted, you still have to prepare for it. But when they open the doors for you, if you're not ready for, the opportunity, and you didn't prepare yourself for it, then you wasted your time complaining.
So I just spent less time complaining about when I was going to get an opportunity, just spending more time training working towards what I was going to do when I did get the opportunity.
Q: Coach Saban said earlier that you never want to lose a game, but the A&M loss was probably good for you guys in a way that it just sort of propelled you guys to play a lot better and closer to your standard. What along those lines did you see after that loss that helped you get to where you guys are right now?
I can say I saw more interest in practice, how we prepare. After that loss, guys started to reflect on how to prepare that week and all the things they could have done or could have done better, just how to prepare themselves for the game, which would have helped us win the game.
So guys just had to start preparing better, working harder, just spending more time in the film room, just continue to learn and continue to get better so that those same mistakes don't come up in the next game that affected us in the game versus A&M.
Live Updates: Alabama Football - Jan. 3, 2022
- The press conference is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT
Nick Saban
- "This is a really good all-around team," Saban said of Georgia.
- Saban acknowledged that both Alabama and Georgia will be taking a long, hard look at the SEC Championship Game to find changes to be made in the CFP title game.
- "I think it's been outstanding," Saban said of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey's leadership this season.
- Saban said that he doesn't have a lot of injury updates since Monday afternoon will be the first practice that the team has had since the Cotton Bowl.
- When asked about Alabama's rematch with LSU in the BCS National Championship back in 2012, Saban remarked that he doesn't believe that he learned anything from then that could possibly help him out this week. He said that the two games are completely different and unique.
- "I think this guy is one of the premiere players in college football, and I know he's just a freshman," Saban said of Georgia TE Brock Bowers.
- Saban joked that while he is 70, he doesn't have dementia when trying to remember his arrival in Tuscaloosa, which happened exactly 15 years ago on Monday. He said that it's been a great experience being the head coach of Alabama.
- "I'm not the one that needs to be deciding what needs to be," Saban said about CFP expansion. Saban also emphasized that expansion would diminish the bowl games, which he believes has already happened.
Will Anderson Jr.
- "The background is nice," Anderson smiled as he stepped up to the podium. The background has the CFP logo as well as '2022'.
- "We're gonna see something different that we probably haven't seen before," Anderson said of his defense against Georgia.
- Anderson said that since he didn't grow up watching Alabama football as he wasn't a fan, he hasn't seen a lot from Derrick Thomas. However, he takes a lot of inspiration from Aaron Donald in the NFL.
- "It really means a lot," Anderson said of returning to his second national title game despite being just a sophomore. Anderson noted that it's what he dreamt of as a little kid.
- "I don't really know too much about coaching," Anderson said in response to being asked about how Pete Golding has grown as DC in Anderson's second year. He did note that he does love Golding coaching the defense and that he's done a great job.
Brian Robinson Jr.
- Robinson just said that Anderson is more like a dually truck than a car, poking fun at Anderson's story about how if he is a car, his game is the engine and the accolades that come along are more so cosmetics rather than fuel or other parts of the car.
- Robinson echoed Anderson in saying that he doesn't think Alabama will see the same Georgia team. He said that he expects both teams' approach to be very different.
- "He just trusted me to come here and to do everything I needed to do to become successful," Robinson said of Nick Saban.
- "Being the underdog is just one of those normal feelings," Robinson said. "Sometimes we always feel like an underdog even when we're expected to win the game."
- Robinson referred to the Texas A&M game as the turning point of the season, citing he and his teammates working harder in practices and taking more time studying film.
- The press conference has ended.
