Everything Nick Saban Said on Monday of Tennessee Week

Saban met with reporters to kick off the week of preparations ahead of the Crimson Tide's road trip to face the Volunteers.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head football coach Nick Saban met with reporters on Monday as the team begins preparations for its upcoming road trip to face the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Crimson Tide dropped two spots in the AP Top 25 after scraping past unranked Texas A&M on Saturday night, falling down to No. 3. The Volunteers, on the other hand, rose two spots from No. 8 to No. 6 after defeating LSU inside Tiger Stadium 40-13.

Keep refreshing the page throughout today's press conference for live updates. This story will be updated with video and a full transcript following the press conference's conclusion.

Live Updates

• Nick Saban's press conference is slated to begin at Noon CT.
• "I think it's fairly obvious that there's a lot of things we need to work on."- Saban opens with
• "Players have to understand that you have to do things to keep from losing before you can think about winning." He mentions turning the ball over, running plays the way they're designed. 
• "This game means a lot to a lot of people in Alabama, it's kind of a rivalry game."
• Saban says Tennessee possibly has the most explosive offense in the country. "This is a really, really good team, and a real challenge for us."
• Saban says that the Texas A&M game was not one of the best for the offensive line. 
• Saban says Bryce Young is getting reevaluated by the doctors today, and they're hoping to get him ready to play this week, but it depends on how the week progresses. 
• "We need to play better at all positions on offense relative to what we did in the last game."- Saban when asked about what the wide receivers can do to make Young or Jalen Milroe's job easier. 
• Saban says this is the latest in the season they've been with a negative turnover margin. It's been a heavy emphasis on both sides of the ball to either create turnovers or turn the ball over less, and the players just need to execute.
• Saban says he believes in this team, but the players have to decide to do things correctly. 
• Saban was pleased with how Deontae Lawson played in his first start at inside linebacker.
• After looking at the film, Saban says he thinks Jalen Milroe played with a lot of anxiety in his first start against Texas A&M. "I don't think he let his training guide him."

Full Transcript - Nick Saban - October 10, 2022

Opening statement

"So I think it's fairly obvious that there's a lot of things that, you know, we need to work on. Evaluate personnel, evaluate consistency in performance, evaluate priority of getting your job done the right way so that we can have a little more consistency in our performance. We didn't take advantage of opportunities when we had them, you know, in the last game, and that's certainly something that's gonna catch up with you. Players have to understand you got to do things to keep from losing before you can think about winning, which is, you know, turning the ball over, making mental errors you know, not reading things correctly so that we can execute plays the way they're designed. And that's something that we, as a whole as an organization need to do a better job of working together with the players and the coaches so that we can do a better job of getting that right.

"We're gonna play a really good Tennessee team. This game means a lot to a lot of people in Alabama. It's kind of a rivalry game, and it's always been an important game for us. Tennessee's got an outstanding team. They're undefeated. Josh has done a really, really good job. They're probably one of the most explosive offenses if not the most explosive offense, you know, in the country. They got really good wide receivers. Four guys have lots of production. They've got two really good running backs, lots of production. The quarterback, Hooker has really done a nice job of executing their offense. He's one of the leading pass efficiency guys in the country as well as has the ability to extend plays and make plays with his feet. He's a very good athlete all the way around and has had an outstanding year. Their defense is one of the top defensive teams, especially in terms of creating negative plays and making people difficult for him to score. Seventeen points a game is really good and one of the tops and the SEC and they're always really solid with their specialists on special team. So this is a really, really good team, a real challenge for us. And our priority has to be we got to get right ourselves so that we do a better job of putting ourselves in a position of having a chance to be successful and when we do that, we got to take advantage of it."

On JC Latham and the offensive tackles

"I think JC has done a good job all year. He's a passionate guy, tries to play physical and he's made nice improvement throughout the year. I don't think as an offensive line as a whole this was one of our best games. I think A&M has a really good front and we need to do a better job overall upfront to be more consistent. We make yards rushing but how many positive plays versus negative plays and a negative play to me means you don't gain three yards or more. So you know that consistency we need to continue to work on."

Is there an update on Bryce Young's status?

"Bryce is getting reevaluated today. I don't really know much. I haven't talked to Doc since he did that. Hopefully we're going to try to get him ready to play this week, but this is something that, you know, nobody can predict how quickly this is going to give him an opportunity to go out and be able to do what he needs to do. And we'll see as the week progresses, but I don't have an update much more than that."

How effective is the package with Will Anderson, Dallas Turner and Chris Braswell?

"I thought we did a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback. I know we had three sacks but we had probably 10 or 12 other pressures on the quarterback. So it worked well for us. It was effective."

Thoughts on the Tennessee run defense?

"They're physical up front. They play hard. They're aggressive in terms of their style of bringing people, creating negative plays. They tackle well. They play hard. They play well together. They have a good understanding of what they're trying to get done on each call. They're a good front seven."

What can the wide receivers do to make the quarterback's job easier?

"No one's standing here blaming the receivers for anything. I think we all need to self-assess. The only way you learn is when you make a mistake, you listen, you learn, you improve and you don't make the same mistake again.

"We need to play better at all positions on offense, relative to what we did in the last game. And I think most of the players would probably tell you the same. So I can't really say that the receivers didn't do what they were supposed to do. Could they do it better? Absolutely. Could we get better play at every position, whether it's quarterback, wide receiver, or whatever, absolutely. So that's what we're trying to focus on so that we can have more consistency running the ball and passing the ball."

How difficult is it to win when the turnover margin is lopsided against you?

"Well, we've been emphasizing it like crazy. This is the first time in a long time we've had a negative turnover ratio at this point in a season. We don't get enough turnovers on defense, and we've given the ball up more than we have historically. And both of those things need to improve, because it is very, very challenging.

"I've said many times before, one of the most compelling stats relative to winning and losing is turnover margin. And every week we show the players, OK if you're Plus-1, you're Plus-2, you're Plus-3, all over the country what was the record? If you're minus-1, minus-2, minus-3 all over the country, what was the record. And it's pretty compelling.

"And the players understand it, and they understand the value of turning the ball over relative to the other team. What the average turnover in a season allows you to score. And when you get a turnover, what that benefits you in scoring. These are very important factors that have been emphasized and we just need to do a better job."

On how he feels about the team midway through the regular season

“Look, I believe in our team, but I believe in our team when our team does the things that they need to do to have a priority of doing their job because everybody looks at people’s flaws and those things get exposed if you don’t do things correctly. And I think the big thing that we need to do is make sure that we’re doing things correctly collectively as a group on a more consistent basis. When we do that, I think we have a very good team. When we haven’t done that, we’re pretty average. So it’s kind of everybody’s choice to try to get it right, and it’s our responsibility as coaches to help them get it right.”

On Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt…

“He’s an outstanding player. He’s got really good speed. Their offense spreads people out, and they take great advantage of spreading the ball around to all their skill players. He in particular has made a lot of big plays, which they take a lot of shots, and they’ve converted a lot of shots. One of the keys to the game is not giving up big plays, and that’ll be really important for us if we’re gonna be successful against them on defense. And we’re gonna not only have to guard him but about three or four other guys that are pretty good receivers, as well.”

On Deontae Lawson

“We’ve been playing him all year long. I thought he played fairly well in the game this past week, and we’ve got a lot of confidence in him. He’s a good competitor. He’s serious about what he does. He’s smart. He understands what he’s supposed to do. He can run. He’s a good athlete. So I’m pleased with his progress and thought he played a fairly good game, especially being his first start when he had to go out there and played the whole game. He did a really good job.”

Thoughts on Jalen Milroe's performance against Texas A&M after evaluating the film?

“I just think Jalen played with a lot of anxiety. I don’t think he allowed himself to let his training sort of guide him and trust and believe in it so that he could have success in executing plays. You can’t turn the ball over and not execute plays like they’re designed relative to the read of what you should and shouldn’t do. So those things are all things that we all need to definitely improve on so that we can utilize all 11 players on our offensive team. We’ve got skill guys that can make plays. We’ve gotta distribute the ball at the quarterback position so they can and whether it’s a run or a pass or an RPO or an advantage throw, you’ve gotta make the right choices and decisions on those things. I think we definitely need to improve in all those areas.”