Everything Nick Saban Said On Wednesday Ahead of ULM

Saban met with reporters for one final time ahead of the Crimson Tide's game against the Warhawks.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama head football coach Nick Saban hosted the final press conference ahead of the Crimson Tide's home game against Louisiana-Monroe.

Follow along for live updates throughout, with a full transcript and video coming following its conclusion.

Live Updates

• Saban's press conference is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT. 
• "Continuing to play hard, but smart" Saban said in the opening
• "We appreciate good teachers more than you know"
• "It's not just mental errors, it's also knowing how to do your job"
• "[Pass interference] is one of the tougher judgement calls in football"
• Offensive line needs better consistency, like other positions
• "That's your opinion, not mine" when asked about playing different levels of opponents
• Jaylen Moody's done okay; plays hard, but also had some missed tackles
• "I don't know anyone who's coached with more class than coach Bowden"
• Saban credits the teachers he's had throughout his upbringing that shaped him

Nick Saban Full Transcript - Sep. 14, 2022

Opening Statement

" The big focus this week, as I said earlier in the week, is continuing to play hard, but play smart, play with more discipline, make good choices and decisions. Intelligence, intensity, sense of urgency, those things are really important but you need to focus on them 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's a lot of emphasis on winning games. But true competitors really want to play to the best of their ability, try to dominate the competition, whoever it is. And I think that helps you play at a high standard all the time, which is I think something else that we need to stay focused on so we get more consistent in what we do.

"I'm happy that this is the ninth year that we're in Curing Kids Cancer. I think they've raised like $23 million since 2005, which is a real worthy cause. It's something that we all support as much as possibe. I know that Miss Terry's going to have her Nick's Kid's Teacher's Excellence Award. We appreciate good teachers more than you know and thats why we try to always recognize them. Good teachers help individuals at a young age find their passion, find their niche, find what they want to do in life.

"It's not always one size fits all. And I think good teachers teach individuals and find what they really need to do to help them be successful and have a successful life. I think that's one of the most important things in our society and why we try to do a good job of supporting teacher excellence."

Correcting Mental Errors

"It's not just mental errors. Mental errors are all correctable. It's also focusing on the fundamental way that you need to do your job, whether it's hand placement, blocking somebody, whether it's hand placement as a defensive lineman when you're striking a blocker. All those things help you have a chance to be successful on that particular play.

"Footwork covering somebody. How do you run routes? How you release? How you come out of the route at the top of the route? All those things when you say play smart, that means you've got to do it correctly, because that gives you the best chance. So that's not a mental error. That's just a lack of fundamental execution and sort of buying into the fact that if I do this right, that's going to give me the best chance to be successful. And that's just something I thought we did fairly well in the first game, but we did not do nearly as well last week on the road. So that's something that we need to develop consistency in."

Technique from cornerbacks

"Look, one guy got beat deep just like everybody. I see the same thing you see. The guy outran him. He didn't play great technique, didn't keep the guy cut off so he could control his speed. Gave up the big play.

"Pass interference is tough, man. It's a tough call, because back-shoulder throws make the defensive player have to look through the guy when he turns his shoulders back.

"And when you look through the guy and you create contact, they sometimes call pass interference. Sometimes I think the guy played it well but it's pass interference. Sometimes I think it could have been pass interference but it doesn't get called. It's one of the most difficult judgment calls probably in football. I'm not criticizing anybody. I'm just saying it's very difficult. I don't think the guys really played it any different than what we want to play it.

"Now we got a holding call in the red zone. It was holding. I mean, the guy was holding the guy. That's off the line of scrimmage, not on the throw. So playing the ball is important, but you've got to play the back-shoulder throw too. When you turn into the guy, sometimes there's contact created and now that's one of the things that I think is really difficult to make judgment on."

Emil Ekiyor's Growth

"When you play offensive line, you basically look at the front. You make a line call. The center makes a line call. Then you have a technique that you have to play most of the time in combination with somebody else. And I think he certainly understands all those things. But I think as an entire group as an offensive line, we need to do all those things better.

"We need to play better together. We need to play fundamentally better just like every other position that I'm talking about. And if we want to have success individually or collectively, we need better consistency. Like on the 81-yard run, the whole left side of the line did everything exactly right. Got great movement. Everybody took the right steps. And we had a very successful play. Blocked the perimeter correctly. Just got to do more of those things on a more consistent basis."

Hard to gauge offensive growth based on opponents

"Well, but, that’s your opinion on quality of opponent it’s not mine. I respect all the people that we play, and I respect winning and what you have to do to win. 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. You know, I've told you guys more than once, when I was in the NFL, I’d watch players I didn’t know who they were playing against. I was just evaluating them. 

"So that means when we play a team that’s not as good as somebody else you don’t play as good? So, you let the opponent determine how you play? You let the score determine how you play? You determine where you’re playing, that determines how you play? So, when you get evaluated, what’s somebody think? ‘Oh, this guy plays pretty good at home, I don’t think we’ll draft him’. Does that make sense? So, I respect what it takes to win. Didn’t I say this on Monday? What does what you’re favored in a game mean? When you’re favored by 20 points and you lose, like two teams did this week. What does it mean? It means the people favoring you either don’t know what you’re talking about or the players playing got affected by that. Neither one of them are good."

Thoughts on Jaylen Moody’s play?

"He’s done ok. He’s done a good job, you know. He plays hard. We had a few missed tackles as a defense, you know, last week, which we want to get cleaned up. People gotta run their feet on contact when you’re tackling a good back who’s got power and can run through first hit. And we all need to do a better job of that. But he’s been responsible, done his job. He’s done a good job of preparing and he’s played well."

Terry Bowden and a moment in college football

"Well, I think the unique situation for me is, I have such respect for the Bowden family. Terry was a GA at West Virginia when I was a coach there in whatever year that was 1978 or 9 or whenever, a long time ago. Probably before you were born. And so, Tommy was too. Coach Bowden was always really great to my family, was a really good friend of my dad’s. So I have a tremendous respect for their family and I don’t think anybody has represented our profession and coached with more class than Coach Bowden did. And I have the same kind of respect for both of his sons who have been in and out of our profession and I have a tremendous amount of respect for Terry and what he’s trying to do at ULM."

Teachers who made a difference.

"I had; I remember a lot of them. I can tell you every teacher 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 and all those corrections did make a difference. But, Ms. Helminski (SP) gave me a D in music for not standing up and singing. So that was probably the best I ever learned about the importance of education because my dad made me turn my basketball uniform in, took me down to the coal mine and said this is where you’re going to end up if you don’t get an education, so I remember her. Ms. Matthews was my senior English teacher and so she was a teacher that was a little bit like what I talked about earlier. She didn’t teach everyone the same, which I think is important because everybody has different interest and a passion and we should bring that out in those people, regardless of what it is so they have a better chance to be successful in life and those relationships are very beneficial. 

"I can name almost all my teachers. Ms. Jones first grade, Ms. Carpenter second grade, Ms. Herndon third grade, I can go through all of them. Ms. Troxtel in English class where I couldn’t get, what do you call it? Verbs and all that. I can still see her, jumping me. I remember Mr. Ezel giving me a whipping for doing something, and when I got a whipping, I got a whipping when I got home, so I got two whippings. I got the paddle in school and then my dad got me when I got home. So, all those things contributed to helping me better make better choices and decisions, you know, in my life. I really like math, Ms. Turkovich (SP) was the best math teacher I ever had. So, I can just go on, and on, and on with the teachers and they all had a significant impact on my life and I appreciate them more than they know."

See Also:

Nick Saban Rants About Assumed Quality of Opponents

Nick Saban Offers Injury Update on WR Tyler Harrell