Alabama WR Coach JaMarcus Shephard Previews Preparation for Wisconsin 'Grizzly Bears'

The former Purdue assistant went 0-4 against Wisconsin from 2017-21.

Alabama WR Coach JaMarcus Shephard /

Past experience against a current opponent is often a good tool to utilize when preparing for the upcoming matchup.

Alabama football will head to Wisconsin for its first road game of the season, and multiple players have been on the Badgers' field in previous years. Additionally, Alabama co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shephard had a very similar role at Purdue from 2017-21 and was 0-4 against Wisconsin, two of which were on the road.

On Wednesday, Shephard previewed how he's been preparing the Crimson Tide wide receivers, telling them "a lot" about the environment and play style in Madison, Wis.

"Certainly they're going to be big, physical, come downhill and hit," Shephard said. "That's just the brand of football that they play. Up in Wisconsin, it's a little bit colder, it's a little bit more burly, more beards out there coming out of face masks, so I told them just to see a bunch of grizzly bears up there. We got to go out there and defeat the grizzly bear.

"I pulled up that movie ["Troy" (2004) with Brad Pitt and Eric Bana], letting them know and understand that we should be going up there and asking for this challenge and calling for them/wanting them to compete against these guys. Certainly, I think we're getting there to be prepared for this challenge."

Camp Randall Stadium is notorious for its loud environment as the renowned song "Jump Around" blasts through its speakers while 80,321 people leap nonstop regardless of the scoreboard. Shephard has seen this first-hand twice in the past and is hoping that this is "motivating" his position group.

"It's going to be a loud environment, a hostile environment and we like to talk about details in this offense," Shephard said. "We're going into a lot of detail to put us in position to win this football game and of course that includes the crowd noise, making sure we're not jumping offsides, seeing the ball snapped, different things like that as it relates to the cadences and so on and so forth. There's no doubt about it, I wanted to motivate these guys so we can go out there and execute at a high level so we're better than what we were last week."

In addition to this being the Crimson Tide's first road test of the season, it is also the first time that the freshmen have played away from Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. To make sure they're prepared for this pivotal moment in their collegiate careers, Shephard used an interesting example.

"[I told the receivers] just make sure you're on time, have your socks and a belt," Shephard said. "A lot of time they forget their socks and a belt. But if they have their socks and a belt, then I know that they're ready and prepared because they've been paying attention to the smallest of details. If they got the socks and belt, they'll be alright."

"The football piece of it, you're not a young guy anymore, most of these guys have been here. Some of them have been here all through the winter. You play the national games, the guys who got here this summer. You're not a young guy anymore our expectation is that you perform at the same level as somebody who's been here for four years."

The hype around Camp Randall Stadium and the first road test for Crimson Tide wide receivers and will begin on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. CT on FOX.