Everything Alabama Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan Said Monday After Beating Western Kentucky

The Crimson Tide play-caller saw his unit put up 63 points on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Nick Sheridan / Joe Gaither Screenshot

Alabama's offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan spent time with the media on Monday to recap the Crimson Tide's 63-0 win over Western Kentucky. Sheridan discussed the offense's performance over the weekend and ways the team can improve heading into Week 2 against South Florida.

Opening statement....

"Thanks everybody for being here. Obviously excited for another opportunity to compete, for our group to improve and get better, going against another program that I have familiarity with. I know Coach Golesh. I know the toughness that he coaches with and I know the detail that he emphasizes with his team. I have a lot of respect for Coach Orlando and the defensive coordinator is very accomplished he's very well respected in our profession and so I know it will be another tremendous challenge for us. Like I said, I have familiarity with the program and the pride that they have and the coaches on their staff and the quality of coaches that they are. It'll be another great challenge for us and looking for us to improve from Week 1 to Week 2. Fire away."

How can you keep the success from going to Ryan Williams' head?

"Well, I mean, he certainly has received a lot of attention throughout his recruitment and even prior to him playing a game. The thing I would say is he's been the same person since the day we met him. He's always, he loves football, he loves to work, he's willing to be coached. I think he's hungry to build off what he did in the first game and so I don't envision that being an issue and he's a great kid. Loves football, loves to be coached, and so yeah, we're excited to try to help him get better and I know Coach Shep is excited to coach him tomorrow."

Elijah Pritchett playing at left tackle...

"I thought he did a nice job. We have confidence in the guys in that room. You have to be ready when you're called upon. COach Kap does an awesome job, as you have to, as you cross train. You train guys at multiple spots. Left, right, inside outside. You want to make sure you get your best five guys out there, no matter what the circumstances are. It's not the first time Pritch has played left tackle. Obviously he's had a lot of reps at that previously. He hasn't had as much of that lately. I thought he did a nice job. He showed toughness. For him unexpectedly having to go in there, I thought he did a nice job. "

What was your experience with the headsets going in and out?

"It was a first for all of us. I've called games before on the field. Normally when you're going to do that, you're preparing for it. You might mark up your call sheet a little bit different. I think in those moments, you're trying to provide calmness to people around you. Let the players know it's just fine. You just adjust. You adapt. You prepare so much for all the different things that may come up in a game. But you also recognize there's gonna be times you have to adjust and adapt and be flexible. You don't necessarily think you're going to be going up and down from the box to the field. It was just what was required at that time, so you just do it. We all have a job to do, each and every day. You try to do the very best you can in that role. Just like we ask the players. That was really all there was to it. It was really more so, was it going to get fixed? Just stay put or no it's not so come down. That was really more the conversation. How long were the headsets going to be out? Could you just kind of wait it out until they fixed it? We thought they were going to be down longer than they were. Just hit the elevator, go down a couple floors and walk down to the stadium. I thought the fans were great. It was rocking. All good."

On whether he’s using the 2023 USF game for prep:

I think there’s lessons learned for everybody, previous experiences. But certainly, that was early in the season last year. This is a new group of players. They have a new group of players of their own. Similar coaches, obviously, for them, so I;m sure they’ll be watching the film on things that they felt, versus certain people, that maybe they had success with. And we’re evaluating that. But there’s a lot of film after that game as well for us to digest and try to predict how we think that they're going to try to play this. And so, I think you take it all into account, but you also know that every game is a new game. You know every season’s a new season, and so what has happened in the past has no impact on what will happen Saturday. It’ll ultimately be about the team that plays the best and so that’s what we’re really focused on.

On Milroe’s efficiency:

I thought he did a nice job. I think, obviously, he was very explosive. The thing that I enjoyed and I was proud of him was just the communication between series, what he saw. I thought he saw the game very clearly. We talked about all week with the group, not just Jalen, but the whole team is improve as the game goes on. And the communication that occurs between series to try to just get better. See how they’re going to try to play you, be able to adjust, be able to adapt, so I was really proud of that. I thought he was calm, he was poised. I thought he was competitive, thought he showed toughness. Wasn’t a ton of snaps obviously, there was some short scoring drives, but I was proud of how he played. And I know he’ll tell you, there’s still room for growth, which is exciting. This is really the fun part for coaches is that you go play a game and you see what you need to work on. You think certain areas where you think the guy’s got it then it shows up in the game and maybe it’s not quite the habit that you want and so we’re excited to get back on the grass tomorrow.

On what he saw from Ty Simpson and Dylan Lonergan:

I thought they were clean. I thought they communicated well, by-and-large made the right decisions. There’s a couple that we’d like to learn from. But that was the first experience for me with all the guys in our room as far as seeing them compete and being out on the grass in a game environment, and I was proud of them, that, like I said, they communicated well. They had poise. They led their groups. They moved the ball when they were in there, and ultimately that’s their job as quarterbacks. They used their legs. I thought they played football and that was good to see. I was happy that they both got a chance to get in the game. 

How has Jalen Grown since USF Game?

"I wasn’t here for that. So it’s a little bit difficult for me to kind of give you a big picture on what that looks like. I wasn’t here. I wasn’t a part of that journey for him. Certainly, we’ve had conversations about lessons that he’s learned along his journey, just like I’ve told him about things I’ve grown, when I was a player or as a coach, you name it. That’s the type of relationship that you’re trying to build and create so that you have that relationship built on trust and you can communicate about things that you’ve been through and how you got where you are. It’s hard for me to say specifically as far as how he improved or what that looks like. We’re focused on just trying to better this week than we were last year. That’s really where all our attention is right now."

How long did it take you to get to the field? What’s the plan in the future?

“Yes. I wouldn't say we spend a ton of time on the headsets going down and me getting stuck in the elevator. It wasn’t that long. Most people were in their seats so there wasn’t too many people on the elevator, but we’ll be ok, I guess. I mean, we’ll be prepared for it next time if that happens, I get stuck in the elevator.'

Jalen Milroe was efficient, did you want to see more?

“No, I mean, we’re just trying to win. That’s really all we’re focused on. I think there was lots to learn, even from the plays he had. And that’s true, you know, we’re mindful of that, with not just Jalen, but all the guys is you’re trying to get snaps in a game environment and so we were mindful of that. Obviously, we just had some short scoring drives. Not just him, but a lot of the guys didn’t have as many snaps as maybe you would anticipate in a game. No, I thought he played great and there’s things to work on. You know, there’s reads, there’s footwork that he can clean up. He sees that. He acknowledges that. He’s excited about the opportunity to work and continue to grow and get better and I’m excited about the chance to coach him. So, no, we’re not disappointed in the fact that he only had nine attempts, it’s just how the game played out."

When it worked, how were the helmet communications?

“I thought by and large it was clean. I think there was some communication that we can do better, collectively. Certainly, starting with me and then through the staff and through the players. I think that’s pretty typical of most first games where you know, there’s a moment here or there where maybe you didn’t quite communicate as efficiently or move as quickly as you would like. But by and large, I think the guys did a nice job. I think we had one false start for the opener, we had a couple holding calls, but, we had to burn a timeout early in the first half, which was, you know, you’d like to not have to do that. So there’s reasons for those things. There’s things that you address, both as a staff and to the players on just trying to eliminate those things moving forward, but for the most part for a first game, I thought it was relatively clean from a communication standpoint. "