Alabama Football: After practice Nick Saban made a strong point

Alabama football has its tenth session of the spring Wednesday and afterward, Nick Saban made some interesting comments about his Crimson Tide team.

Some notes on Alabama football practice No. 10 can be found at the end of this post. What happened after practice in Nick Saban’s media review is our primary focus for consideration.

Nick started out complimenting the players for their work Monday. He said Wednesday was different. Too many players had a “Poor Me” attitude. Some were bothered by the heat while in full pads. Some had aches and pains. Others were tired. Apparently, the situation was ripe for a Saban ‘teaching them up session.’

Saban explained mental toughness cannot be achieved by only doing what you “feel like doing.” We assume he only had to say it once. Or is this team so young (not all, but most) that lessons take time to sink in?

Nick Saban is not as concerned about a young team as he is about a roster without sufficient depth. Wednesday was not the first day Nick talked about depth issues. All spring, he has been talking about lack of depth in several position groups. We suspect the same message will be heard all summer and all through fall camp.

At defensive line, inside linebacker, tight end, running back and in the defensive backfield, Nick Saban wants depth he can count on. Guys who can be held accountable to do what they are supposed to do every time they are supposed to do it. That’s a bunch of ‘to dos’ but not near as many as Nick Saban has in his head.

In sports, and particularly in football, player experience is highly valued. Less experienced players make more mistakes than more experienced players. And less experience comes with young players.

But Nick Saban does not view youth as an excuse. Not for a player or for a team. On Wednesday, Nick said,

"we’re going to get younger before we get older"

Saban was referring to the 12 freshmen who will enroll this summer. It is obvious he is looking to some in that group to step up and fill the holes he sees in roster depth. He commented that nine of the 12 are defenders. Nick pretty much tipped his hand that one of the 12, running back Trey Sanders, will have a chance to contribute despite his summer arrival.

It bears repeating, when all the players arrive, more than half of the scholarship roster will be first and second-year players. That much youth does not often describe a national championship contender. But then, despite last season’s failure, Alabama football is a program built to overcome all obstacles.

Practice Notes from Wednesday

• Based on the Wednesday order in outside linebacker drills, Eyabi Anoma may be making his move. Eyabi was rumored to have had a strong first scrimmage. On Wednesday, he and Anfernee Jennings led drills, maybe meaning Eyabi has moved past Chris Allen.
• Shane Lee worked in the second pair of inside linebackers, with Markail Benton. Ale Kaho and Jaylen Moody were in the third group.
• Matt Womack was back working at right guard.
• Jared Mayden appears to be solidifying a first unit role in the dime secondary. Saban commented on how well he has done at practice and the first scrimmage.

Compliments of Terrin Waack of TideSports.com, see all of Saban’s media review below.

Alabama football will practice again on Friday. The second and last closed scrimmage of spring will take place on Saturday.