Nick Saban transcript: 8-10-2016
"I see our players making a little bit of progress and some improvement each and every day. We had a little rain today so we had to go inside, which made the conditions for them a little bit easier, I think. It's easier for them to focus. But I think the No. 1 thing that I'm trying to get the players to understand is, mature competitors can go out there no matter what the circumstance, what the situation, playing early, playing late, crowd's against you, crowd's for you, hot, cold, whatever it is, and you can focus and do your job from an effort standpoint, from a mental toughness standpoint, from a responsibility to execute, knowing what to do and how to do it, and be able to focus on that in that particular time and the best way to do that is to do it every day in practice regardless of what the circumstances are in practice.
"The passion and perseverance that it takes for every guy to challenge himself to be able to do that, especially young players… We've played a lot of young players around here in the past and they've done a fantastic job for us. But that's the thing that they have to show that they can do. Have the maturity as a competitor to be able to stay focused in critical times so they can do their job consistently for the team. That's what we're trying to evaluate. Because this fall camp is all about how many guys can we put in a position that can help us play winning football that we're going to invest our time in to coach? And every day in practice, especially when the scrimmages come, we're making those kinds of evaluations on all of the personnel because when camp is over and we start playing these games, those are the guys that we're going to have to invest our time. So there are some young guys out there that have shown that at times but for us to have the kind of depth on our team that we need to have, we're going to need some of these guys to step up for us in certain places, certain positions on the field. That's what we're trying to get evaluated right now.
"We're very, very sorry to hear of the passing of John Saunders and I just want his family to know our thoughts and our prayers are with his family and friends. He was a first-class gentleman and a first-class journalist and someone that we always really enjoyed working with. Very, very sorry to hear about his passing.
"We have done everything that we can do institutionally to allow the conference to make the decision about whatever they decide is in the best interest of the conference and the SEC rules relative to Maurice Smith. So that is past us now. It is beyond us. We don't really need to talk about that anymore and I don't have any other comments to make about it. We're trying to focus on the guys we have here and what we need to do to help those guys have a chance to be successful."
We saw Josh Jacobs limping around out there. What's his status?
"He has a little back contusion but I think he'll be just fine in a day or two. He's day-to-day. He actually practiced one day with it and we decided not to practice him for a day. We're just trying to get some of the swelling out. I think he'll be fine."
What have you seen from Kendall Sheffield and Bradley Bozeman?
"Bradley Bozeman has done a really good job. I thought he had a really good spring. He's a tough guy. He really understands. He can play center, guard or tackle for us. So we're really pleased with the progress he's made. He gives us a lot of depth at a lot of different positions.
"Kendall Sheffield, I think we just keep trying to work reps, reps, reps, so that he can play his position with a little more naturally instinctive reactions. He certainly has a lot of ability and we're certainly trying to bring it out of him in every way we can. Right now it's a work in progress and he is making progress. We certainly would like to be able to enhance that with a little better coaching on our part."
How unique is it to have a player with the size and skill set of Brandon Greene?
"Brandon really last year couldn't hardly focus. We had him playing tackle, we had him playing tight end so it was tough for him to focus. This year, this spring, this fall camp, this summer, we said 'Hey, look, you're going to be a tight end.' I think to have a guy like that at that position certainly creates a lot of problems because he's a mismatch player in the C-area. I know he gives us some problems in practice when he's in there and he's blocking outside backers. The guy is very athletic. Even though he's not real fast, he's got really good hands. He's somebody you can throw the ball to and he can be hard to tackle. I think he's lost a little bit of weight, not a whole lot. I kind of like where we are at that position. That position was a concern for us a year ago. O.J. Howard always being an outstanding player and someone we could count on but not having a second guy that could be a blocker and kind of a guy that could compliment him. I don't think that's an issue (this year). And I like the way the young guys are coming along at the position as well. I feel a lot better about the tight end position."
What would you like to see from Calvin Ridley this year? Another good WR from Florida, is that by design or happenstance?
"I think it just works out that way. There are a lot of good players in Florida. We've been very fortunate here to get a couple of them each year and they've been very, very productive for us. It's been a really, really good recruiting area for us but it's not necessarily that we go there and look for just one position. We'd like to recruit any player that they have there and we have other good players from there. Eddie Jackson is another player who has been very productive at another position.
"Calvin Ridley, he's one of those guys that we talk about mature competitors, young guys, he showed that last year and was very, very productive. Made great improvement throughout the season and ended up having great production. Made a lot of big plays. He's a hard guy to cover. He's gotten a little bigger and stronger and he certainly has big play potential. I have not seen any sort of attitude out of him that he's not still working hard, still trying to get better, and he's doing all the things that he needs to do to be sort of a dominant player at his position and hopefully we'll be able to see great production from him this year."
How have the RBs progressed so far and how important is experience at that position?
"Well, we've had some guys here that have not had experience that have played as freshman that have been very, very productive, whether it was Mark when he was a freshman, Trent when he was a freshman, Eddie when he was a freshman, Yeldon when he was a freshman. They all played when they were freshmen extremely well. Experience and knowledge helps at every position but I think these guys have made nice progress and I think they're very capable. We'll just have to see how it goes when you get the opportunity in a competitive situation and how much that experience is going to pay off for them where they'll be able to overcome their lack of experience and play with confidence and be very productive."
How much has Mo Smith's departure changed what you're doing in the secondary, especially with where Minkah is?
"I think what we're focused on is the guys we have in the secondary right now. We're out there working with them every day and we're going to try to put the best parts together that we can. And we've got some young guys that I think can be really good players but it's a work in progress to sort of get those guys to know and understand not only what we do, but all the adjustments we have to make for what other teams do when we play them. It's going to be important that some of these young guys provide us with the depth that we need and there's a lot of opportunity for these guys to play and I think they're working hard and focused on it and making improvement every day. But it's too early to tell how it's going to all fall in place for us. We have lots of practices left before that first game and hopefully some of these guys will sort of be able to get enough knowledge and experience in this practice time that they're confident enough to go out and contribute in a role for us to help us win."
Minkah's versatility playing corner and star?
"Last year he just had to play star and never really had to play much corner. This year he's having to do both. I'd like for a guy not to have to do that. I'd like to have a guy that could play corner or a guy that could play star so that guy could always sort of play in one position. I'm not sure we have the luxury to do that at this point relative to the players that we have available. So he may have to do that. He's very versatile and he's bright, he's smart, he's very conscientious, he works hard every day. So if there's anybody who can do it, I think he's certainly the right kind of guy to do it. That may be how we end up this year."
