Alabama football coach Nick Saban attempted to get ahead of the hype of the Crimson Tide's upcoming SEC showdown with LSU in a telephone message to the Cellular South 1st & 10 Club after Monday evening's inclement weather prevented him from flying into town to speak in person.
Not only will the inside track to the West Division title be decided when the Tide and Tigers tangle in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 3, it will be the first time Saban has faced LSU since he coached there from 2000-04, winning the national title in 2003. The Tigers, featuring many veteran players who Saban recruited, are back in the hunt for another national championship with a No. 3 ranking in the latest Bowl Championship Series poll.
"I want to get something straight with everybody out there right now," Saban said via speaker phone to the gathering at Heron Lakes Country Club. "This game is about the players. Somebody will probably try to make this game about the coaches, that the coach that is talking to you now used to coach at this certain place, but it's not about that.
"None of our players that we have on our team right now played at LSU. They have some wonderful players and we have a lot of respect for them and their program and what they do. It's our job to get our team the most well-prepared that we possibly can so they have the best opportunity to have success on the field when the game comes in two weeks. That's going to be our focus and the game is about the players. It's not really about anything other than that and I hope nobody gets caught up or distracted in that. It's a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous challenge for us. We're happy to be in the position that we're in. We'll see if we can take advantage of the opportunity."
The Crimson Tide and their fans are still basking in the glow of Saturday's 41-17 romp over rival Tennessee that moved Alabama's record to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the SEC West, good for the top spot along with LSU.
Obviously, Saban was pleased with the overall performance of his team against the Vols and the giant step forward in what has become known as "The Process."
"Our team had a great win this week," Saban said. "It's actually the eighth game of the season and it's the first game we played a complete game. You know we had played well in the beginning of games, played well in the middle of games and we had played well at the end of games. Some of those games we were fortunate enough to win and some of them we didn't.
"We challenged the players to make a commitment to play every play in the game like every play had a history of its own, that it was a game in and of itself. You focus on that play, your intensity, your sense of urgency, all your mental energy was going into that particular play to execute what you needed to do on that play so your unit had the opportunity to be successful. Everybody says play for 60 minutes, but I said, 'Look guys. We don't have anybody that plays more than 70 plays, and plays last five or six seconds. That means everybody's going to play 400 seconds at the most, which is five or six minutes we're asking you to do. You have to make a commitment to that.'"
The result was Alabama's most impressive victory of the Saban era.
"I was very proud of the way we played in the game," he said. "I've never seen them feel so good in the lockerroom afterward because the best self-gratification you ever get is knowing you did your best to be the best at whatever you choose to do. They made a commitment to something, they did it and they felt wonderful about what they were able to accomplishment because they did it."
The Crimson Tide is scheduled to practice today, Wednesday and Thursday before getting their first weekend off of the season.
Even though there is no game this week, Saban is planning to make the most of the abbreviated schedule.
"We need to get some rest but we also need to make some improvement," Saban said. "I think the biggest thing from the competitive standpoint that's important to all of us is when things go well, we don't get too satisfied in what we're doing and not stay focused on the challenge that we have, which is to be the best. And when things don't go well, we don't get too frustrated and down on ourselves and lose confidence in what we do."
Saban apologized several times for being unable to attend the meeting, but said he looked forward to speaking to the group next year.
In Saban's absence, Alabama director of football operations Lance Thompson was on hand to talk with fans and answer questions. Thompson also recruits southwest Alabama for the Crimson Tide and they have already received several commitments from local players, including Burton Scott of Vigor and Mark Barron of St. Paul's.
Scott, Barron and highly coveted Foley receiver Julio Jones were honored at the meeting as the Cellular South student-athletes of the week. Lauren Moran of Fairhope and Lauren Auer of Davidson were the Regions Bank academic students of the week.
--EXTRA POINTS: Alabama's Nov. 3 visit from LSU has been selected by CBS for a 4 p.m. kickoff. ... Freshman cornerback Kareem Jackson was named SEC freshman of the week Monday after totaling six tackles, two interceptions and two pass breakups against Tennessee. ... The Tide coaching staff recognized QB John Parker Wilson, WR DJ Hall, RB Terry Grant (offense), Jackson, LB Darren Mustin (defense), KR Javier Arenas, LB Demarcus Waldrop and RB Jimmy Johns (special teams) as in-house players of the week.
AFTER READING THAT I HAVE TO SAY THE PROCESS IS WORKING!!!!
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