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Home Games 2008 front page The Tide Has Turned; These are the post game comments from Coach Nick Saban following the Auburn game … Coach Nick Saban ... Well, it was obviously a great win for our fans. It was a great win for our players. We don't have a player on our team that has ever experienced this before so that was the goal. It was less about the rivalry and more about the fact this was something we had in our power if we focused on the right things and put our energy in the right things and went out there and played good football technically ... tried to out hit, out hustle them ... we would have our best chance to be successful and I was pleased with the way we did that. There's a lot of history in this game. There's a lot of passion in this game. We certainly have a lot of respect for Auburn's players. They played hard in the game. There were a lot of good licks out there. It was a very physical game. I think the biggest thing was we were able to control the line of scrimmage. We were able to run the ball a little bit. Glenn (Coffee) has a good game (20/153/1TD) and that was probably the difference. They couldn't run it on us and it put their quarterback in some situations where he had to beat us a different way. I was pleased with how we played on defense and I thought we were solid on special teams as well. I'd like to say that when I came here, change was probably inevitable. But the growth that everybody has had was optional and everyone had to buy into it. And I just want to say that the seniors we have on this team probably were the key to changing the culture starting after the bowl game last year and through the off-season and through the summer as well as week in and week out of this season, providing tremendous example as well as leadership. They really engaged the young players that have contributed in a positive way to this team. We've had quite a few of those. I'm really pleased and happy for our seniors and I want everyone to know they should always be recognized as the group that had a tremendous amount to do with changing the culture here in terms of how we play football. It's how Alabama has always played football and we certainly are proud of our players. Our coaching staff has done a phenomenal job throughout the season. We have one more challenge, certainly against a great opponent. We're looking forward to having the opportunity to have that challenge. Press Pool ... Do you think that Terrence Cody was back at full strength? What do you think what he was able to do helped you out on defense? Well, it helps us tremendously because he's hard to single block. I made the comment this past week that he practiced a lot better. He had his quickness and mobility back. I don't think he was that way prior to the bye-week. I think the bye-week helped him. I also think it helped his conditioning. But I think he practiced extremely well all last week and I felt like he was back to his old self, and I thought he played pretty well out there today. But the thing it does, when you play our defense, if they can't single block the noseguard you don't always have to play an 8 man front to stop them. They can't single block him very often and that helps the rest of our players in terms of how we can play as a defense as well as how they can play individually and collectively. As much as you're willing to share, what did you tell the players after the game? What was your message to them? That I was proud of them and that it was a great win and they made a lot of people proud. I'm happy for our fans. We've had great atmosphere here at the University of Alabama since I've been here. It was never any better than it was tonight in this game. I think they've had a tremendous impact on this team. I not only think they're proud of the way the team plays, but this team has represented this University in a first class way and I'm really proud of that. And that's what I told the players. I'm proud of them. It's a great feeling for them and a great accomplishment to get where they are right now. And they did it with a lot of hard work. perseverance and commitment. We really kind of did it the hard way. That's how we play. I'm proud of the perseverance they've had throughout the season. If you could talk about the running game a little more. You ran to the right side more than in the past. Were they (Auburn) selling out to your left side, and how did you guys adjust? It was really a formation thing. It wasn't really about right-side, left-side. We have an outstanding left side of the line with Smitty (Andre Smith) and Mike (Johnson). You do a self-scout on yourself and there's certain plays we've run there a lot and we thought we needed to change it up a little bit so we did a few times. On Glenn's touchdown run, you won't see a finer blocked play with what the right side did with Travis (McCall) blocking the edge. It was a really well executed play. That lap around the field to thank the fans ... I was wondering what that experience was like for you? Well, I've done that at other places because I think everybody contributes to the team. I think our fans have been ... from the time 92,000 people came to the Spring game til right now ... have been extremely supportive. That support and positive energy has had a significant effect of us being able to recruit and it reflects a very positive image from the program's standpoint. I was thanking them. I was thanking our fans for their support. I was thanking our fans for the atmosphere they create. I was thanking our fans for the positive energy that's affected our program in a positive way. After the game two weeks ago you talked about your team being physically and emotionally tired ... was there a point in the preparation that you looked at your team and said "OK, they're over that hump and ready to go." I think we really had a lot of energy on Monday. I think some guys kind of limped through the bye-week trying to get healed up. We held some guys out of some practices and we usually have a few more reps for the backup players. I thought on Monday our team was back, and we practiced extremely well on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. But then I think we got tired of practicing and we were ready to play a game. And that's the problem. You always try to strike a balance between how much practice do we need? So I was kind of worried we'd gotten tired emotionally again because we'd practiced so much. But that wasn't the case. I thought our players were ready to play today and they were good. I think the most important thing ... because last year when we played this game, our guys were out of sorts. We made a hundred mistakes and our team was not that was today. They channeled their energy and emotion into the right things so they could play good football. We didn't get unnecessary penalties and things like that and played with pretty good discipline out there and was able to execute and that was key to being successful. Three guys on offense in particular ... (Nikita) Stover, (Glenn) Coffee and (John Parker) Wilson ... have been through some ups and downs in their careers here. But to see them have big nights in this game, how gratifying is that for you to see that? Well, they've all done great since we've been here and I don't know the total history of all that. But Glenn has always done a good job for us. He's had a great season. He played a lot of good football for us last year. John Parker has done an outstanding job. And as the quarterback goes, when things don't go well and you lose a lot of times you get more of the blame than you deserve. He's certainly done a great job this year of helping our team be successful and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. And Stover has been up and down a little bit, but it was good to see him make a play. He had a great game here a couple of years ago if I remember right watching on TV. And getting the shutout ... does that add any extra joy to this night? Not really. I'm proud of our defensive players for accomplishing that, but that's not one of the goals. The goal is to win the game. You want to be hard to score on on defense. You don't want to give up big plays. You want to get turnovers. You want to play good in the red area and you want to stop the run. I was proud of the way executed and it's always great to get a shutout, but we don't talk about that ever. We just go out and play the next play and focus on the next play and keep doing that until we get finished playing. We got to play a lot of players, which was good. Talking about your next goal with Florida ... how do you feel you matchup with the Gators and how important was it to have a dominant performance tonight and have everything clicking going into that game? I think they are playing extremely well and they've dominated a lot of their opponents and it's certainly going to be a challenge for us. They have a good team. They have a lot of speed and a lot of good return people ... a lot of good skill guys on offense. They play very well on defense and are very athletic. It's going to be a challenging game for us, but it's an opportunity for our players. Playing in the SEC Championship game ... other than playing in the National Championship game ... is the finest venue I've ever played in as a coach. I've done it twice before and it's a great competitive atmosphere and you always play a tremendous opponent and that's the challenge of it all. They're playing well, and we're playing fairly well and we have two contrasting styles and it will be interesting to see how those styles affect the outcome of the game. Can you take us through the sequence where you forced the back-to-back turnovers and punched it in both times. And then on the flip side ... no turnovers and only one penalty. Well, you know that penalty was like a turnover. When you make a penalty when it's 3rd down and an inch because of illegal motion and then you have to punt the ball ... that's like a turnover. But I think the turnovers were huge, especially starting out the 2nd half it really changed the momentum of the game. I think when you can capitalize on turnover and make the other team have some consequences for those turnovers that really adds to changing the momentum of the game. We were able to do that in both cases and that broke the game open and changed the game a little bit. It got them out of sync on what they could do on offense. We were able to wear them down a little bit by running the ball and trying to take the air out of it at the end. Glenn Robins, New York Post ... we sell a ton of newspapers down here in Tuscaloosa (a few chuckles from the press pool) ... I'm curious, you're talking a lot about the culture and changing the culture. You had that 4th and 1 early in the game and strategy calls for you to go for it. It comes down to you guys against their guys. Is that what you want this to be all about, this program? Well yeah. I think just about everything comes down to that. We tell every one of our guys, and most of the people here have heard me say this before ... as a competitor, you're going out to try and dominate the guy play against every play in the game. Your focus and concentration is on that particular play, on that assignment, on that execution. Physically you dominate him with an intensity that he can't match. That's how we want our guys to compete. Every play in the game has a history and a life of its own. So you're emphasizing the importance of that particular play. Aight? So whether it's 4th and 1, you want your players to understand the situation in the game and how critical it is. But we practice those things and those circumstances in terms of what we're going to do and the players know what it's going to be and when you make those calls as a coach, they're only good calls if they work. When they don't, they're always bad. Even if everybody out there was cheering to go for it, if we would have gone for it and didn't make it, it would have been a bad call. Are you happy? Yeah! Are you? (laughter-Saban is smiling broadly) We're happy to have you here! I'm happy, I really am happy. I was happy and dancing in the locker room. There's a time and a place for everything. Miss Terry gave me a big kiss coming up here. I was real happy about that! (more laughter) What's the most important thing you're going to tell your team before Florida? I don't think we'll tell them anything different. I think our players understand that executing together as a unit is the best opportunity we have to be successful. I think we're going to play an outstanding team and it's going to be a challenge for us. But I also think that we are who we are. Aight? And the way we play is our style. They're going to have to match that style, and we're going to have to match their style in terms of their speed. Their style of offense is a little bit different than anything we've seen so far this year. But I'm not going to tell them anything different. If there was something different we could do ... I get asked this all the time ... Is there anything different that you're doing because this is such a big game? If there was something different, you'd be admitting that you haven't done a good job all year in helping them do the best they can in every game they've played. We'll do the same thing in this game. But really, psychologically, the most important thing about these kind of games is to stay in your own self-space, in terms of how you focus on what you have to do, and keep your poise and put your energy into playing good football. That's the key to the drill. Was there any part of the game plan that didn't work today? Yeah, we had some bad runs out there. We had some missed passes. We gave up a couple of plays on defense. We didn't stop their ?T-Full? play very well when they were in 4 wideouts and pulled the tackle. Sometimes the quarterback was running it. Sometimes the back was running it. So we've got plenty to work on. We didn't play a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. We have a lot to improve on. We always try to make corrections with out players, and we always walk through those corrections so they understand how it should work. You've talked a lot about identity ... is the way your team looked tonight, they way you want your team to look? Also, the players went to the fans for about a minute and a half and then it seemed there was a concerted effort to get them off the field. Was that by design, to not let them celebrate too long with the fans? I didn't even know that was happening. I just wanted to get the guys in the lockerroom. We always say a prayer at the end. We always sing the fight song together as a team.They were pretty excited. It's a pretty unique three or four minutes and it's great to be a part of a group. It's one of the great things about being able to be part of a team is you only have so many "great" victories. All the hard work, the perseverance, the togetherness you have. And then there's that moment that everyone gives thanks for it by praying. Everyone gets pretty excited about singing the fight song. It's just a special time and we wanted to get everybody in there and I think all of our players understand that. From an identity standpoint. I do think this is the kind of competitive identity ... a team that can play through adversity, a team that's not affected during the game by circumstances and don't lose their poise. There's a competitive spirit about them that they can play the next play and they're always trying to dominate the person they play against, individually and collectively. There's a chemistry and togetherness from a team standpoint that makes this team one of my favorites of all-time in terms of guys to coach. We don't have a lot of problem guys. We've got a lot of good team chemistry. I think everybody cares. Everybody cares, that's probably the most important thing about this team. Everybody cares. It's important to them and I think because of that there's a tremendous respect and trust for each other. I think that's what makes good team chemistry. It's not that easy to get. We feel fortunate to have it on our team, and to have enough players to have the success we've had to this point. Hopefully, we have the maturity to continue to accept the challenge that's in the opportunities we have in the future.
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Click for post game interview transcripts from Auburn ... or other Homes Games 2008 interviews Terrence Cody (#62 DL Jr. JC 6'-5" 365 lbs. Gulf Coast CC, Ft. Myers FL) Antoine Caldwell (#59 OL Sr. 3L 6'-3" 305 lbs. Lee High, Montgomery AL) Go to
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