Alabama / Auburn Iron Bowl 2003 postgame interviews with Brodie Croyle, Brandon Brooks, Shaud Williams, Joe Kines, Mike Shula and Tommy Deas

These comments came following the 2003 Auburn game as Coach Shula answered questions from the press pool ...

Coach Mike Shula … Kind of seems like we’ve all been here before. An unbelievable effort by our players. It had to be a great game to watch. Some great individual efforts. Brandon Brooks igniting our football team with his touchdown return at the start of the second half. I'm proud of these guys. I’m proud of them because of the way they’ve fought, and the way they’ve been resilient, the way they have never quit. Those are all things we’ve come to expect from guys that play at Alabama. It still needs to be mentioned because it’s been a difficult season for all of us. I’m tired of saying the word “close”. Our guys are tired of hearing it. But there’s a lot for these guys to be proud of because of the way they’ve worked and believed and stayed together as a football team. It’s made me awful proud to be here. I’ve said that a couple of times this year. We’re not there yet, obviously, with our execution. That’s including everybody, starting with me, then our coaches and our players. But we’re gonna get there, we’re gonna get there. It was a difficult game in an incredible atmosphere, but we’ve got to be able to move on.

Press Pool … Is there any explanation for what happened in the first quarter with Auburn offensively?

Well, the two big plays came on some missed tackles. The first one … Carnell Williams is a great runner and takes advantage of every miscue you have defensively. I’m not even sure if it was a missed tackle, or just a cut off where their receiver blocked our safety. Then our corner came in … and we weren’t in the right gap. That’s how good of a back he is. The second one we thought we had their receiver tackled, but he breaks a tackle and makes a play. We were just a little bit off balance. If I could tell you why, it wouldn’t happen. But obviously, ‘getting off to a good start’ is something we’ve talked about in here that we’ve put a lot of emphasis on. They’re a good football team. They’ve got some weapons on both sides of the ball. But even in the third quarter there, we get back in it and have a couple of chances, but didn’t come up with some plays when we needed to. We got the score there at the end, but obviously took too long to score to get ourselves back into it.

Mike, can you talk about the thought process as far as playing Ray Hudson goes, and the effort that he gave you tonight?

Yeah. Well, the thought process was we announced Thursday that he was going to play. Ray has given us great effort all year. It’s unfortunate with his fumble. That was an incredible run on the screen pass, just breaking tackles, moving piles and then all of sudden, the ball comes out at the end. But I was happy for him to play well, and he made some plays for us.

What was the dialogue at halftime, after they had gained 300-and-something yards in the first half? It looked like you came back out with a purpose.

Well, just in general we talked about keeping our poise. Offensively, we had some things we were close on. We just didn’t quite get it done to get some rhythm going. Our offensive coaches made a nice adjustment on making a couple of runs that we hit early in the third quarter. That was really all three of them, Coach Rader, Coach Woods and Coach Connelly. But of course the kickoff return just ignited everybody. Then we get the ball back and go three and out.

What was the thought process of playing Neil Lomax at tight end? How did that come about?

Our guys were hurt. All of our tight ends were hurt. Even the ones that are healthy are hurt. We felt like he was capable enough of changing positions. Heck, he’s played center, guard and tackle already. Why not play him at tight end? He did a really nice job because he came off the field and communicated some things that were helpful. On some runs, he could tell us how they were playing it and things like that.

You’ve talked about ‘being close’, was there any near-miss play tonight that stands out in your mind?

There were a few near misses. Early in the game we missed on a deep post .. where Dre Fulgham couldn't quite get to it. We had that one called back late. And we would have scored on another earlier to Zach Fletcher, but we were illegally lined up I guess. Unfortunately, we had the one interception there in the fourth quarter that gave them good field position. Then they took it down and made it a two score game. We’d all like to have that one back. But we fought hard and came up with a score at the end, tried the onside, but didn’t execute that.

Mike, the offensive line seemed like it was getting a lot of pressure the whole game for the second straight week. How disappointing was this game for them?

I’d like to answer that a little bit better tomorrow. But they’re (Auburn) good up front. At the end a couple of times we were laid off the ball on a couple of snap counts and their ends kind of beat us off the ball. Those are things you work on every week, and its hard to duplicate the speed. But we’ve got to get it done better than that. I don’t know for sure how well from last week.

Comment on the third-and-longs that they were able to complete. There were several of those.

Early in the game, I think there were a couple of times where they had time to throw it. Another time, they just scrambled and made a play. Sometimes it happens the way you draw it up, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes guys just make a guy miss and buys some more time and completes the pass.

Can you talk about Brandon Brooks and how we made such an impact on this game?

He’s been great. He’s patiently waited his turn. We talked earlier in the year and he was a little frustrated because he wanted to get in there. We were playing Shaud and I just didn’t quite feel comfortable yet. But I told him, “Just keep working hard, and when you get your chance make the most of it. Then go out there and make the head coach look bad for not putting you in their earlier.” And that’s what he did. He’s had a great attitude all year and I was proud of him and happy for him.

What’s the mindset of the team after another disappointing loss? Does it get to the point that it builds up into a pretty heavy burden for you?

I can say this. We’re all tired of building character. That’s probably the best way to say it. But I told our guys afterwards, they should be proud of the way we’ve come together as a team. You don’t just go do that in the second half down here in Auburn in a game like this without believing and staying together. We talked to the seniors and they’re going to be better people because of this season, and because of games like this. They’ve had a lot to dwell on in some tough times, and they’ve hung together. I do believe they’ll be better people because of it.

Click on the name for their post-game comments ...
Coach Mike Shula (Head Coach)

Brodie Croyle (#12 So. QB, 6-3 200 lbs. Rainbow City, AL - Westbrook Christian High)

Brandon Brooks (#5 So. SE, 5-4 163 lbs. Birmingham, AL - Shades Valley High School)

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