Crimson Tide begins quest for another national title

Alabama opened official preseason workouts on Monday in preparation for the 2020 season. The Crimson Tide begins Sept. 26 at Missouri. (Alabama Media Relations)

By TIM GAYLE

Alabama opened its preseason football practice on Monday and Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said the primary focus of his players is returning to the College Football Playoff after missing out in 2019.

“I think the players that play should have an opportunity to have a playoff and have a championship for the teams that are playing,” Saban said. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people that may or may not agree with that, but if we’re fortunate enough to be able to manage this … and we can go through a season and we can figure out who the best teams are, I think there would be a lot of interest to see those teams play (for a championship). That’s one of the biggest questions our players ask us. ‘Coach, if we play, will we be able to play in a playoff? We want to have a chance to play in a championship if we have a good season.’”

The questions about football and depth charts were secondary on Monday as most of the focus was on the effects of coronavirus. 

“We have a testing center here and every player can get tested every day if they want to,” Saban said. “We have gotten some medical information that when people are outside and they’re just briefly in contact with each other, they do have the (facial) shields on, that they’re not at great risk of spreading this disease. But at the same time, we’re hopeful that we’re not putting anybody out there that has it. Certainly, one of the reasons that we’re only going to play SEC teams is we can control the protocol of making sure whoever we’re playing against and whoever they’re playing against does not have it as well.”

Alabama opens the season on Sept. 26 at Missouri and Saban was asked about his thoughts on playing an SEC-only schedule of 10 conference games.

“I think that people made a decision based on player safety, what was best for the league, what we could control player safety with,” he said. “I mean, I’ve been a guy that’s been wanting to play 10 SEC games for a long time so this year we get to do that. I think it’s good for our players who get the opportunity to create value against 10 really quality opponents in our league. And I think it’s going to be very challenging. Every week, you’re going to have a very, very good opponent, but I think it’s good for the fans. Hopefully, it’ll create a lot of interest.”

Saban, in meeting with the press via a Zoom teleconference, praised his team’s strength and conditioning workouts and said Zoom meetings between the coaches and the players seemed productive. Only one question in Monday’s press conference dealt with the team specifically and that was a reference to last year’s sub-par performance by the defense.

“We gave up 18.5 points a game last year, which is the most we’ve given up,” he said. “I think we need better leadership. I think we have to play better against the run. I don’t think we played very well in the red area last year. I think the big challenge for this team, because of the four starters we lost in the secondary, is to get that rebuilt with some good players who lack experience but they are good players and we have confidence in them. But that’s going to be a key to the drill, especially the fact that we didn’t have spring practice and we weren’t able to work with these guys as much as we usually are.”

He was asked if any players had opted out of playing this fall and said that was an internal decision that would be kept between the team, unless any players wanted to speak publicly on the subject.

“We’re going to keep all those issues internal to our team,” he said. “The players have asked me to do that and I agree with them. If and when a player is ready to make an announcement about that, we’ll give it to you and that’ll be his prerogative to do that.”

Saban reiterated that he believes the Crimson Tide can play the college football season and remain safe because of all the protocols they’re following, provided they can continue to stay isolated. 

“We have a lot of respect for what we need to do with everybody in our organization,” he said. “I mean, we all wear masks in the building. We test our players. We’ve done it ever since the Fourth of July so that they know the players they’re working out with are healthy and safe and then we do it later in the week. So our players are used to being tested twice a week. 

“We try to keep our distance when we’re away from here, our personal bubble, Miss Terry and I and our immediate family. When I go see my mother, who is 88 years old, we sit 10 feet apart on a park bench and talk for 45 minutes or an hour. I say, ‘Mom, I’m not giving you a hug today because I love you.’ I mean, I think there’s a lot of changes we all have to make in our lifestyle in the things that we do to try and stay safe. I don’t fear this because we’re trying to do the right thing and we have great medical care here.”

Even so, Saban was asked, what about the photograph taken over the weekend of the students on University Boulevard standing in a crowded line without a mask? (The questioner didn’t include, nor did Saban provide, the information that every student was not allowed on campus until they had tested negative for the virus). 

“I’m not criticizing anybody here, but a lot of people have asked that we wear masks when we’re in public, when we’re in crowds, when we’re in large groups of people, that we keep social distanced,” Saban said. “I don’t think they’re doing that just for the heck of it. I think there’s a reason for it. We’re trying to control the spread of this disease and I think that our ability to do that is going to go a long way in saying whether we can play football or not.

“But, bigger than that, it’s just your own personal bubble for your own personal safety.”