TUSCALOOSA Alabama coach Nick Saban is enjoying this team for more reasons than big wins, talent and depth.
He also likes the second-ranked Crimson Tide because they dont have so-called energy vampires sucking time away from the coaches and perhaps affecting the teams focus or chemistry.
Basically, what I mean by that is as a head coach when you have energy vampires on your team who never do what theyre supposed to do and take all your energy as a coach, Saban said on Monday. So youve got five guys who take all your energy and never get to enjoy the other 95 guys who do everything right.
We just dont seem to have those guys on our team, and we seem to have a lot more guys that sort of like each other, buy in, try to help each other, want to do whats best for the team. Thats always more fun to deal with as a coach.
The wins help, too. The Tide (9-1) moved into strong contention for a playoff spot with a 25-20 win over then-No. 1 Mississippi State.
Now come two more home games when Alabama figures to be sizable favorites. The Tide plays FCS Western Carolina on Saturday and then would secure a spot in the SEC championship game with a victory over No. 16 Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Tight end Brian Vogler echoes Sabans sentiment, saying we all get along with each other really well. He said its not that this wasnt true of previous teams.
Its just, in the past, it used to take maybe three or four guys with energy to get everybody else fired up, Vogler said. And now, we can just have any random guy just start the energy fire and it just starts picking up and everyone joins in.
Going from much-hyped games with LSU and then-No. 1 Mississippi State to an FCS opponent can put Saban on high alert for complacency. Players also are trying to recover from two physical games.
Saban gave the team Monday off from the normal practice with players like tailback T.J. Yeldon, receiver DeAndrew White and placekicker Adam Griffith nursing injuries.
His voice and intensity level rose when asked about balancing preparing for the Western Carolina game with letting players recover physically.
Saban compares the challenge of regaining focus when a team lets it slip to trying to get momentum back in a game once its gone.
If we took the approach that OK, we want to get healed up, wed have half the guys saying, Hey, I think I need to get out this week because Ive got a bad hip, he said. My shoulder hurts from when I got hurt when I was playing. I got a separated shoulder. So maybe I ought to take a back seat out there as a coach, try to get healed up for the game.
How are we going to get better?
Then he repeated that last question in case anybody missed his priorities. His players are familiar with the message, sometimes delivered with more ferocity before supposedly easy games than before the more hyped matchups.
Weve got a long way ahead of us, so were trying to get better every day, defensive lineman AShawn Robinson said. Were trying to work on little things, technique, things we missed out there on Saturday.
He gets on us real fast. Were taught to do what were supposed to do every play, whether its practice or every game.
2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.cullmantimes.com/sports/alabama-football-saban-tide-lacks-energy-vampires-on-team/article_238d12c0-6eb4-11e4-b53f-0f8eb0e50f3f.html
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