As the play clock struck zero on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium, most of the Crimson Tide players and coaches filed back into the tunnel in a “Belichickian” fashion.
No flash, no trash talking and no taunting – just business as usual.
Since 2007, head coach Nick Saban has not only brought a winning attitude in how plays are executed, but on how players have conducted themselves before, during and after the game. Something many teams, including many in the Southeastern Conference, lack.
Yes, getting up after a big play on offense or defense and doing a semi-choreographed dance or celebration shows a ton of swagger and moxy. But, at the same time, it can be a mask for the weaknesses either the player or his team possesses.
Take last week’s game between one of our fellow SEC opponents and an assumed inferior Sun Belt opponent. Players and coaches were all over the place when either a sack was made or a touchdown was scored. It looked as if it was the last game of football that was ever being played and they were trying to relish the opportunity just to take part in the moment.
With celebrations come flags and sideline warnings. The only sideline warning Tide players have to worry about is if they make a mental mistake, and then they have to hear about it for the remainder of the game.
Trash talking in the media became a hot topic leading up to the Tide’s matchup with Florida Atlantic. Granted it was not an explicitly-worded tirade that came from the mouth of Owls’ junior defensive end Cory Henry when he claimed the Tide “could be beat,” but it was talk in the media nonetheless.
That is something Nick Saban has made a priority in his tenure at the Capstone. No trash-talking or quips in the media during the football season. The team, in more ways than one, is better than that. At the risk of sounding cliché, they allow the talk to be settled on the field and in the box score.
This year’s football squad, like teams in the past, resembles a family. It can be hard to keep calm and quiet when someone takes a shot at your family but Nick Saban and his staff have done a fantastic job keeping the players focused on being grown men on and off the field and not give into taunts by players who have their own issues.
The professionalism and class displayed by the football team has resonated across other Crimson Tide athletic programs and although the University may not be the flashiest of all the athletic departments that comprise the NCAA, we certainly are the most humble and grounded.
Take head coach Sarah Patterson’s national champion gymnastics’ team who were out washing cars in front of Arby’s raising money for a child with a rare brain condition. Patrick Murphy’s national champion softball team has taken part in countless volunteer operations across Tuscaloosa and the Southeast on their own time.
None of the good works and class displayed by members of the Crimson Tide Athletics family is for camera time and self-promotion. What we have seen over the past four to five years has been a total transformation on how athletes conduct themselves both on the field/court and off of it and the student body should be proud of that.
While other universities have to rely on slogans printed on signs and t-shirts to remind the outside world that they are a family and have class, it is something that is left unspoken at Alabama.
The most beautiful part of the “Tradition” pregame video is seeing the word “Class” flash across the screen because it is a constant and true reminder of how our football team and all other programs represent this great University, especially in times of triumph.
