HOOVER — No news, while bad for the most in the room at SEC Media Days, is good news for Alabama coach Nick Saban.
After a flurry of arrests in the spring, the summer has been quiet for football at the Capstone.
“That means your players are doing the right things personally, they’re doing a good job academically, they’re all into what they should be doing to get prepared for the season, and that has certainly been the case with our team this summer and since spring practice,” Saban said on Wednesday.
After his opening statement, he opened the floor for questions. Prior to his press conference, he made a comment about the NFL and when collegiate players receive draft grades. During the main session, he was asked to expand upon that.
“In our experience last year, our team chemistry from the SEC Championship game to the playoff game was affected by something,” Saban said in response. “I think that to have a December 15th deadline from when a junior can submit for a draft grade and then you get that assessment back sometime right before or right after Christmas, and then you have a playoff game coming up on Jan. 1 or 2, and I think it’s my obligation as a coach to inform that young man when I get that information because it’s his information, it’s not my information, to make him aware of that. And we’re talking about a young person who has to deal with a lot now.”
He went on to add that he wished the day to declare for the NFL Draft would be moved back so players can focus on finishing their seasons.
The offense this season
Despite losing most of the offensive starters, Alabama returns several playmakers including senior running back Kenyan Drake whose season came to an abrupt end following a leg injury at Ole Miss in early October.
“Kenyan Drake has tremendous diversity as a player,” Saban said. “He has so many things that he does well. He has great speed. He has very good running skills and running instincts, but he’s a fantastic receiver. In his position, it’s a little bit easier to almost create mismatches for him to be able to use those skills as a receiver than it would be if we played him at receiver.”
Drake said he likes giving coaches the ability to put him wherever the team needs him.
“I try to pride myself on my ability to do so,” Drake said. “With that being said, I always look forward to anything Coach Kiffin comes up with. He’s a mastermind of play calling and puts his players in the best position to be successful so with that I would want to make sure that I can be trustworthy so he can put me in the best position for our team.”
