Ryan Anderson spent four years flying under the radar among his Alabama football teammates. He wasn’t yelling in their faces. He wasn’t telling them what to do.

The outside linebacker led by example.

“I’ve been a guy that just didn’t have to speak out as much,” Anderson said. “I could just stay laid back and do my own thing. I had other guys that were always vocal leaders.”

And that was OK. It worked back then, but now, entering his fifth year as a redshirt senior, things have changed.

Anderson still has to lead by example, but he also has to lead vocally. It’s no longer one or the other. It’s 100 percent effort all the time. The younger players are watching, learning and mimicking.

“For one, I have to do it,” Anderson said. “All the older guys have to do it first. If we don’t, they’re not going to do it. They’re going to think that’s the way it’s done. If they see us doing it [and think], ‘That’s how they’ve been winning around here, and if they’re not doing it, we’re not doing it.’ That’s not the case. It starts up top.” 

This mentality rubbed off onto Anderson from Jarran Reed, who Anderson looked up to most before the Seattle Seahawks drafted him back in April. Now in a leadership role himself, Anderson tries to handle the team similar to how Reed did.

It’s working, too.

Anderson said the younger players, such as Raekwon Davis, Quinnen Williams and Jamar King, are getting better every day. In fact, the defensive veteran sees them doing everything asked of them.

Players who are new to the team, but not new to collegiate football, are doing the same. Wide receiver Gehrig Dieter has the experience as Anderson — thanks to a different team. Dieter transferred to Alabama this season from Bowling Green State University for his senior year.

“It definitely was a risk coming here,” he said. “The safe route was staying at BG and probably being one of the leading receivers in the country. But coming here, I wanted to be on a winning program and compete for a national championship.” 

Dieter’s experience thus far has been two things: fun and challenging. He has built a relationship with the rest of the wide receivers, who have been deemed the “assassins.” He goes up against Alabama’s defensive backs, who he considers the best in the country. 

When it comes down to it, though, the only thing that has changed is the artillery. The battle itself is the same.  

“You’re going to be competing against 11 other guys on the opposite side of the ball as you,” Dieter said. “Just coming here’s a challenge for myself, but something I want to do to prove to myself and prove to a lot of people is that football is football anywhere you go.”

Within the sport’s specific Xs and Os, Dieter has been presented with something new. While Anderson’s leadership role morphed into something larger, Dieter’s placement on the field as a wide receiver has slid from the outside to the slot, something he didn’t experience at Bowling Green.

Regardless, he emphasized his point still stands: Football is football. He made the adjustment, and he’s getting used to it. The same goes for Anderson. It’s all about adjusting to what’s best for the team. 

Anderson and Dieter both saw overall improvement during Alabama’s second scrimmage Saturday. Anderson, however, believes the Crimson Tide isn’t where it needs to be just yet, and he won’t give the team a ceiling, especially his defense. 

“I don’t get into potential,” Anderson said. “I played with a lot of guys in high school that had potential. So I don’t get into all that. It’s about showing up to work every day and getting better.”