Alabama Crimson Tide College Football Pregame Quote, 12/27/2021

How fresh are you right now after having a couple weeks off? And over the course of the season, you obviously have a lot of natural ability, great first-step explosive, speed, and all that, but how much do you feel like your pass rush moves have improved over the course of the season?

I think they improved a lot. I’m feeling good. This break we had was really good to spend time with our families and just regroup and get our bodies back right.

But as far as pass rush moves, this whole break we’ve had, I’ve been able to just take a step back and really get back to my fundamentals of me using my hands or different moves. A lot of it goes back to just countermoves and stuff like that.

So I think this whole break that we’ve had so far, I think I just got back to my technique of working my hands better, getting into my secondary move if my primary move doesn’t work. So it’s been good.

Obviously, Bryce [Young], is a pretty calm guy. In terms of his competitiveness and that competitive fire, how would you describe that?

I would describe it as one of a kind, you know, for him to stay with his composure and he leads the offense the way he does. I tell him all the time my hat’s off to him. I try to take little things from Bryce’s game as far as the aspects of being a leader and staying composed and not getting frustrated. I think Bryce does a great job of that, and I respect him a lot for that.

Coach [Pete] Golding talked about this a minute ago, but, as a leader, what’s your message to your teammates about, not only following the COVID protocols, but focusing on the real reason you guys are in Dallas is to win a football game?

Most definitely I agree with what Coach Golding was saying. As a leadership group, we came together, and we just have to tell the team we know what’s at stake. It’s either win or go home. We don’t want to go home; we want to win.

And I think the biggest thing was it was like a medical call. I think everybody just needed to be locked in on what’s going on right now. And the main focus is winning this game and being all in. Nobody needs to be distracted, going out, running the streets, or anything like that.

And I think when you have a group of guys like that on leadership that we all could come to the same thing. Nobody was being selfish. Everybody had a mutual understanding of we know what’s going on. It was really good. With the team, most guys would be, like, complaining and stuff like that. The team has responded very well. There hasn’t been any complaining, no negativity, nobody’s been the cancer. Everybody responded the right way, and practice has been great. And I think that’s what it’s all about.

Kind of bouncing off Charlie’s question about leadership, Coach Golding [Pete] Golding was just saying that you and Henry [To’oto’o] kind of motivate guys in different ways on the defense. Kind of talk about y’all’s differences in leadership, but why it’s important for both of y’all to lead in the areas that you do.

I think for me I’m more of a vocal leader than Henry is. Henry is going to show it through his actions. He’s going to be real positive. He’s going to come to work every day. He’s not going to say much, but he’s going to show you through his actions, and you have no choice but to follow.

And he’s right in the center of our defense; so everybody has to follow exactly what Henry is saying. Henry’s a great leader. But me on the other side, I just try to be that more vocal leader, you know, make sure everybody is doing the right thing, holding everybody accountable so we can all be on the same page and everything can get done. So I think when you have two leaders like that on defense, everything works out great.

I just wanted to ask kind of a twofold question. Taking yourself out of the mix – we always expect you to have a big game – who could you see on defense stepping up, having a huge game against Cincinnati?

And one more, if I can go ahead and ask, can you talk a little bit about seeing Jameson Williams in practice? Can you tell us a little bit, what has he added to Alabama’s offense this year?

Well, I’m not going to sit up here and put any pressure on nobody on the team. I’m hoping that everybody on the defense has a great game and have a big game and we all can go out there and play on the same page. We all can fire up there and have fun and everybody play together.

So I think that’s the biggest thing going in a game, especially a playoff game, that everybody has a big game. Because, a big game, we know what’s at stake and everybody could be on their Ps and Qs and everybody needs to have football on their mind and make it the main thing.

As far as Jameson Williams, he’s been electrifying this year. He’s really another leader on the offense that’s not really been talked about much. He has so much energy, he really gets those guys going a lot. I was just watching a video of him, and I didn’t know he’d be doing some of the things he’s been doing when he scores a touchdown. But his energy, I think they feed off that energy, him making plays, him being a vocal leader, telling them if something is going bad or something like that.

He’s been a great leader on the offensive side, and I don’t think he gets enough recognition for that. But he’s been electrifying this year. He’s been a great addition to the offense, and we love him.

What was your favorite Christmas gift this year?

All of them. I can’t single one out. No, I’ll tell you, it was a hoodie I got. It was, like, this brown hoodie I had and it had, like, different colors and stuff like that. It was pretty dope. My sister had got it for me. It was dope. I like that one. That’s probably my favorite Christmas gift.

I just wanted to kind of quickly ask you about the challenges of facing this Cincinnati offense. Obviously, you know, in the SEC you’re playing against the best of the best nationwide. What similarities do you see between Cincinnati and SEC competition that you’ve already played and how do you feel about this match-up on New Year’s Eve?

Most definitely the offensive line and their quarterback. I feel like all year we’ve seen great offensive lines that are really big, can move, maulers, and protect their quarterback really well. As far as quarterbacks go, we’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks like him this year. You know, they’re fast, can move out of the pocket, make plays with their arms, can run.

So as far as that, that’s like the SEC and the games that we have been playing this year. They have a really good offensive line that protects really well. Their quarterback is outstanding. He can make plays down the field with his arm. He can run. He can escape the pocket. So it’s going to be a really good challenge for us, and we just have to be ready.

I want to ask you, I know your coach has said this before, that he kind of prefers the underdog mentality and it worked well for you guys in the SEC championship. And in this match-up, of course, a lot of the outside noise is that Cincy is the underdog coming into this. I’m curious what your preference is and how does that impact you, the outside noise, ahead of these big games?

To me, I still feel like we’re the underdog in this game. I mean, all year we have been disrespected. I’m pretty sure we’re still probably getting disrespected out there. Where right now we’re not really worried about the external factors. We just have to worry about what’s going on inside the facility and the practice field and all the meetings and stuff like that. And I think that’s our biggest concern right now, making sure that we’re ready and prepared for this game.

You know how much an athlete and what confidence can do for an athlete and vice versa is the true, too. When you don’t have a lot of confidence, it can show itself on the field. Do you feel like the performance you guys had against Georgia, did that give you guys confidence, and if so, how are you seeing that since that game?

Since the Georgia game, I’ve been so proud of the guys, because the intensity, the energy hasn’t dropped off one bit. Practices have been really well. Meetings have been really well. Walk-throughs have been really well. The way that we’ve taken that energy from that game and had a break as long as we have and the energy is still rolling and everybody is still ready to play, and everybody still has that same mindset, it’s been great. I’m so proud of those guys, and we just have to keep it rolling until the game this weekend.

You said just a minute ago that Alabama has been disrespected and continues to be. I guess where do you hear that? Where does the disrespect come in and how do you channel that?

We channel it as positive energy. We love it. It just fuels us up even more. We know what type of team we have. We don’t really worry about what other people have to say about us. But we can’t use it as fuel because we just have to keep proving people that they’re wrong and that we are an elite team and we can play very well.

So Will, you seem like you like to have a lot of fun, and I know these bowl weeks obviously provide that but not during a pandemic. I’m curious, how has that impacted the team just to not enjoy that part of the bowl week and to be kind of segregated once again from media and all this kind of in-person stuff?

Like I said earlier, the interest has been really well. Nobody has been complaining about anything. Like I said, we know what’s at stake. And I told the team, when we had talked, you know, we all we got and we all we need. We know the biggest focus and we know what we have to do. We can’t let anybody, you know, go out and go get COVID and bring it back and stuff like that. So the team has handled that very well.

We have a hospitality section that I know all the guys of the team love to play video games and different type of games and stuff like that and we can all hang out and stuff like that.

It’s been good. We have a little aspect of it, just to go in there and chill and do those type of different activities and stuff like that. So we have a little lounge where we can play and just be in a safe environment. So it’s been good.

Will, just what’s it been like having Chris Allen around the team this year, even though he hasn’t been able to play since the opening game when he got hurt?

With Chris being a vet and Chris going through so much, he’s been around the program a long time and he knows so much about football. You know, me, I kind of like ‚Äì I don’t know, as much as Chris does. So I can’t like sometimes help some of the guys with certain things. But he has stepped in that role of him not being able to play, he sees different things that, you know, what he can help. And like if somebody mess up or they don’t quite understand, he fills in that role and tells them like hey, this is how you do that, stuff like that. So he’s been a great leader. I mean, man, especially the outside linebacker role with us being so young and stuff like that. He’s shown tremendous leadership, great energy. He’s always been positive around us. He just keeps us uplifted. Sometimes when we get tired or stuff like that he just tells us to keep pushing and stuff like that. So he’s been a great leader and a great big brother to us. So we love him so much, and we thank him.

Will, I know you don’t know Jerome Ford. You obviously didn’t play with him at Alabama. But knowing that he’s coming into this game and it’s a little bit surreal that he’s playing his former team and there’s all these storylines, I’m curious what you guys on the team have talked about and the people that do know him well and possibly are friends with him, what they have talked about ahead of that matchup.

You know, whatever I have heard about him has always been a positive. It’s never been nothing bad. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us. But from everything I’ve heard about him, I heard he had great character. He was a great athlete. And just watching film, he can make a lot of plays. He has great swiftness ‚Äì quickness. He can move. It’s going to be a really good challenge for us. But as far as anything I’ve ever heard, it’s always been great stuff, and we’re ready for the challenge.

Take yourself back to the first time you saw Dallas Turner and he’s a wide-eyed freshman out there, probably running around to where he is now. How would you explain that journey and how much improvement he’s made?

He’s made a lot of improvement. The first time I seen Dallas, you know, he was like any other freshman, you know, a little nervous, overthinking everything. But what I expressed to Dallas was something that was really big with me last year, don’t overthink because it’s going to slow you down a lot. You’re not going to be able to play fast. You’re not going to be able to do what you want to do, and then you’re going to be wondering are you good enough? This and that.

And I try to tell him, like, take it one play at a time. I think once he started his second game and he started taking it one play at a time, he started ‚Äì you know, recognized what was going on, Dallas is a very smart player, great instincts to move, too. So when he started like slowing the game down for himself and started playing really like to his ability, it’s been really good for him. He hasn’t been overthinking. Like I said, he’s super smart, and I think that’s one of the best gifts he has. He’s so smart that he knows what things are coming sometimes.

But, you know, just I tried to express to him like, just take it one play at a time. And he’s been doing a great job. And just seeing his confidence grow and continue to grow and how much potential he has and how good he’s going to be, I’m really excited about Dallas.