Alabama Crimson Tide College Football Pregame Quote, 12/29/2021

Very excited to be in the playoffs. We worked so hard this offseason and this season to get where we’re at. And we overcame adversity and really found who we are to be where we’re at, so we’re excited to play in this game.

Just wanted to ask you about Jameson Williams and what kind of receiver he is to open up other receivers like you at the tight end position and when [John] Metchie was on the field and Slade [Bolden]. What does he do to kind of open up, take the top off the defense for you guys to succeed as well?

He brings a lot of speed to the offense, so he can really bring two defenders off somebody so he can open up another receiver or he could just run right past the defense and just score touchdowns like he’s been doing all season. But he allows other receivers to get open by taking double coverage because of his speed. So that’s what he’s been doing.

Obviously coming into this tight end’s room, Jahleel Billingsely had such a good season last year. Wins the National Championship. And then from week one against Miami, you make a couple plays and you’ve really taken over some of the playing time at that position. Can you speak to your relationship with Billingsley and how you guys kind of work off each other and help each other improve your games?

Jahleel, he’s like my right-hand man. Ever since he came in, we clicked in the tight end room and just kind of grown up together. We both have different attributes we bring to the offense. And both of us, I think, are a great duo to this team.

You mentioned adversity in your opening statement. Just talk about the wild ride that this 2021 season’s been.

It’s been a special journey, especially knowing that a lot of people doubted us throughout the season. And we had to just find our identity as a whole. And know that if we didn’t come back from the loss that we weren’t going to be able to come ‚Äì be where we’re at right now. So we had to just lock in and find the weaknesses and just build on that.

So your background deals with adversity just with the fact that you switched from defensive end to tight end. That’s kind of in the story line for this Alabama team this year is handling adversity. So if I want to ask a question to somebody about adversity, I think you’re the one. How has that worked in your favor this season? And just even talking about being doubted, why do you think that going through that adversity has been a benefit, possibly, for this year?

I think the adversity helped me because it just built my mentality more to really strive for what you want. And to never stop until you get it. And don’t really listen to the doubters and just focus on yourself one day at a time. And that’s all I was doing from when I got here and started tight end to now, is just not really worry about nobody else but yourself and just put your team first.

Just wondering, yesterday UCLA, I think they became the seventh school that had to opt-out of a bowl game because of COVID issues. When you’ve seen these things happen over the course of the last few days, how does that register with you as a football player who’s got a very important game coming up?

Well, you know, we know what’s at stake. And we know what’s out there in the world, the virus and stuff. So we know how to handle it. And we made rules within our team to stay away from the virus. So we got that under control.

Kind of a random question. Both Slade [Bolden] and Bryce [Young] have referred to Coach [Bill] O’Brien as “Coach OB.” Do you know who started that nickname or how that came to be?

His initials are OB. We don’t say “O’Brien,” we just say “OB” because it’s faster. I don’t know, I say both.

You talked about making that decision to stay within the hotel. What are you guys doing to pass time when you’re not out on the football field? Are you doing anything in particular as a team to just kind of pass the hours?

Recovery, watching film, and just bonding as a team. That’s all we’re doing, just getting ready for the game.

Anything fun, though, anything in particular?

Getting ready to win. That’s fun.

You mentioned that, after the A&M game, a lot of people were counting you guys out. It’s hard to think of Alabama as kind of an underdog thing, underdog role. Will Anderson mentioned that, I think, on Monday. Do you guys take kind of that me-against-the-world approach when it comes to games like this and since that A&M loss?

We really just try to put it into perspective that nobody matters besides us and what we do when we play the game. And we dictate how we play the game. And we try to just not worry about what they do because they got to react off us. So we try to just put our first foot forward and just try to ‚Äì you know what I’m saying ‚Äì dominate the game.

You can take a second on this if you need to, but I was wondering, looking back on the season as a whole, just for you personally, what have been your highs and lows, like your favorite moments – it could be on or off the field, really?

That’s a tough question. There’s a lot of highs and lows throughout the season.

It could be like something fun that happened in the locker room; it could be a [Coach Nick] Saban thing.

From us growing as a team over the course of the season, because you could tell how much more together we are throughout the season as you go game clip to game clip and how much we’ve improved together and as individuals. You know what I mean? That’s what I like the most.

Obviously, you have a much more featured role in the offense this year as a pass catcher. But you’ve had the opportunity now to catch balls from Bryce Young this year and work with Mac Jones in practice last year. Can you talk about some of their similarities and how they might be on the same page when it comes to just their love of football, because they both come across like complete football junkies?

First of all, both players are extremely smart. You got to be at that position. And they both play just football great. And that’s all. I can’t compare. They’re two different players to me, but they’re both great players.