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

Tell us about your excitement getting ready to play Cincinnati.

I’m excited for this moment. This is now my second time being here in the College Football Playoffs. And I feel like the team has come along. They’re doing a great job in practices. We’ve had great practices since coming off of our breaks. I like the team’s energy right now, and I think we’re very excited to play in this game.

On the Alabama defense, Phil Mathis kind of holds the front-end and you kind of hold together the defense on the back-end in the secondary. How has Henry To’oto’o held everything together in the middle of the defense as kind of the on-the-field signal caller this year for you guys?

When we’re playing games, the biggest thing is communication. When the front-end has the call and the back-end has the call and we’re all on the same page, that’s when we make plays. When we’re not, that’s when we allow big plays. That’s a big thing for Henry, a big task for Henry, get the defense on the same place, get the call in, and allow us to play our game.

You mentioned liking the energy, getting back to the playoff again. At what point this season did you feel like this team could be special, we could get back to the playoffs like we did the year before?

Kind of like what Henry [To’oto’o] said. After that loss against Texas A&M, you kind of saw a different energy week in, week out in the practices. From that game on, our practices have been great. Everybody is about the energy. Everybody is about the mental focus we need for the games. And I feel like that’s a big thing. It will play a big role in the College Football Playoffs.

You have had some time now to evaluate the Cincinnati offense. What stands about what they do well?

The Cincinnati offense is very explosive. They have a great quarterback. They have a great running back in Jerome Ford. Great receivers, great speed at receivers.

They have the ability to make explosive plays. I feel like the main thing is keeping our eyes in the right places And, like I said, being on the same page and getting our calls in and being able to play ball.

What do you remember about being teammates with Jerome [Ford] and how happy are you for him having the success he’s having?

Jerome was a very funny guy. We were actually like ‚Äì he’s probably one locker over from me. So we have a pretty close relationship. He’s a great player, very explosive. He can make the explosive run. So we know we have to come and wrap up because he has great balance when he’s running the ball as well. He’s a great player, and it’s going to be a great task for us.

When you have seen Jerome’s [Ford] film, what’s different about him that you remember? Is he a different running back now than when he was with you guys?

Obviously, he’s improved a lot. He was a great running back when he was at Alabama as well. Now he’s just showing it off very well in the games. He has great speed. Like I say, he has great balance. He runs behind his pads. So we have to come ready to the ball, all 11 hats, because one guy might not make the tackle, but we have to be able to make sure that the next ten will make the tackle.

You guys have a lot of younger guys, all over the defense but especially in the secondary. Can you just talk about what you’ve seen from them?

Yes. In the film room, they’re paying attention a lot more. They’re getting the plays down. Like I said, communicating very well to the safeties. Kool-Aid [McKinstry] is making sure he is getting the call from the safety. We have Khyree Jackson making sure he’s getting the call from the safety. Those guys are coming along very well. We just like to see the improvement from them, and the mental focus they carry every day in practice. Just to keep it up.

You guys have obviously been in this position before as a team multiple times. How do you make sure you don’t try to overlook a team like Cincinnati, especially when you guys are heavily favored in Vegas and stuff like that?

We try to focus on us. That’s the main thing. The game starts with us. We go out there and we’re not on the same page ‚Äì we go out there and let up explosive plays, the game can be lost and won by our play.

We try not to focus on the opponent too much and the ability of what they can play to but try to play to our standard and keep that focus going into the games.

Obviously, a lot of the talk with Jerome [Ford] is that he’s gotten an opportunity now at Cincinnati to show off what he’s been doing. Maybe he was a little bit more talented at Bama in the backfield. From a defensive guy at Alabama, how good is the Alabama backfield year in and year out, and how deep is it?

Every year Alabama has a great running back, so this is almost like an every year kind of thing. The younger guy sits back and watches the older guy, and the older guy teaches the younger guy very well. They also come in as great athletes and only improve from the leadership that they’re getting, why they come to Bama. You see it every year. And guys take that information in from the older guy, and they just go and improve from it.

Now that you’re one of the veteran guys, you’ve been through it, how much do you kind of personally pull aside Kool-Aid [McKinstry] and others to help them get through and get ready for big moments like this?

These guys listen very well. They ask questions when they don’t know anything. They ask questions in the film room when they need to know something. Kool-Aid [McKinstry] doesn’t know anything or Terrion [Arnold], Khyree [Jackson], when they don’t know anything, they ask questions and make sure in the game they don’t mess it up or make sure when they go out in practice, they don’t mess it up. They try to perfect their crafts every day. That’s a big thing. They listen and they always want to get better.

You said you had the locker next to Jerome [Ford]. As he was waiting his turn, did you ever sense him getting frustrated at not really getting that opportunity? And when you guys are on the field, what do you think it’s going to be like to see him out there, a guy you practiced with and now obviously you have to play against?

For the first question, I didn’t see any frustration in his face. He just came to work. Every day in practice, he was working. We saw him in practice, when he was going against the guy or going against me or going against the guys I was in practice with. He never showed any frustration. He just went out there and worked every day.

Can you repeat your second question for me?

What do you think that’s going to be like to face your former teammate? Obviously, he’s going to want to beat you and you guys are going to want to beat him. What do you think that dynamic will be like?

You see it almost every game. You see guys you played against in high school and knew in high school.

The main focus is competing. We love the competition. We know he’s a great player. He knows we’re a great defense. We know they have a great offense. It’s just competition. That’s how it is every week in, week out. We know we’re going to get the opponent’s best, so we have to come out and give our best and play to our standard.

Have you thought much about what you might say if you all end up on the ground together after a tackle or anything like that? Or you’re just going to play that by ear?

No. That will kind of be instinct or in-the-game type of thing. I don’t think I thought of anything to say. I probably won’t even say anything.