"I told the guys, 'It's a big win, but it's not the biggest win for this year,'" McClain said...

"I told the guys, 'It's a big win, but it's not the biggest win for this year,'" McClain said today. "I told them that 'If we win the national championship, put whatever you want to put on him. But until then, we're not going to drench coach with Gatorade.'"

"It wasn't the right time for it," McClain said. "I didn't want those guys to feel like the SEC championship was it for us. I didn't want them to feel like that was the last game and the most important game, because it's not. We have the biggest game of our life out there. After we win it or when we win it, you can dunk coach then."

Comments

I love that guy!

Hope Dont’a is taking notes

"Yeah, it's Tennessee, that's the way it is sometimes." - Corey Zickefoose, Pulitzer Prize winner and robbery victim

by Thomas Walker Esq on Dec 8, 2009 1:38 PM CST via mobile reply actions

Its official...

i have a man crush.

"The goal is to be a champion," Saban said. "I didn’t say to win a championship. I just said be a champion. That’s our goal here. That’s what we want to do."- Nick Saban

by bammer on Dec 8, 2009 1:44 PM CST reply actions

same

and it’s bad.

by rhinoskin on Dec 8, 2009 2:15 PM CST up reply actions

Now THAT is leadership!

He could have just sat back and watched them, but he stepped up and made a point. And the best thing is that this team has a lot of guys like him.

by 13thBama on Dec 8, 2009 1:48 PM CST reply actions

When Saban mentioned that Ro had stepped up as a leader, I simply thought that it was a ho-hum standard effort that was sufficient.

This quote makes me realize that Ro goes far beyond that role. He is an inherent leader with his actions and words.

by brandonh on Dec 8, 2009 1:51 PM CST reply actions

This has got to be one of the most impressive things I've ever heard ANY athlete say

Even professional athlete’s could learn something from this guy. Those MLB players throw champagne all over each other when they clinch a wild-card playoff berth, and then rinse and repeat after every round.

Thank you, Ro, for standing up and putting real meaning back into what has become a tired cliche’.

by yellowhammer on Dec 8, 2009 1:58 PM CST reply actions

so does anyone still think this team is going to lose focus like last year?

bite my butt herbstreit.

Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.

by kleph on Dec 8, 2009 2:09 PM CST reply actions 1 recs

I was jsut about to make the same observation

if anyone thinks this group is going to lose focus, they are guilty of wish-thinking, at best, and willful ignorance, at worst.

"Hollywood made a movie of my life. The film had me proposing to my wife on the football field. I would never misuse a football field that way." -Crazy Legs Hirsch

by Stuck in the Plains on Dec 8, 2009 2:23 PM CST up reply actions

I just don't see how you could lose focus

when it’s the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. Out of any college football game you could ever play, I’m pretty sure it’s the EASIEST to focus on.

by billycthulhu on Dec 8, 2009 2:25 PM CST up reply actions

losing focus on

a game like this is when you spend too much time daydreaming about having won it… that happens quite often when a team is a bit of a favorite in the matchup.

That said, I don’t see that happening this year… this team is just playing with too much of a purpose.

by atcrawford on Dec 8, 2009 2:31 PM CST up reply actions

what you said...

Remember the Fiesta Bowl NC when Florida BLASTED O-hi-ho State? tOSU had heard that they were going to mop the floor with Florida for an entire month. They came out with the big return and got to thinking, “yep, we got this, no sweat.” Florida made them pay for that mistake. It’s easy to lose focus when you think about what might come and not on what you have to do in order to make that daydream into a reality.

Roll Tide! Beat the Gators!!!

by BamaDixi on Dec 8, 2009 2:36 PM CST up reply actions

Saban > Tressel

In every respect

"Hollywood made a movie of my life. The film had me proposing to my wife on the football field. I would never misuse a football field that way." -Crazy Legs Hirsch

by Stuck in the Plains on Dec 8, 2009 3:40 PM CST up reply actions

well, when i spoke with andy staples before the season

he pointed out something very important i think many of the pundits are forgetting. losing andre prior to that game completely threw off our offensive line. when utah put us back on our heels, it was asking our offense to perform at their best level – and that simply isn’t going to occur with an OL working together as a unit for the first time just days before the game.

needless to say, i think coach saban is going to be pretty clear about such situations this year so the odds of losing a key player prior to gametime like that are reduced as well.

Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.

by kleph on Dec 8, 2009 3:15 PM CST up reply actions

not to mention

Andre’s backup getting injured early in the game. I just don’t think Saban is the type of coach to let us get complacent, especially with this kind of leadership from McClain.

by billycthulhu on Dec 8, 2009 3:23 PM CST up reply actions

and as much as we downplayed the "disapointment" of playing in the sugar bowl

the outcome of the SECCG made it clear it was a factor. losing to florida was a gut punch this team wasn’t ready for and they clearly had not emotionally recovered by the time of the bowl game.

and that has nothing to do with any damn “disrespect” for utah. because it had more to do with the impact of game we lost that the reaction to the game we then had to play. the utes were a damn good team and when we showed up unprepared, they made us pay for it.

Roll 'Bama Roll: The Champagne of 'Bama Blogs.

by kleph on Dec 8, 2009 3:27 PM CST up reply actions