Jumbo Package: Everything said about Alabama in SEC Media Days

As a recap for Day 2 of SEC Media Days, Charlie Potter put together a big list of all the quotes from different coaches and players about Alabama. I won’t pull all of it for here, but the link has it all:

OLE MISS HEAD COACH LANE KIFFIN

Q: After last year’s game against Alabama, how close do you feel like your team is to beating them? What would that mean to be the first assistant to beat Nick Saban, if it so happened?

Kiffin: “Well, I don’t look at it at all about being the first assistant or whatever that stat is. We were close, played really well on one side of the ball, but that doesn’t matter now. The year before, I think we lost 66-3 or something like that. So every year is different. Every year has new challenges.

“I said at some interview on the way in here, the discussion was about Alabama and Coach Saban and the parity in college football, and I said he’s done it different than anyone’s ever done it and better than anyone’s ever done it. No disrespect to the coaches back before. There’s not supposed to be parity with 85 scholarships and 25 a year.

“My dad tells me the stories of coming in and having 75 freshmen in his class coming in. So to do what he’s doing nowadays and every year, you guys say something that upsets him and gives him rat poison and makes him mad, and then we have to deal with that. So I don’t know what the storyline is this year. It will be something that you did about losing too many staff guys or the quarterback or whatever, but he just finds a way, and it starts with recruiting. He just does such a phenomenal job of recruiting

As usual Lane had a lot to say about Nick Saban and Alabama, and as usual, it was glowing praise and admiration. He’s doing his best to win over the hearts of Alabama fans, and if he keeps improving Ole Miss, he very well could slot right in as Saban’s successor.

And I’m okay with that.

TENNESSEE HEAD COACH JOSH HEUPEL

Q: The third game in October versus Alabama, it’s been a long time since Tennessee has been able to defeat them. For one, what have you been told in the community about how important that game is, and what will you be doing to try to rectify that and get a win versus them?

Heupel: “Absolutely. That ball game is huge to the fans and to the players, on both sides of it. You come to Tennessee to play in games like that. This fan base loves football. They breathe it 365 days out of the year, man. If it’s recruiting, they care about recruiting. If it’s spring ball, they care about what’s going on on the field.

“It’s not about just one game going forward. Our players understand we’re only as good as our next performance. For us as a coaching staff and players, we have to take a one-day approach at it, and that means we can control today. We can’t control three months from now. We can control today. If we take care of today and follow that up consistently, we’re going to put ourselves in the best position to get where we want to go long term.”

Huepel said a whole lot of words here to avoid ever directly addressing how he plans to beat Alabama. There’s a fine balance for coaches here. You have to show some confidence to your new fanbase, but you can’t go out and give the Tide a bunch of headlines to fire them up.

“Certain positions, probably, enhance opportunities to create value, like quarterback, and our quarterback (Young) already has approached ungodly numbers — I’m not going to say what they are — and he hasn’t even played yet. Hasn’t even started,” Saban said at the Texas High School Coaches Association’s annual convention on Tuesday, according to The Athletic. “... It’s almost seven figures. And it’s like, the guy hasn’t even played yet. But that’s because of our brand.”

The big news of yesterday was Saban letting it leak just how much money Bryce Young is making... as a player that’s never even started a game.

And you know it wasn’t just a slip on Saban’s part— he’s absolutely tossing that hook out there to make sure all the recruits know just how profitable it can be to come to Alabama.

Roman Harper has tabbed Georgia as the “lead dog” in the SEC heading into fall camp, while dubbing Alabama as an underdog in its game against Texas A&M this season.

Much of that might come as a bit of surprise to many as Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide might have something to say about both statements.

Alabama lost a lot of players on offense, sure, but Georgia lost their entire secondary and a big chunk of the front 7. And there’s a WHOLE lot of assumptions being put on J.T. Daniels here.

And it’s not like A&M isn’t also going to be breaking in a new QB as well.

Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders walked out of SWAC Media Day in Birmingham on Tuesday after a reporter called him by his first name, angering the second-year coach.

The Hall of Fame cornerback, affectionately known as “Prime Time,” demanded, per The Clarion Ledger, that reporters shouldn’t call him by his first name.

“You don’t call Nick Saban, ‘Nick,’” Sanders said. “Don’t call me Deion. If you call Nick (Saban), Nick, you’ll get cussed out on the spot, so don’t do that to me. Treat me like Nick.”

With as much fame and money as Deion Sanders has made as an NFL player and media icon over the last 20 years, it just blows my mind that he can still act that insecure.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Jacksonville Jaguars placed undrafted free agent Dylan Moses on the team’s non-football injury list, per ESPN.

This comes two years after the former Alabama linebacker suffered a torn ACL in preparation for the 2019 season, and it comes months after Moses admitted to playing through a significant amount of pain in 2020, his final year with the Crimson Tide.

Honestly this is a good thing for Moses, who likely needs a good bit of time to try and get his knees working correctly. By being placed on the NFI list, he will not count against Jacksonville’s roster limit, but could still be activated later in the season. So the Jags will be unlikely to have any real reason to cut him. Technically they don’t have to pay his salary either... But it’s rare for teams to exercise that unless the player was injured doing something dumb in their off-time.

In hoops news, Jaden Shackelford announced he is withdrawing from the transfer portal and will be staying at Alabama. Erik has you covered here at RBR in a bigger, dedicated piece this morning.

Finally, for a little bit more Gump in your day, check out Bleacher Report’s SEC All-21st Century team.

For all of Alabama’s reputation as a defensive school, the Tide absolutely dominated the offensive side of the ball with Derrick Henry, Devonta Smith, Amari Cooper, Andre Smith, and Barrett Jones. Of course, they still landed someone on every level of defense as well with Quinnen Williams, C.J. Mosley, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, plus a specialist in J.K. Scott.