CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: ALABAMA VS GEORGIA

January 5, 2022

Pete Golding

Lucas Oil Stadium

Alabama Crimson Tide

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Pete Golding.

Q. I heard from a couple of people around the program that Nick Saban has dispensed fewer of the proverbial ass chewings this year. I'm wondering if that's accurate?

COACH GOLDING: Absolutely not accurate. No. I think -- obviously whatever you do here, Coach is going to make sure you do it to the best of your ability. You do it the way he sees fit, which I enjoy. I think as a player, as a coach, you always want to know what can I do better, how can I improve.

I think a lot of times whoever you work for, whatever profession you're in sometimes you don't get that, you don't get the feedback back and you don't know. The good thing about him is it's black and white and you're going to know.

Q. How big of an addition was Henry To'oTo'o? And how badly did you all maybe need some help and leadership at that position in play calling and all that?

COACH GOLDING: Obviously I think in any defense, especially this defense, I mean you want your Mike, your signal caller that you're basing the defense around be able to get guys lined up, make all the calls, communicate the adjustments.

So, Henry having experience in a similar defense when he was at Tennessee, I think kind of put him ahead when he got here. He was familiar with a lot of the terminology, using the same stuff that obviously he used when he was here. So I think that piece helped.

But when I talked about this last week it's who Henry is. Doesn't matter who he is, he's going to be all in, going to be committed to it. He's going to prepare harder than anybody else and practice harder than anybody else. When he does that people gravitate towards him and they want to come with him.

Obviously his preparation, his work ethic, his love for football, and then his intelligence. And I think he's got a great personality that people want to gravitate towards. And he pulls them with him.

He's been a huge addition, not only just from a leadership standpoint and the communication, but he's been very productive as well. We would be different without him.

Q. Nick Saban said after the last Georgia game that part of the success against Stetson Bennett was kind of changing the picture on him. What's the challenge of having to do that twice now and having a quarterback who has already seen your defense and having to call plays for another 60 minutes against him?

COACH GOLDING: I don't think it's tough having to play somebody twice. I mean I know everybody talks about that and all that. But if you look at the NFL, you're playing everybody in your division twice.

I mean, I think the big thing is, in any quarterback, what they see is not what they need to get every snap. And I think you're trying to make him make the decision of what coverage it is, what front is it, what pressure is it once he's got the ball in his hand.

I think the key is, in a pre-snap read, he thinks he's getting this look and then the ball turns over now and it's a different coverage or it's a different pressure, it's a different front. And now he's got to think. I think there's no difference in disguises to me on defense from the front, the coverage and like that, and on offense with motions and shifts and trades.

They don't put in new plays each week. They're just getting to them differently. It's a different formation, different shift. They're putting a guy in a different stop. They're tweaking things. But it's still what they do, it's their bread and butter.

Defensively how can you keep things the same but make them look different. That way your guys have carry-over. They understand the rules where if they see something new they can let the rules apply.

Absolutely it's playing the game, making him think. They got a lot of weapons at a lot of different spots that create some matchup issues. They're going to move this tight end around and try to create the matchups they want with him. They've got really good backs that are an issue covering out of the backfield.

You've got to pick your poison sometimes. You're not going to get everybody doubled or the person you want on them based on their formation. Our guys will have to cover well and play well.

Q. You mentioned the tight end, yesterday Coach Saban talked about he's a mismatch because he's too big and too fast for a lot of different guys. Schematically how do you combat someone who is a mismatch like that?

COACH GOLDING: I think the best thing they do, obviously the way they move him around, they're going to still use them in the run game in the C area, on or off the ball. He's going to be open and split out. And then he's going to bring Ying [phonetic] back in.

By putting a certain player on a certain guy all the time then you're getting back to what y'all said. You're telling him exactly what you're doing and they know.

You've got to be able to mix it up and double them sometimes and bang him, play some zone, get some bigger guys on him sometimes if the push-off is an issue. If the speed becomes a problem, obviously you've got coverages to try to put a DB on them.

Because of the run game and they're so successful in the run game as well, you can't design everything to take 19 away because they're going to hurt you somewhere else. They've got a lot of good players. It's being multiple, having a plan for wherever he's at to have things, to be able to help you. But a lot of guys got them covered, and a lot of guys are doubling, he still goes up and makes the play. It's about contesting it, making them execute and doing a good job.

Q. We saw Khyree Jackson play quite a bit in this past game. How do you think he played against Cincinnati and how has he progressed over the course of the season?

COACH GOLDING: I think obviously over throughout the season Khyree understanding the concepts and the coverages and the terminology and the communication piece. I think anytime you're a new player in a new system, when things are still and they're stationary and you get a call, you're okay.

When stuff starts moving around, which we'll see every week, and something changes, how fast can you process that to go from one coverage to the next, which I think is a struggle for anybody but especially a new player new starter.

I thought he did well. Obviously there's certain things some mistakes we've got to clean up, him as well, that will get you beat versus a good team that maybe Cincinnati didn't take advantage of.

But he competes. He's playing hard right now. He's got toughness. He's got the length you want at corner. I think he can play the ball in the deep part of the field. I think he showed that. We just have to cross the T's and dot the I's and make sure he's locked in knows what to do to give us our best chance.

Q. Can you take us through the position with diamond star with Brian Branch and Malachi Moore? And how has that dynamic played out, and where do they stand at this point?

COACH GOLDING: They're coming to work every day. Obviously, Coach, we'll try to put the best 11 guys that we've got on the field based on what we're seeing. A lot of times, depending on the personnel grouping that we're in, based on what they're in, we want a bigger guy at the point of attack that's a little more physical or a better cover guy.

I think that's the best thing about Malachi or Branch, both started games here, played a lot of football, have been productive. They understand the defense. So either one of those guys in there I think we're in pretty good shape. And they've been moving around. They play safety. Play star. Branch played a little bit of corner.

We've had to move them around a little bit because of some injuries. Those guys are plug-and-play guys and they know all five spots in the back end and they give us the best chance to win. Either of those guys that are in, we feel we're in pretty good shape. We look at them both as starters based on the personnel group and what they're doing, who you go with that week.

Q. Where would you put Will Anderson among players you've coached and what makes him so difficult to block?

COACH GOLDING: I think we kind of talked about this last week. I mean, he just loves football. All the intangibles, you talk about being tough and competitive and all those things. And then you throw on top of it, the way he prepares, the way he's in here all the time with Coach Sal and watching tape and his love of the game. And you throw on top of that his size and his athletic ability.

He's one of the heavier-handed guys at his size for an outside linebacker that I've been able to be around as far as striking blocks and recreating the line of scrimmage. So that gives us the flexibility to leave him in the game in a lot of situations and move him around, whether he's a 3, a 4, a 5, a 9.

We'll drop him some, as well to keep people honest, based on sliding to him. He's athletic enough to obviously drop into coverage, more zone standpoint. Obviously he's an elite pass rusher. But I think one of his best traits is how physical he is at the point of attack and knocking guys back and being able to play the run.

I think everybody from a draft standpoint are looking for guys that specializing in certain things. And I think he's got all the tools that you're looking for from an every-down standpoint. So you throw that on top of who he is as a person, his character, his want-to, his leadership ability, he's as special as I've been around.

Q. What did you mean by heavy-handed guy? And given all his traits what he does so well, how many guys like him are there in the country or that you've been around or seen in the college game?

COACH GOLDING: Heavy-handed, I'm talking about when you go to strike a block and they're coming off the ball and I go to use my hands, five points of contact to strike him and knock him back. He's so explosive from his legs, from his hips, to his hands, to be able to create separation and then disengage and get off of guys and go make plays.

What I mean by that, he strikes and gets that head going back, and then he separates and he can go make the play. A lot of people aren't like that. A lot of people are flesh minus; they get into a guy they can't get off. Or they can't create the separation because they can't come out of their hips.

On top of that, normally the guys that can do it on a base down, from a run standpoint aren't elite passers. You're taking them off the field on third down, not trying to find ways to get them one-on-one on their worst guy, like what we're trying to do with him. From that aspect, that's what I mean by heavy-handed.

How many guys are like him in the country? I have no idea. NFL scouts are doing that for a living. I don't watch other teams. I know he won defensive player of the year in the country. So somebody thinks he's the best player in the country. I have no idea.

Q. When you go into a game like this where it's a rematch, not just from the regular season but the SEC Championship, what challenges do you face when you're going into a rematch like this game?

COACH GOLDING: I think anytime you're playing anybody, regardless, I think you go back and you look at what you did the previous game. What are things that we didn't do well that they took advantage of that we got to find answers for, that we've got to correct and we gotta improve on.

There's some things in games you don't see to the naked eye and you come out of there and it wasn't an explosive play or a long run but it could have been because we weren't in the right gap or we didn't play the right technique or what have you.

It's evaluating the tape and what did we do well, how can we do the same thing, make it look different to keep it the same for our kids. And things we didn't do well, what do we need to change, or is it a technique piece? Is it a scheme piece, is it a personnel issue, that you know they're going to come back and try to exploit.

And then on top of that, that goes over an entire season. I think it's a little easier for a semifinal game when you have more time to go through and find issues that people are having problems with or things they do well that you want to try to take away.

But it's going throughout the years all right what have we not done well what have we put on tape that created issues that created explosive plays whether it's the run game or pass game that we've got to clean up. And obviously the things that you do well, you continue to do. And then add mixtures in there to make it look the same but a little different variation to give a little different read, whether it's the run game or pass game.

Obviously in any offense or defense you have a philosophy and this is your defensive scheme, this is your offensive scheme and you've got to go back to what's your bread and butter what got you there. At the end of the day it's about getting off blocks, tackling the guy with the ball in space, defending the deep part of the field, playing penalty-free. That's football. So you can't get caught up in changing who you are and what you do just because you played somebody a second time, now you're putting kids in situations they've never been in for 14 football games that got you there, now you're getting away from that.

I think there's a fine line in all that. The good piece about being here, Coach has been here a lot in these situations. And so we know the philosophy, we know what we believe in. It's about execution, getting everybody on the same page and playing fast.

Q. The running back for Georgia, James Cook, what do you guys have to do to contain him? I know you did a great job against Cincinnati keeping that running game from being explosive. What do you have to do to keep that guy from doing what he did to Michigan?

COACH GOLDING: Obviously I think gap control up front I think is a big piece to that. Trying to reestablish the line of scrimmage, not getting a lot of movement. They're very multiple in the run game, both zone and gap. Being gap-sound at the second level and taking guys off double teams and work some slider and counter game to fit in your eight-man space (indiscernible) and playing to your help.

Their shot plays and their priority passing game come off the run plays. So they challenge you from an eye-control standpoint. That's going to look like run, and I've got to see my secondary key because it's going to be the same look, and then out here is the shot play off of it.

So they do a really good job. Coach Monk is a great coach, offensively, they use the horizontal width of the field. They'll stretch you vertically, make you account for all gaps. They've got those three big tight ends they'll put on the field a lot at the same time to create extra gaps. And they're good pass catchers. You can't forget, obviously, the backs and the run game, that's one thing, and you've got to gang tackle him, you've got to pepper the ball. We've got to get there especially in space. I think 4 is special in space. That showed up a couple times last time we played these guys.

Some explosive plays based on missed tackles that he created. But you've got to be sound. I think obviously you've got to be able to try to take the run game away. I think that's hard to do versus these guys, but you've got to eliminate the explosives. You've got to make them drive the field. We've got to create some turnovers. We've got to play really well. Critical situations in the game, being third down, which was a big piece of this game last time. And win the turnover battle. I think that was a big piece to this game last time as well with the interceptions.

So you've got to be sound versus the run, but they're very multiple to, where, once you devote yourself to the run, they can make you pay on the perimeter as well. It's a great challenge.