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ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL: ALABAMA v OKLAHOMADecember 30, 2013Kirby SmartNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA THE MODERATOR: Coach Smart, an opening statement. COACH SMART: First off, excuse my voice a little bit. I'm a little under the weather since we got here. Great to see everybody. We're excited to be here. It's a special event. Anytime you make a BCS Bowl it's a great event. We're excited about our opponent. Playing a really good team in Oklahoma. We have a lot of respect for their staff. We've actually visited a lot of offseasons with their staff and their team. They come from a great conference, and they present a lot of great challenges with some of the things they do offensively, especially their ability to run the ball. I want to thank the Sugar Bowl committee for having us. It's a wonderful Bowl. I've been very fortunate, 38 years old and this is my fifth Sugar Bowl to be a part of. I actually was a part of one in Atlanta during the Katrina move when I was at the University of Georgia. Really excited about being back in the Sugar Bowl. Proud of our defense, our players. This year we've overcome a lot of adversity on defense. We had three season‑ending knee injuries to what were really starters at one time or another, each one of them had started games, overcame that. Been through a couple of suspensions and a couple other injuries, they weren't season‑ending, and have had really a rotating starting lining up. But as any coach, you're trying to improve and we're trying to improve defensively, and we're trying to continue that through our Bowl game. But we really want to send these seniors out, C.J., Ed, a lot of guys on the defensive front been with us a long time, want to send those guys out the right way, send them out with a victory because they've been great leaders for us. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Wanted to ask you about C.J. We've seen him make plays. But when you turn on the film, does he get better, or what do you see from him? COACH SMART: I'll tell you what, C.J. has made me a great coach the last four years. Certainly I've not made him a great player, he's made me a great coach. A lot of people say that the linebackers find the ball. Seems like with C.J. the ball finds him because he's always there, makes a lot of plays. What's really amazing about C.J. Mosley is that you can rarely find a play where he ever loafs. And he plays on special teams. Started on kickoff return to start the season. He's played on every punt. He's such a terrific player but even more so a person. I've been fortunate to coach the guy and may not ever coach another guy quite like him because he's so athletic. He allows you to do more things defensively. And you can put him in tough situations and he seems to play himself out of them. Q.  Coach, in a Bowl game like this where so much is on the line, is there any, talking about the pressure, self‑inflicted or outside the program, is there any less pressure being a coordinator versus the head coach? Is it less? Is it more? Is it all the same? COACH SMART: Well, it's a tough situation. I'm obviously not a head coach, haven't been a head coach. So to say what kind of pressure they're under, they obviously have to take responsibility for the total team effect of things. And Coach Saban does a good job, whether we play good or bad on defense, good or bad on offense, good or bad on special teams, he takes the responsibility and takes the blame. But certainly as the coordinator, there's a lot of pressure during the game to make the right calls, to put the kids in good situations and make good end‑game adjustments so you're not exposing the kids to a lot of risk. And that's what we're always trying to do. So whether it's pressure or not in this game, it's pressure in every game. So for us, playing the SEC it's like that week in, week out. So we've come to anticipate that. Q. Seems like you've gone through an entire season without settling one of the cornerback spots. Have you ever had that happen, and where are you now with that and what are the reasons behind that? COACH SMART: Well, we have not had that. We are not used to that. We've kind of always had one key guy with all the first round, second round corners we've had, we've always had a staple guy there, then kind of an understudy that was the other one who was an up‑and‑coming corner. Hasn't been that way this year. It's been frustrating. Some of that has been because of injury. Deion we feel like has been our best corner but he's been in and out because of injury. Opposite him, it's been musical chairs. Eddie Jackson played pretty well. But he also got injured so it pulled him out for a while. Have other guys play well one game, not play well the next. We've not gotten the consistency we want out of that position.  And we don't have the depth that we've had in the past. So it's been a struggle. A couple of the kids have done well in Bowl practice. We hope they play well in the game, as they practice well. That's what we're looking forward to seeing. Q. Couple guys, Ha Ha and Deion, what did you see from Ha Ha with going through with what he went through with the suspension and how he bounced back from that? And two, Deion Belue, what kind of pain he's been playing through throughout the year and what he's been able to bring to you with his play? COACH SMART: Deion has given gives us some consistency. He's a veteran, understands the defense. With him out there, I think a lot of guys feel more comfortable and he has fought really hard throughout the year with injuries. Had weeks where he couldn't practice but still was willing to go out and play in the game, which is tough to do mentally and physically. So anything we can get out of Deion's a bonus with his injuries and things he pushed through. With Ha Ha, he did a good job staying into things when he was suspended, he stayed in meetings, stayed and focused on what he had to do, assignment‑wise, didn't lose that focus. So when he was granted the ability to come back, he stayed in tune with things, was right back in the mix. Q. I think a lot of folks see Coach Saban as a masterful coach. They don't necessarily see him as a warm person, sort of detached from his players. I take it you might be able to paint a different picture of him for me. COACH SMART: Sure. No doubt. Coach may be one way in this room, in this seat, with the media, but with our players it's a whole lot different, especially day in, day out operations. He loves going and coaching. He loves coaching kids. So to be in the meeting room, whether he's in the meeting room with DBs or in the meeting room with special teams, he has a different personality. He has a passion for the game. The kids see that. So the kids see a different side than what maybe public perception is. Therefore, they have a different feeling towards him with daily interaction. They know how passionate he is for the game. They want to play well for him. The feel that way. You see it a lot more when you're in there day to day and makes it a lot easier, obviously. Media doesn't get that because he gives y'all a different perception sometimes. Q. You were talking about being in an unsettled position. Oklahoma hasn't declared their starting quarterback yet. How much extra work has that given you all to prepare for two different guys and how do you think that dynamic is going to play out? COACH SMART: Well, anytime you prepare for an offense, you gotta be ready for the backup. With these guys, you really have three guys that have played. We've had to prepare for three quarterbacks. There are some similarities between the guys and there's also some differences. We've emphasized those to our players so that they understand the difference in the two really quarterbacks that they've used the most. And for us preparation‑wise, we just gotta know which one's in. We've had enough time because of the amount of time between the games that you can prepare for both. Whereas, in a week it's a lot tougher. Gotta turn around quicker, get ready faster. The time allows us to have a plan for both guys. But obviously you'll find out during the game which one's playing better. They'll have one in there probably more than the other, depending on how they're playing. Q. For those of us that were sitting at home watching the Auburn game, the end was sort of science fiction. What was it like being in the middle of it when you see the field goal and then all of a sudden you see the guy running, what was it like? Was it surreal? What were your emotions, and did you know what was even happening? COACH SMART: Surreal and sickening all together. Obviously before the timeout we all saw, as coaches, the return guy back there. So the emphasis was put on covering the kick, because we knew there was a possibility if it didn't get through the end zone they would have a chance to return it. So to see him catch it and get past that first wave, it was over about the 50. And we knew that. So it went from surreal to sickening. It's a bad feeling, especially as a coach, to not be able to do anything or have a game end that way. But it's part of life, it's part of the game. It's one of those things you live and learn from and don't make the same mistake twice. Q. You rarely see players physically developed as like a freshman like A'Shawn Robinson. What were your thoughts the first time you got him on the practice field and what kind of progress he's made this season? COACH SMART: I wondered where his whistle was because he looks like a coach. He's about a 28‑looking‑year‑old dude. When we recruited him, we always thought he was going to be a special player, big size speed guy, what you wanted athletically, didn't know how developed he would be technically on the field. He was a real raw talented guy. He's come a long way and he still has a long way to go. But he's a talented young man. He's worked his tail off this year to contribute, especially mentally picking up the defense early on. He's a very intelligent young man. He took pride in knowing his assignments. And I can remember during the Texas A&M game there was frustration during the week of practice that I don't know this call, that call. When he gets in the game he plays fast and, plays very athletic. He's a huge added bonus for us in an area where we were not as deep as we usually are. We don't have as much depth on the defensive line that we always had. Without he and Jonathan Allen we would have had a hard time this year getting through at the D‑line position. Q. How much of these Bowl games become auditions for some of the younger guys for next year and which guys are you keeping an eye on this week? COACH SMART: Certainly the biggest thing for the Bowl game is to win the game and send the seniors out the right way. For the preparation for the Bowl, it's a chance for us to look at the younger players and try to get those guys ready. So not that I anticipate these young men playing in this game, but they have improved. Dillon Lee, Reuben Foster, Reggie, Maurice Smith and Eddie Jackson, a lot of the young guys have improved during Bowl practice because they've been able to get really an extra 15 practice bonus spring practice to get ready for next year or possibly this game in some role they could each play. So we're excited about them. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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