Nick Saban doesn’t know what else he can do to prevent Alabama players from fumbling the ball.
It’s been an issue all season, and a fumble deep in their own territory late at LSU nearly cost them the game, before an incredible game-tying drive and overtime win. A late fumble cost them at Ole Miss earlier this year.
Alabama has lost 11 fumbles in nine games this season. Of teams that have played nine games, only Eastern Michigan (15) has fumbled more.
At his weekly press conference, Saban was asked about the emphasis on ball security, and the coach said there’s no more they can do. Maybe it’s time to change the coaching style.
“We’ve been emphasizing it all year, so I don’t know you emphasize something that’s so important any more,” Saban said. “Maybe we ought to de-emphasize it, because we have emphasized it like crazy. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe when you tell somebody something too much, they start thinking that. If you say, ‘You’re soft.’ How many times do you emphasize the fact that, ‘You’re soft, and we want you to be tougher,’ and you tell them they’re soft, before they start thinking they’re soft? That make sense?
“We’re doing the best we can in every way to try to emphasize the fundamental things we need to do so that we have ball security, especially at the end of games, which is critical. But you’ve also got to say, ‘We did a pretty good job of overcoming it in this particular game.'”
The Crimson Tide host No. 1 Mississippi State this Saturday.
