Lincoln Riley is young for a college football head coach (35), but he’s not a coaching novice. Riley’s coaching career began as a student assistant with Texas Tech in 2003, later leading to him being a wide receivers coach (2007) and offensive coordinator (2010).

Having coached at Texas Tech, East Carolina and Oklahoma, Riley has game planned against his share of talented defenders. Speaking to the media Friday, Riley identified Alabama DL Quinnen Williams as one of the best defenders he has ever coached against. The Outland Trophy winner was mentioned when Riley was asked what makes the Crimson Tide defense consistently one of the best in college football.

Q. Lincoln, as you’ve looked at Alabama’s defense, what’s your thoughts, and what makes them year in and year out one of the best defenses in college football?
LINCOLN RILEY: Well, the guy sitting over here to my left has quite a bit to do with that. Regardless who the coordinator is, regardless of who the players are, they’ve got a system that they believe in, and it’s impressive to watch. They adjust through the years, but you can tell they have core beliefs in things that they’re really, really good at that they continue to stress, and it shows up on the field.

They’ve done a great job recruiting and developing players. They’ve got really outstanding players at every single position. This year in particular, the defensive tackle, 92, is as good as I’ve ever coached against. So he’s certainly in a group of great players, really stands out. And they play well together, like most great defenses. If you’re going to score some points or get any yards, you’re going to have to earn every single bit of it. They’re not going to give you anything, and they make a lot of big plays themselves. They’re certainly as good as we’ve gone up against.

We’ll find out Saturday night if Riley has figured out how to keep Williams from dominating the game like he did against so many SEC teams.