Nick Saban wasn’t alone at SEC Media Days as he brought along Damien Harris, Anfernee Jennings and Ross Pierschbacher with him to Atlanta for the annual event.
Here are some highlights of the quotes provided by the players on the Alabama roster:
Senior running back Damien Harris
On his mindset going into the season…
“The mindset going into this season is that we know our success isn’t going to be inherited. Anything we accomplish as a team this season is not going to come from the fact that we won a National Championship last year. If anything, it is just going to make it that much harder. We know that winning a National Championship puts a target on your back. We know that day in and day out, we are going to get everybody’s best game. We need to better ourselves, both mentally and physically, so that we can handle these situations thrown at us and that we can have the success that we want to have as a team.
On how he avoids complacency…
“It’s not hard. With Coach Saban as your coach, things like that come pretty easily. No matter who we are playing, no matter what week it is in the season, whether we are playing a Power Five team or not, or whether we are playing in the National Championship or not, one thing that we always focus on is just being the best team we can be. We are confident in the fact that if we play our best football, offense, defense and special teams, that we are capable of being the best team in the country, year in and year out. “
On what he enjoys about the University of Alabama…
“I just love Tuscaloosa. I love being a part of The University of Alabama, and that is something that brings me a lot of happiness. The mindset across the entire University of Alabama is that we are champions, whether it is from an academic standpoint or an athletic standpoint. I love walking down the street in Tuscaloosa and somebody rolling down their windows when they drive by and yelling ‘Roll Tide’. There are just so many things about being a part of The University of Alabama and living in Tuscaloosa that bring us so much joy as athletes. Coming back for my senior year wasn’t hard. “
Junior linebacker Anfernee Jennings
On choosing to attend the University of Alabama …
“Being from Alabama, definitely the tradition. The loyalty I saw in Coach Saban, the fans and everything about them…I didn’t want to go anywhere else. .”
On the linebacker corps…
“Definitely, our whole group contributes to the team. I think the sky’s the limit for our whole group. You just never know, everybody’s working hard.”
On feeling as if he has something to prove individually…
“No, I’m just focusing on accepting my role as more of a leader this year and helping the young guys learn. Taking on the role, working hard, and getting ready for the season.”
On his knee injury and having to watch the title game…
“I’m great, and it’s doing very good. It was tough, but I’m a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason.”
Senior offensive lineman Ross Pierschbacher
On limiting linebacker injuries this season…
“I think the training staff always does a good job of trying to keep us safe. I also think that the offseason strength staff does a really good job identifying where we have had a lot of injuries and altering our work outs to help strengthen us and help prevent injuries.”
On being chased by other teams and playing the frontrunners…
“I don’t really think we take much stock into that, you know that’s kind of why you come to Alabama, so that you can be on top and hopefully hold up that trophy at the end of the year. So, yeah, we don’t really take much stock into that, but we know that at the end of the day, we still have to play our best every game. We know that it’s something we need to work on and we know we can’t be up and down throughout the season.”
On the versatility of the offensive line and how this helps younger players…
“Having guys being able to play multiple roles, if an injury comes along, some guys will have to fill in and play at a high level. Even for NFL scouts, just showing that you can play more than one position can help you in the league, and yeah, you just have to able to play more than one position. So, having guys that can play multiple positions will really help us in the long run and create depth along the line.”
On Damien Harris returning…
“Damien is obviously a great running back, and it just makes it fun for us just knowing that if we do our job, he can bust a big run at any time, and it just makes us want to do our job better and block well for those guys.”
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
