Nick Saban says Alabama freshman could be 'Waddle-like,' sends message to leadership council
Nick Saban reviewed several individual Alabama players during his radio show on Thursday night, and one of them was freshman JoJo Earle.
“JoJo Earle is just a freshman, little No. 10, but I think this guy is special, he can be special,” Saban said Thursday night, per 247Sports. “He’s also a really good returner, and we’re trying to get him to be a little bit more confident back there commanding, especially in punt return, which is what he’d really be good at. He’s a little Waddle-like when it comes to that.”
Alabama plays Mercer this week, and since the Miami game, Saban has preached focus and accountability to put out a solid effort on Saturday. The coach said he met with Alabama’s leadership council on Thursday where he shared this message:
“When the coach keeps harping on something, the more he harps on it, the more meaningless it becomes,’” Saban said. “‘I’m telling you guys, aight, if you don’t start taking the bull by the horns relative to what I’m talking about, we’re gonna have a tough time getting where we want to go and a tough time being the kind of team that we can be.’
“Last year, we had fantastic leadership on our team. I had the easiest job in America last year, aight, because of the guys that we had, the kind of leadership that we had and how they the respect of the other players and how they impacted and affected what we did on a daily basis. And they were driven, they had something they wanted to prove. There was a great sense of purpose in terms of what they wanted to accomplish, so it was really pretty easy.
“But this year, I think because we won — and it’s been this way every year after winning the championship because of that same thing. How do you maintain this hunger that you need to have to really sustain what we’re talking about?”
Some of the young players Saban expects to step up include Chris Braswell, Dallas Turner and Kool-Aid McKinstry.
“I think we have some other guys, but it all depends on development,” Saban said. “… I do think we have some young guys on offense, too, that really could be impactful and help the team, and we’ve gotta get those guys going in the right direction.”