Game week is here and that means that Alabama football head coach [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] will have more media availability than he would likely care for throughout the week.
On Wednesday morning, the seven-time national championship-winning head coach joined the first SEC Teleconference of the 2023 season to answer questions about his team leading up to Saturday’s Week 1 matchup with Middle Tennessee State.
During the interview, Coach Saban was asked about junior outside linebacker [autotag]Dallas Turner[/autotag], and freshman defensive back [autotag]Caleb Downs[/autotag], and what everyone can expect from the two defenders.
First, Saban was asked about Turner replacing Will Anderson.
“I don’t think that any player should look like they’re trying to replace any other player. I mean, Will Anderson was a great player in his right, in his career, and Dallas Turner has been a very good player in his career here. We want him to continue to develop and be the best player he can be and create the most value that he can for himself and the team. We wanna do the same thing with Chris Braswell and whoever else plays that position. So we don’t kind of look at it like somebody is replacing somebody. We look at it like what do you need to continue to help develop that guy to play well.”
Then Coach Saban was asked about freshman phenom Caleb Downs.
“Caleb’s done a really good job. He’s a bright, young guy. He’s very instinctive. He’s mature beyond his years, I think. And he’s played really, really well in fall camp. We just wanna help him continue to grow and develop the experience that he needs to be able to play well. I know he wants to play well, and we wanna help him play well.”
There is no denying that both Turner and Downs will play a significant role in the success of the Alabama defense in 2023 which is looking to recreat the standard that has been set on that side of the ball under the leadership of Saban.
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