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‘Alabama factor’ to factor into SEC Media Days this week

Alabama football coach Nick Saban, receiver Jerry Jeudy (4) and linebacker Dylan Moses (32) will be among the Crimson Tide contingent this week as the SEC stages its annual media days event in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban, receiver Jerry Jeudy (4) and linebacker Dylan Moses (32) will be among the Crimson Tide contingent this week as the SEC stages its annual media days event in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover. Alabama football coach Nick Saban, receiver Jerry Jeudy (4) and linebacker Dylan Moses (32) will be among the Crimson Tide contingent this week as the SEC stages its annual media days event in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover.

By David Paschall 6 min read

The “Alabama factor.”

It’s a phrase Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has uttered frequently in the months that have followed the 44-16 loss to Clemson in the championship game of the 2018 college football season. It’s also a mantra Saban likely will repeat this week at the Southeastern Conference’s annual media showcase in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover.

The January drubbing by Dabo Swinney’s Tigers marked the most lopsided loss of Saban’s first 12 seasons in Tuscaloosa, and it transpired against an Alabama juggernaut that had rolled to a 14-0 record with 13 double-digit triumphs.

“It’s not a slogan,” Saban said this spring. “It’s really what this program is built on.”

The “Alabama factor,” Saban said, involves tremendous discipline and having responsible and accountable players who always place the team first. Humility is a requirement regardless of how much success a player has enjoyed in the past, and the focus of each player should always be on the process and not the outcome.