Spring football practice

quote:

---

Has Saban ever explained his reasoning for one practice before SB and the rest after?

---

quote:

---

One of the mild curiosities of Alabama spring football practice is the occurrence in several of the past few seasons of the Crimson Tide having one day of spring practice before spring break, and then continuing with the 14 remaining practices (including the A-Day Game) after spring break.

Saban doesn’t mandate a routine for his players when they are on spring break, but he makes a suggestion that they work out four times during the nine days they are away from the practice field.

"We tell players when they go on spring break that we would like for you to work out four times. You're going to be out of here for what amounts to eight or nine days, and we would like for you to work out four times."

“We'll know the players who worked out four times and did not dissipate in terms of gaining weight and who took care of themselves, because you won't be able to respond in practice like you want to if you don't do those things,” Saban said. “Now, we don't call and make sure they do it. We don't have a postcard that they fill out. We can't make them do it, so we encourage them to do it."

“The one thing I've been really pleased about with our players here is when we encourage them to do things, they usually respond in a very positive way and usually buy into it. I didn't ask anyone how much they worked out over spring break, but it's a real indicator of how important football is to them, and how important that is for them to be a good player. If a guy just went and did nothing for the whole time, he's not very committed to improving himself and having a significant role on the team. I think it tells you a lot about a player's competitive character, how important football is to them, and how important the team is to them in how he does those things."

"All these things require every player taking ownership for how he makes progress to become a complete player in spring. Then everybody has to assess: ‘Are you a liability or an asset in this process for yourself and for your teammates?’ So you can't be casual in the way you approach spring practice."

---