HOOVER, Ala. –With three BCS National Championships in four seasons, it would be hard to blame Alabama coach Nick Saban for getting a little complacent.
Bad news for the rest of the country, it doesn’t sound like he is.  
When Saban spoke at Thursday’s Southeastern Conference Media Day, it was hard to tell if his Tide was rolling in off back-to-back titles or a disappointing 2012 campaign.
He reviewed failures against Texas A&M and Georgia like they had prevented him from raising the Crystal Ball in January, and said Alabama needed to improve defensively after surrendering the fewest points in the nation in 2012.
“I think it’s important that we continue to progress and improve on defense because there were times last year when we didn’t play as well as what I think we need to play against some very good offensive team,” Saban said. “We can do the same thing on special teams. So this team has been a work in progress.”
Senior linebacker C.J. Mosley said Saban avoids complacency by keeping his players squarely focused on the task at hand.
“Basically it just comes down to blocking out the clutter,” Mosley said. “We buy-in to the little things and stick to the standard. Coach tells us not to get carried away with what’s going on next week or anything outside of Alabama football.”
Alabama returns a loaded roster in 2013. The Tide had a conference-high seven players voted on to the Preseason All-SEC First Team and an additional seven players voted on to the second team.
AJ McCarron will lead the Alabama offense for the third consecutive season after tossing 30 touchdowns with just three interceptions a season ago.
“We have a very experienced quarterback who has done a wonderful job and has developed and improved every year,” Saban said.
In addition to McCarron, the Tide offense returns a 1,000 yard rusher in sophomore T.J. Yeldon and 1,000 yard receiver in sophomore Armani Cooper.
The Alabama defensive line will be anchored by Xzavier Dickson and Ed Stinson. The linebacker corps will be led by Mosley and Adrian Hubbard while Alabama returns three starters in the secondary in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Deion Belue and Vinnie Sunseri.