LSU coach Nick Saban knew what he would get each practice from last year’s offensive and defensive units on what would become the national championship football team.
At Monday’s press conference, Saban said he is looking for the 2004 Tigers to develop that same consistency in spring practice.
“It seems like we have a lot of ups and downs out there, individually and collectively as groups,” Saban said. “It seems like one guy may be good one day and not quite as good the next. Offense will run the ball extremely well one practice and not very well the next. The defense will play pretty well one practice and not very well the next. There’s a lot of maturity that we need to get to develop the consistency as a team to go out and compete and play well and execute everyday.”
Saban brought up a saying of legendary former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes and applied it to this year’s spring practice.
“Woody [Hayes] always used to say you get better or you get worse,” Saban said. “You never stay the same, and I think if you do well a day, you get relieved and you’re not as motivated the next time you go do it. It’s the same old adage about making an A on the midterm and taking two weeks off because you know you can still get a B if you get a C on the next test. That’s one of the things we need to improve on.”
Saban said some of the younger players on the team, who have not played as much, do not understand the type of commitment it takes to compete consistently and elevate their game on a day-to-day basis.
“Not a flash here or a flash there of their ability,” Saban said. “They need to be dependable because their roles are going to increase in the future. How quickly they learn [consistency] and how quickly they mature as a team will contribute to that to a large degree. That was the talk of the day.”
When asked how the progress of this year’s team at this point compares to the progress of the 2003 Tigers at this point last spring, Saban said it was tough to make comparisons.
“I can’t remember where we were as a team last year,” he said. “I know that there was never a time on last year’s team when I questioned the character or the attitude. I always thought that team had the right stuff in terms of the personality it had.
“This team hasn’t done anything to demonstrate it doesn’t have it, but I would really like to see how some of the younger guys fit into the chemistry and start responding to the leadership on this team … We have to let some of these younger guys show their stuff.”
Saban did say he is pleased with the progress the team has made in spring practice up to this point.
“I think practicing Friday, Saturday and Monday kind of got us in football shape,” he said. “We’re starting to look like what we ought to look like as a football team.”
Saban praised the progress of the offensive unit, mentioning the offensive line, running backs and wide receivers in particular. The fifth-year LSU coach did not have anything new to say on the quarterback battle between senior Marcus Randall and redshirt freshmen JaMarcus Russell and Matt Flynn.
“We’re not disappointed in the way the quarterbacks are coming along,” Saban said. “I know you want to know who’s first, second and third and I don’t know the answer to that question. They’re all doing well. They’re all making progress. I thought today was our best day of throwing the ball, and it was a bad day to throw the ball [because of the rain]. It was windy, it was wet and we did a nice job.”