The LSU football team, discouraged and dismayed, stared at the crimson-colored floor inches apart from each other in the University of Alabama visiting locker room, “The Fail Room,” seconds before its usual post-game prayer.
LSU coach Les Miles just finished speaking to his group of men after LSU’s 30-16 loss against the Crimson Tide in the same way he does each day.
Miles finished, then looked at senior safety Jalen Mills, giving him a nod.
“He got into all of us,” said sophomore defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. “Jalen Mills is one of our true leaders.”
Mills, a team captain and fourth-year starter, is known as the vocal leader of the LSU secondary. But on Saturday, Mills got in front of the team, motivating the Tigers not to give up on the rest of the season.
“Everybody felt like it was their fault,” Mills said. “Everybody felt like they could’ve made that play. I had to tell the guys that we are a team, and we have to come together.”
“We’re not out of it,” Mills said.
Mills, who also gave the then-No. 2 Tigers a pregame speech before its matchup against then-No. 4 Alabama on Nov. 7, established himself as a clear-cut leader, Miles said on Monday at his weekly news conference.
“I was very emotional after that game,” Mills said. “It’s easier for guys to talk to a player
sometimes than it is to talk to a coach. It was just that time, so I did it.”
In all of Mills’ four seasons at LSU, the Tigers never defeated Alabama — something he wanted to accomplish “very badly,” he said.
Mills said it was his time to stand up and speak before the team prayer. He said the locker room was filled with emotional players and coaches, and Mills thought it was his turn to lead the Tigers.
“We were all emotional in the locker room,” Mills said. “It was me trying to step up in the locker room, learning from the past guys. I knew it was time for me to speak up and say something.”
Mills said he followed in former LSU stars Eric Reid’s, Kevin Minter’s and Bennie Logan’s footsteps.
He still remembers when Reid spoke before the team after LSU’s 14-6 loss against the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.
Reid told the 2012 squad “We decide our own fate,” something that still stands out to Mills.
Mills molded his post-game speech along a similar line of what Reid said, but Mills had his own twist to the message.
“Just keep fighting,” Mills said to the No. 9 Tigers. “Really show the world, and everybody, that this team can still be in it. This team has a lot of football left in yet.”
His message was well received, Miles said. Redshirt freshman William Clapp and Godchaux had their own thoughts about Mills’ address.
“He wanted to make sure that we all understood that the season is still not over,” Clapp said. “It’s just one loss, we still have a lot to play for. He wanted to make sure that we don’t dwell on this loss, and make sure we don’t let it define us.
“We invest so much into each week. It’s hard when you lose.”
Mills said the reason for a speech was due to multiple players in clear distress after the game.
“I was sad, just like those guys,” Mills said. “But we can’t have that.”
“We have a lot to play for,” Godchaux said. “This is college football. People lose every day.”