Alabama is often preparing for a College Football Playoff appearance this time of year, so it can be tough for players on the team to get up for non-Playoff bowl games. However, this year that doesn’t seem to be an issue.
Coach Nick Saban said this year’s practices have been “the most enjoyable” of any of his non-Playoff teams, and he credits the players for having a ton of energy throughout the week.
“When you have guys on your team sometimes that—I call them energy vampires—you use all your energy on these guys, trying to get them to do what they’re supposed to do. Those are the kind of guys that don’t end up playing in bowl games, and don’t end up doing the best things and make the best choices and decisions for the team and all that, because they’ve got other motivations, which I’m not being critical of,” Saban said, via Mike Rodak of Alabama.com. “But this team has really worked hard and done really, really well. And a lot of players on our team have made a significant improvement. It’s been one of the most enjoyable bowl practices.”
