What Alabama Needs to Do to 'Protect' Its Sideline

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama has now lost four of its six true road games under head coach Kalen DeBoer dating back to last season. In three of those losses, Alabama has found itself in a hole that it has had to climb out of.

In each loss, the Crimson Tide made adjustments as the game went along, but it was too little too late.

"I think that goes into the pattern of us on the road as a football team," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said Monday. "I think about the two games and a half that we, defensively, has played timid and on our heels and those are situations where on the road we’ve got to make sure that we protect our sideline. I talk about it all the time, the sideline is a living, breathing organism that you’ve got to make sure you’re doing your job to feed that the right way.

"Even as a coaching staff we’ve got to make sure that we’re challenging ourselves. There’s so many things now with the iPads that you’re making checks and adjustments and corrections, but let's make sure that we keep the main thing, the main thing as a coaching staff. That we are making sure our coaches are ready to physically, mentally go out of the field and go play in an attacking mindset and that’s something that we didn’t do a good enough job as a coaching staff."

Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy is famous for the implementation of "Mudita" within his program for the last three decades. Mudita is a Buddhist phrase that basically boils down to being as happy for someone else's success as if it were your own.

In a sports context, that means the player on the bench should be as excited for their teammate scoring a touchdown, making a big play, snagging a turnover, as if they were the one who did it. Murphy has talked to Alabama baseball players about the concept in 2022. He spoke to the 2024 Alabama basketball team midway through the season about Mudita before the Crimson Tide made its magical run to the program's first Final Four.

And now it might be time for him to speak to the football team based on the comments from redshirt sophomore outside linebacker Qua Russaw on Tuesday following the Crimson Tide's loss at Florida State.

"We’ve just got to get guys that are traveling to step up and be excited, man," Russaw said. "For everybody. No matter if you’ve got a big role or not, just cheering people on because we love everybody on the team.”

Alabama's sideline was lifeless at times in Tallahassee, and the coaches and players said there was a hesitance to the team with the players scared to mess up. The current Crimson Tide team has been called out by former players, national analysts and fans for the effort given on Saturday.

Russaw said you can't deny the timidness the team played with after watching the film. Now, it's about the response and getting better. It starts with Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

"We just gotta prove it on the field," Russaw said. "That’s all it is. Just going out there on Saturdays and proving it. I believe in all my guys out there that we’ll hit somebody, and we’re dominant. We’ve just got to prove that on Saturdays.”