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Saban's strong thoughts on attendance, redshirt rule, rat poison

Alabama head coach Nick Saban had some strong thoughts on a variety of topics during his Thursday evening radio show at Baumhower’s Victory Grille. Below are his full thoughts on attendance at Bryant-Denny Stadium, the NCAA’s redshirt rule and, of course, rat poison.

On attendance...

“This was the smallest crowd we ever had at a game. I don’t really care who we’re playing, it doesn’t matter. I mean, our players work just as hard to play well in that game, aight, as any game that we play all season long. Our students don’t even come to the game. I know I went off on that yesterday in the press conference. But half the student section is actually empty, and that’s not really fair to our players who work hard. They’ve got a lot of pride in performance. We have a great brand here at Alabama.

“People have an expectation of what they’re going to see when they come to an Alabama game. And when players and people that we recruit come and visit, they have an expectation on what they’re going to see, too, and I don’t think it's to see half the student section empty. … Just like we want our players to compete to a standard, win a championship, play to that standard, not to who you’re playing against. And that’s what we ask our players to do.

“I think all these things are important in the spirit. But if we didn’t play schools like that, maybe people wouldn’t have an excuse not to come to the game, aight, I guess is the point that I was trying to make. And if we had a better schedule and had a better show, aight, and it was more entertaining and more enjoyable for people to come to the games, then they would come to the games. But my question is are we not having enough success? Is that why you don’t come to the games? We don’t win enough games?”

On the redshirt rule...

“I don’t want to mention any names, but we have two very prominent QBs in the country -- one decided to stay with his team, one decided to leave. I guess you could have a conversation about who created more value for themselves, aight, by what they did? And how is it going to impact their long-term future? Even though they think playing is the most important thing, but people that are making decisions about your future as a football player even look at, ‘What kind of teammate is this guy going to be? How does he impact the other people on his team, regardless of what his role is? Because he may not be the starting quarterback here at the Baltimore Ravens,’ or wherever he goes to play. ‘So, if this is going to be a problem, do we really want this guy in our organization? Do we want him on our team?’ So, there’s a lot of unintended consequences that those guys create for themselves that I think that they need to be able to think through, aight. And what value can you create for yourself?

“Just like Jalen (Hurts). To me, Jalen has made a lot of improvement as a quarterback this year even though he's not the starter, aight. Because he’s got a really good coach, we’ve got a really good offensive system and the very thing that he needed to improve on, he has improved on dramatically, even though he’s not the starter, aight. And that’s going to have a lot of value for him in his future. And I think a lot of people see that, aight. 

Alabama coach Nick Saban erupts from the sideline in the Texas A&M game. (Photo: Wesley Hitt, Getty)

“Everybody wants to play. I get that. I mean, I wanted to play when I played. That’s why you work so hard so that you can play. But I think sometimes people have to have a little more patience, aight, in terms of focusing on their development. And I think it goes a little bit back to this whole entitlement thing that I was talking about before. Everybody has such a high expectation of what they’re going to accomplish.

“… Like I thought about it the other day. We’ve had 3-4 guys that would be playing for us on defense right now who left the program in their freshman or sophomore year because they were disgruntled that they weren’t playing. Now, at that time, they weren’t better than anybody. But right now? They would be better than the guys that are playing in their place, aight. So, what did they gain by leaving? Because they didn’t really play any quicker someplace else than what they would’ve played here, aight. And then you have 3-4 guys that get injured and you lose them for the season, and now all of the sudden, you add all of those guys up and that’s why you don’t have the depth that you’d like to have in your organization.

“So, we want to keep these players here by creating value for them and their future, in terms of their development. I mean, we had guys that didn’t start for us that made NFL teams, aight, because when they did play, they played well. And I think more and more players have to realize that. Now, when you become a graduate, I get it. If you can go someplace else and play more, aight, and you’ve graduated from school, then there are some circumstances where that does benefit players, and I see that. And I think sometimes you’ve got to support the players in that.”

On rat poison...

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Arkansas. I mean, I think they’re playing a lot better on defense than they played earlier in the year. I mean, all you’ve got to do is say Texas A&M’s a good team. Clemson barely beat them. We struggled with them. They gave us all we wanted, aight. And this team really had an opportunity, so you’d say they’re as good as Texas A&M. We’ve got to play them on the road, aight. So, we have a tremendous amount of respect for them.

“But everybody that I see, it’s like, ‘It’s Arkansas.’ I hear it from everybody. I hate hearing it. I want to just -- I hate to say choke somebody, but why would you say that? Just don’t say that to me, aight, because you are reiterating the very sort of complacency, aight, that if you’re saying that then I think the players are saying that. If the players are saying that, they’re relaxing, they’re not pushing to get things right, to do things better, to be better than they need to be. Just don’t say it. Don’t write it in the paper. Just don’t say it. I mean, how many different ways can I, without saying rat poison, aight, get that point across?”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

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South Knoxville clothing company creates Pruitt-inspired ‘Aight’ shirt

(Courtesy: WATE)

WATE web staff - KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) - As Orange and White Nation rejoices in the Vols finally landing a new head football coach in Jeremy Pruitt, South Knoxville-based clothing company Mulekick Brand is jumping in on the excitement.

"I've read a lot about him, I've heard a lot about him. I watched the press conference, and I was extremely impressed," said Ryan Willis, Mulekick's owner. "I was watching and I thought, 'Man, I really like this guy. He sounds a lot like me.'"

"The more I listened to him, I thought, 'Aight, I can get on board with this guy.'"

Willis said within minutes of the news conference, two of his friends texted him saying his company should make some new shirts.

And so the "AIGHT" t-shirts were born.

Mulekick is currently accepting pre-orders for Tennessee orange t-shirts featuring Coach Pruitt's newly coined catchphrase for $19.99.

Fans can find those shirts here, along with a number of other Vol-themed merchandise.

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Every 'aight' new UT football coach Pruitt said in his first press conference

Tennessee hired Jeremy Pruitt as the new football coach on Thursday. At his press conference that afternoon, Pruitt revealed what just might be his favorite word and future catchphrase.

Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee Volunteers, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, SEC News