That man you see on the Alabama-Tennessee sideline in Tuscaloosa Saturday holding up a sign saying “Make some noise!” might be a cheerleader.
Or it might be Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
The veteran coach issued a lengthy and impassioned plea Thursday to Crimson Tide fans to, well, make some noise when No. 11 Alabama hosts No. 17 Tennessee.
“The fans … should have a huge impact on this game,” Saban said on his weekly Hey Coach show. “I mean, you can have a huge impact with the noise that you make. [Tennessee] is trying to go fast. They run 2.7 plays every minute in the game.
“You can affect that and disrupt that by making noise. It’s going to create energy and an environment that our players will play better in.”
The Vols (5-1) are averaging 72 offensive plays a game, one of the fastest paces in FBS. Quarterback Joe Milton III and the offense are averaging 444 yards per game. Anything the fans at Bryant-Denny Stadium can do to slow that pace down could obviously help.
It’s a cliché for coaches to talk about the importance of fans, but Saban almost seemed to be imploring fans to get involved Saturday.
“These guys make a lot of explosive plays. They go fast,” Saban said. “So it’s going to be one of those kinds of games. … You’ve got to stay in it as fans. You create the momentum of the game by what you do as fans. Don’t worry about the players creating it, you create it for them.
“One time I’m asking you to do that.”
Nick Saban ended “Hey Coach” with a mini rant on the impact fans can make on Saturday
“Everybody is on the team, all the fans everybody … you create the momentum … don’t worry about the player’s creating it … you create it for them … one time I’m asking you to do that” pic.twitter.com/pRKdpxIPcw
— Brett Greenberg (@BrettGreenberg_) October 20, 2023
