Alabama ignores extraneous distractions, focuses on winning national title

Swinney said despite his family’s ties to Alabama, nobody in his circle will be cheering for the Crimson Tide. “They’re a complete football team in every since of the word”.

“Of course other teams talk, but that’s not how we do things at Alabama”. “… I think the prognosis is good at this point….”

“But this is the way it ought to be”, Swinney said.

Alabama’s roster also includes a list of experienced starters in their junior and senior years.

Swinney took over the reins as the interim coach at Clemson in 2008 after Tommy Bowden was sacked.

“We were building a program”, Saban said.

The Clemson Tigers are the number one ranked team in the nation arriving at this game at 14-0 for the season.

This is the second year that one team will have the advantage of unlimited practice time, last season OR was limited to the 20-hour limit while eventual champion Ohio State was not under that rule.

“There was a lot of good things that we did in the game, and (I am) very pleased and happy about that”, Saban said. But I discovered Bear Bryant on a small television one Saturday in my Papa Roy’s living room.

“If you could say, hey, you’re going to get a chance to play the national championship game at some point, who do you want it to be against, I would pick Alabama, because they’re the best”, Swinney said.

CBS Sports college football writers Tom Fornelli, Chip Patterson and Robby Kalland each weigh in with their hottest topic entering Monday’s big game.

I believe strong line play and the overall athletic ability of the defenses had a lot to do with why the league bounced back from last year’s disappointing showing in the bowl season.

“Looked good yesterday running around”, said Swinney.

Lawson suffered a sprained MCL early in the Orange Bowl on December 31.

In two years at Clemson, Watson hasn’t just won over the locker room, he has infused it with his unique brand of calm, cool confidence. He commended Watson on his dedication and transformation into a team leader in the 2015 season.

That was evident when the team’s leadership council voted to send home sophomore defensive back Tony Brown. With the country’s best defensive line and an impenetrable run defense, they should be able to stop Clemson from doing much of anything on the offensive end. Cain will have to make the decision to grow up if the hopes to play for the Tigers next season, Swinney said.

Watching the bowl games, something that really stood out to me was the quality of athletes most of the Southeastern Conference teams put on the field, especially on the defensive and offensive fronts.

“As a unit, ” Watson said, “it’s tough to beat us when we’re all on the same page and have each other’s back”.

Now the trick is duplicating that mental preparedness for a national championship game against No. 1 Clemson. They’ll face Alabama in Phoenix, AZ on January 11 to see if this is the year the team goes “All In”.

When Bowden was hired as head coach at Clemson and needed a receiver coach he called Swinney, then working for a commercial real estate company in Birmingham.

“I think as it should be, this is a game that two great teams are going to have a great opportunity to compete in, and it’s something that we’re certainly looking forward to and pleased that we’ve created the opportunity for ourselves to do that”. You guys have to until Monday night. “If not, we’re not going away”.