Presser Bullets: Ryan Day, Nick Saban presents final thoughts on national championship

Ryan Day and Nick Saban met with the media for the last time before their programs in the title game on Monday, to throw compliments back and forth on each other’s program.

A summary of what they said:

Ryan Day

• Day calls Saban ‘one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football’ and that the Buckeyes are excited for the ‘big challenge’ of playing Alabama.

• He says it’s not as we set it up ‘, but that they are grateful and excited for a chance to win a national championship.

• Day calls it “definitely a strange road to get here” to the road the Buckeyes followed to get to the national title game.

• Day says the Ohio class in 2017 will “be one of the best groups” the program has ever been through. He said a lot of the guys in the 2018 class did a great job getting on the field early, and that’s part of what makes the players special.

• Day: “Nobody ever talks about the national championship, we’re talking about winning a national championship.”

• He said: “Ultimately, this is the ultimate goal, and that’s where the focus is now.”

• Just getting to this point can be considered a point of pride, but Day says that if you get lucky just being in the game, it becomes a distraction … We have too good an opponent to prepare to be thinking about it. ‘

• Day said that “at the end of the time, it comes down to who they can perform and do their job.” It’s all about preparation and execution, he says.

• Sean McDonnell was a big influence on Day as a coach and now his son is on Day’s staff in the state of Ohio: “It’s a small coaching world.”

• Day says Alabama is ‘well-coached’ and ‘really talented at the back’.

• He said ‘you never know how this game is going to play out’ and that Alabama ‘is really talented and offensive as I’ve ever seen.’

• Day says that Justin Fields “had a very good training week”. He said Fields’ level of preparation for the Clemson game was impressive and that Fields felt very good about introducing the game to the week’s preparation. He says it was a similar week of preparation for the national championship game.

• Day is impressed with Najee Harris: “He’s a complete player. Very versatile. Perhaps the most versatile man we’ve seen all year.”

• Day says the state of Ohio adapts their schemes to the players’ skills they bring into the program: “The art of coaching college football adapts your plan to utilize the staff you have at that moment.”

Nick Saban

• As part of an opening statement, Saban said Alabama is excited to have the chance to compete with a program like Ohio State. He said he was impressed with how Day manages his program.

• Saban said Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore is “very doubtful” for the national championship game after missing the national championship with an injury, and defensive line LaBryan Ray is “more likely.”

• Saban and Day were asked if they had any “superstitions” about coin handling strategies, and each briefly and forcefully said no.

• Jaylen Waddle “could practice a bit”, says Saban, and Saban said that Waddle “is a decision on a playing time” and that they will know if he can play closer to the kickoff.

• Saban says that Steve Sarkisian did ” very well ” in balancing duties between preparing for this game and preparing to take over as head coach in Texas: ‘I think our coaching staff did a very good job of working with our players. ‘

• Saban says that it can be a big recruiting buoy to be in a game like this: ‘Our program is built to try to create value in life and succeed later. … A game like this can be the center of attention for you for the time being and possibly beyond. ‘

• Saban calls Trey Sermon “a really, really good player” and that Ohio State’s “really good scheme” helps the Buckeyes maintain a good balance between running and passing. He says Sermon “benefited” from the fact that Ohio State put him in a good position to make plays.

• Saban told his players before the year that those adjusting this season will be the most successful, and he believes that is true.