On the second day of the 2009 SEC Media Days, things got off to an early start with head coach Nick Saban and two members from the Alabama Crimson Tide football team taking the podium.

Saban talked a lot about going into his third year in the program and what the Crimson Tide will do to try to maintain the same level of success that they had last season, when they put together an unbeaten regular season.

Offensive tackle Mike Johnson talked about some of the key aspects of replacing a senior quarterback like John Parker Wilson and how he thinks the offense will evolve under new quarterback Greg McElroy.

Finally, linebacker Rolando McClain made his way to the stage to touch on what it's like to play defense for Nick Saban and how the Crimson Tide expect to field a dominant unit during the 2009 SEC Football season.

Head Coach Nick Saban

Q. Talk about how difficult a challenge it is to replace an Andre Smith, but also Antoine Caldwell gets overlooked, and he was an all American center, two anchor positions on your offensive line.

Nick Saban: I don't think you can really replace guys like those guys. James Carpenter showed he could at least be a functional offensive lineman in this league through spring practice. William Vlachos was a good center for us in the spring. But Mike Johnson is the guy that has the most experience and is a real quality player for us. Needs to be a leader who affects other people in this group so that our offensive line can develop.

Every question that you ask me about quarterback is gonna come right back to this group. Quarterback is a difficult position to play if you don't have good people around you, and it starts with the offensive line. I think how this group develops will affect, especially early on in the season, how our offensive team functions.

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ffensive team need to continue to show that we have more players who are capable of making explosive plays to compliment the people that we have.

Q. In the pre season polls, 8, 9 and 10 out of the SEC West, how do you envision the SEC West, not a prediction, but as you look at the other teams, what are your thoughts?

Nick Saban: I think the SEC West is going to be really challenging this year. I think there's some great coaches. Houston has done a great job at Ole Miss. They're going to have a great team. LSU is going to have an outstanding team. Les has done a fantastic job there of continuing the high level winning at LSU. I think every team in our league, on our side of it in the West, has an opportunity to win the championship.

If you're gonna win it all, you really have to have great competitive character and do it on a consistent basis, 'cause you have to line up and play every week and you cannot be up and down or you're not gonna sustain it in our league.

Q. Julio came in last year and made a strong impact as a freshman. You have another strong freshman class this year. What do you expect from Trent Richardson?

Nick Saban: I didn't expect anything from Julio Jones last year, except that he focused on doing everything he needs to do to become a complete player. You know, don't focus on external expectations. That's the same advice that I would give to every one of our freshmen, which I've always given it to them. They need to focus on the things they need to do to become complete players at their position. If they learn to do that, then they'll be able to channel their abilities into something that will effectively help the offensive team. If they can do that and show the maturity to do that, then that will enhance their opportunities to play.

Q. There was quite a stir in the lobby this morning when you came in. I'm sure you get that a lot, especially in this state. What is that like? Does it ever wear on you or get old?

Nick Saban: Well, you know, my daddy always says, you know, you only have a problem if no one's asking for your autograph. So, you know, when there's not a stir downstairs, I got problems. We do appreciate the support. We appreciate our fans. We have a tremendous amount of respect for that passion. We certainly want to do our part to satisfy the passion of our fans and give them some time when we have an opportunity to.

Q. Talk about the impact of the spread offense on defenses in college football.

Nick Saban: Well, I just think that it's very difficult to defend. I think when the quarterback's a runner, you create another blocker, or a receiver that you have to cover. So that kind of creates another gap on defense. And I think that that's very difficult to defend.

But I think it's like anything else: the multiples of what you have to defend are what make it more difficult to defensive players. I think the concept of the spread offense is outstanding because it makes the quarterback an 11th gap on defense, I always say. If you only had to defend that all the time, I think we could all get a little better at it. It's the multiple of the different things you see throughout the season that make it more difficult.

Q. Talk more about what you want to see improvement on special teams. How has your team been so successful in scoring non offensive touchdowns?

Nick Saban: The second part of that first. You know, I think defensively last year, we scored four or five touchdowns, fumble recovery, a couple interceptions running back for touchdowns, those types of things. I think we scored three touchdowns on special teams or thereabouts. I think there was something like eight non offensive touchdowns that we scored last year.

But where we weren't real good last year, or as good, is we weren't as good on our coverage teams, our kickoff coverage, which was first or second in the league the year before. Our net punt was okay. Our punt return was okay. But it was really kickoff and kickoff return that were the two areas that affect field position. We weren't very good on kickoff return and we had slipped on kickoff coverage. That's where drive starts occur. That affects field position in the game. Those are two areas that we need to improve on dramatically.

Q. You were involved in a great football game in the SEC championship. That game came down to dominating Florida in the third quarter, but somehow in the fourth quarter Florida was able to shift the momentum. Looking back on that change in momentum, what do you think happened? What do you see when you look at that fourth quarter? Urban said maybe two of the greatest drives he's ever been around.

Nick Saban: That was a great football game. Tim Tebow and the Florida players sort of rose to the occasion and finished the game like you need to. We have a tremendous amount of respect. I mean, Florida didn't win the game on our lack of execution. They won it because they executed and did the things they had to do to win. That's a compliment to them. They made the plays they needed to make.

That's how you really would like to win games, you know, on your execution, not the other team's lack of it. That's why that's a great game, because both teams competed so tremendously for 60 minutes in the game.

OL Mike Johnson

On off-season workouts:
"Our offensive line is working harder this year than any I can remember. William Vlachos, he's in position to take the starting center spot, has taken control this summer and learned the signals and taken the reigns in terms of where he needs to be. In seven-on-seven drills, Greg (McElroy)'s done a good job working with the receivers."

On preseason expectations:
"I don't think it's too much to expect (good things) at all. You hear people go back to the Sugar Bowl, but they don't realize we had our second string line in there and we're struggling to make adjustments. We've got two guys battling it out at left tackle that will be really good, they'll only get better. With time, I think everyone will be surprised at what they see."

On freshman left tackle D.J. Fluker:
"The kid's a freak athlete, he probably outweighs by 70 pounds and moves just as well. The biggest thing is he's willing to work to learn what he needs to do to be a better player and make us a better football team."

On expected first-year starter Greg McElroy:
"I think a lot of people will be surprised to see Greg's athletic ability. I think overall, people will be surprised at how he does in gameday situations."

On the team's schedule:
"I haven't thought past Virginia Tech. We're not talking about anything down the road. In order to keep our season where we want it to be, we have to win the next week. So our focus is always on the next week."

On playing in a premier opening game:
"I think what a lot of people find out about college football is that you find out about who you are in the first week. We can only do the best we can between now and then to prepare and be ready. Hopefully, we can put in enough work so that we're in a good position that week."

On Coach Nick Saban's recruits:
"You can only get better with Coach Saban's recruit in terms of when he gets his fully cycle in here, you'll see a great football team. Not only does he recruit good players, he recruits great men, people who are willing to buy into the system, and that's only going to help us."

On last year's finish to the season:
"It's obviously not the finish we wanted, but none of us had ever been there before. In terms of how you set goals, it's hard to think about things that are ahead when they're not even on your schedule at the beginning of year. Hopefully, we'll get back there (the SEC Championship game and a BCS game) in the years to come, and that experience will pay off for us."

LB Rolando McCLain

On last year's ending:
"Last year, we won 12 games, but we didn't finish how we wanted. We were disappointed, but this year will be different. Coach Saban is preaching to us, 'Finish, finish, finish' and that's what we're working on doing."

On the seniors lost from last year's team:
"Rashad (Johnson) was a great player, but he was so much more of a great leader. I can't even explain it. He'd give a guy a look in the huddle, and you would just know (what you had to do). He worked so hard and everyone honored his work ethic. This year, Coach Saban expects that kind of leadership out of me. I'm more of a laid-back guy, but he wants me to be a leader, to speak up and to be an emotional leader, and I'm trying to embrace the role. If it means that it helps the team, then that's fine with me."

On preseason focus:
"I don't think we need a coaching staff to tell us anything. Last year, we won 12 games, but we lost the last two games, so that's not a lot of success. For us a team, we're just hungry, and we want to work to get better."

On expected starting quarterback Greg McElroy:
"Greg is going to surprise a lot of guys this year because he's got a good offensive line in front of him, and that'll onl make him better. It doesn't hurt to have Julio Jones to throw the ball to either. As a defense, we're going to push him in practice to make him better."

On return specialist and cornerback Javier Arenas:
"Javier's scary. A lot of people look at him as just a great kick returner and a punt returner, but he's so good on defense. What makes him better is he watches so much film, watching receiver routes and different defenses. I thank him because he takes a lot off me because he's such a good leader. He pressures those guys in the secondary."

On his roles as a vocal leader this year:
"It's hard because it breaks my personality. I'm laid back and typically more focused just one doing my thing, but if it helps the team, then that's what I want to do. I'm not trying to be someone different, it's just that last year, if practice wasn't going well, Rashad (Johnson) or Antione (Caldwell) would call everyone together and say something. I might not have said something, but I was thinking the same thing. This year, Coach Saban wants me to be the type of guy that says something if things aren't going well."

You can find the full Alabama Crimson Tide press conference transcript by following this link.

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