Nick Saban turns to McClain to lead Alabama's defense
By Staff
Scot Beard
HOOVER – Last year expectations for the Alabama football team were high and the team responded well to the pressure.
The Crimson Tide opened the year on a 12-game win streak before dropping its final two games to miss out on a shot at the national championship.
Junior linebacker Rolando McClain said there is one thing Alabama still needs to do to turn the corner in the competitive Southeastern Conference.
"We've got to finish games and finish our season," McClain said. "We didn't really finish last year, we lost to Florida and Utah."
Coach Nick Saban is looking to McClain to help be a leader for the defense, a unit that has the potential to be one of the best defenses Alabama has ever put on the field.
Saban said the leadership has to come from more than just the seniors.
"I think he showed a tremendous amount of maturity from his freshman year when he started to last year," Saban said. "He is a very good leader. He does affect other people, but leadership doesn't stop with one guy."
Saban said there is not one individual who makes Alabama great, but if a player has a poor attitude or makes poor choices it can destroy the team's chemistry as indicated in the Sugar Bowl last season.
That is one reason McClain has embraced his leadership role.
"I guess I'm a mentor now. Last year I was a sophomore and I had to teach Dont'a (Hightower) a lot of things," McClain said. "(Young players) look to me not just because I play and how well I'm performing, but because how I work. They know I know what it takes to be good and succeed in the SEC, which is hard."
McClain said he always felt he was a leader, but Saban is urging him to evolve his leadership style.
McClain said he prefers a laid-back style and likes to lead by example. Saban wants him to become more of a vocal leader. Part of that included participating in Media Days.
"I was like 'Man why are you choosing me?'" McClain said. "Now that I'm here, it's not that bad. I'm real laid back I like to do my job and then go home. I don't like being in the eye of the media."
That is the type of player McClain is, a do-whatever-it takes-to-win linebacker.
If he has to spend extra time in the film room, that is fine. If he has to go over the playbook with younger players, that is okay too.
One thing is for sure, McClain won't have to do all of the leadership by himself.
All-SEC defensive back Javier Arenas commands the secondary, freeing McClain to focus on the front seven.
"When you see Javier Arenas everybody sees the punt returns and kick off returns," McClain said. "What they don't see is how he coaches the guys around him and how much film he watches. He knows the other offense. He knows their splits and their releases and commands the secondary."
With McClain and Arenas, along with All-SEC defensive lineman Terrence Cody, Alabama is poised to dominate opposing offenses this season."
They will have to play strong, because other teams will be gunning for what many consider to be the second best team in the SEC behind Florida.
McClain isn't worried.
"We are going to keep doing things the way we've been doing. We know the bull's eye is on our back," McClain said. "We don't really mind. We work hard week in and week out. We are going to keep doing things the way we've been doing. Coach Saban is not going to accept anything less."
