Alabama football tight end CJ Dippre made clear: the Crimson Tide can’t get bored with the basics.
Focusing on details and the small things are also vital. So, what does that look like?
“Get back to what we’re supposed to wear, shirts tucked in, five minutes, 10 minutes early to meetings,” Dippre said Tuesday after practice. “Not all this late stuff. Not doing what you want to do. Just little things like that carry over to the football field. What if you take one wrong step, one wrong thing? It just all carries over.”
Dippre also mentioned going to class on time as another example of attention to detail.
“Everything is the same thing, like you would want to do on the football field,” Dippre said.
The small things have been amplified of late for the Crimson Tide. Alabama has lost two games in the past three weeks, marking the first time the Crimson Tide has lost two games before November since 2007, Nick Saban‘s first year coaching the team. Now he’s retired and Kalen DeBoer is leading the program.
The former Washington coach has the challenge of figuring out how to get Alabama back on track. The Crimson Tide has the best win of the college football season so far with the defeat of No. 2 Georgia, but Alabama hasn’t been able to replicate that performance since, with losses to No. 25 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Tennessee as well as a close win over South Carolina in Tuscaloosa.
The Crimson Tide has to get things fixed fast if it still wants to make the College Football Playoff. Win out, and Alabama has a shot. Lose another game, and those CFP hopes for 2024 all but disappear.
The adjustments and fixes might not have to be that significant, though. Perhaps it comes down to what Dippre mentioned.
Arriving early and tucking in your shirt might seem small, but those little things can often make a big difference in preparation for game days.
Next up, No. 15 Alabama will face No. 21 Missouri on Saturday (2:45 p.m. CT, ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
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