Behind the scenes with Alabama football: What it's like to be with the team on A-Day

The black doors slide open at the end of the tunnel, a bright light shines, then Alabama football players appear.

Player after player, staffer after staffer and coach after coach filters through the sliding doors. They flood into the locker room, the destination on the other side of the doors from the Walk of Champions.

They all gather in the main part of the locker room, shaped somewhat like a big oval. Once everyone is inside, the black doors slide shut, and the bright light disappears. The players gather around junior cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry.

“We’re going to go out and compete,” McKinstry shouts.

Shortly after, players and staffers get down on one knee, facing the tunnel. They bow their heads and recite the Lord's Prayer, the hum of in-sync baritone voices filling the room. Many place one arm on the back or shoulder of another teammate or staff member.

Once the prayer ends, Alabama coach Nick Saban steps to the front of the room.

Heads are now raised but each player remains on one knee as the coach prepares them for A-Day. He’s wearing a plaid blue jacket and a light tie, gesturing with his right hand.

“At the end of the day, we’re evaluating if you can play winning football,” Saban says as part of his message.

Saban then explains the format of A-Day with half the team playing for the White team and the other half playing for the Crimson team. At 1:04 p.m., Saban concludes his speech and breaks the team down.

“Team on 3,” Saban says. “1, 2, 3, team.”

Everyone begins to exit the oval, heading toward the field.

The day had just begun for the Crimson Tide and for me. I didn’t spend this A-Day in the press box. Instead, I had a chance to be a media coach on the White team for the spring game, giving me an all-access pass to the team in the locker room, sideline and more.

It also meant that if my team, the White team, won, I’d be eating steak with them Monday. If my team lost, I’d also be eating franks and beans for dinner.

Fast forward to Monday night, I learned I'll stick to journalism and skip coaching. I'm 0-1 as a college football coach.

More importantly, I learned what goes into gameday for Alabama football. There’s plenty of precision, intensity and a need for a variety of people to get the job done, from the person filling Gatorade cups on the sideline to Saban running the show.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the Crimson Tide on A-Day.

ALABAMA FOOTBALL: Following Tommy Rees at A-Day: What we learned about Alabama football offensive coordinator

JALEN MILROE: Watching Alabama QB Jalen Milroe's 179 snaps from 2022, here's what we discovered

Pregame

The team exits the main tunnel onto the field at about 1:15 p.m. Special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Coleman Hutzler stands in front of the goal post and hypes up the players as they jog out.

“Let’s go!” Hutzler shouts. “Let’s go!”

Warmups replicate a normal game, so the Crimson Tide hasn’t split into two teams yet. That happens about 30 minutes later when Alabama returns to the locker room.

The White team goes to the home locker room while the Crimson team travels to the visitors locker room.

In the White locker room, the offense and defense split. On one side, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees barks out directions while standing beneath a large clock, next to an overhead projector. The players face him, sitting in black chairs. The same goes for the other side of the room with defensive coordinator Kevin Steele bellowing instructions to his defenders. Rees and Steele each speak loudly enough to their players as not to be overpowered by the voice of the other coordinator.

At 1:52 p.m., each position group breaks out to meet with position coaches. Then at 1:54 p.m., Steele pulls the whole group together.

“Do your job with relentless effort,” Steele says.

“Yes, sir,” the team responds.

“Let’s go to work,” Steele says.

First half

On the second series, linebacker Justin Jefferson breaks up a pass on third down, forcing a three-and-out on the Crimson team’s first offensive series. He wants the offense to capitalize.

“Let’s go, O,” Jefferson says in encouragement on the sideline.

The offense isn’t able to score until two drives later when quarterback Jalen Milroe scampers for a 35-yard run to strike first. The White team goes up 7-0 in the first quarter.

Pressure was a problem early for the White team, though. The Crimson team had two sacks in the first quarter alone, one via defensive back Malachi Moore.

There aren’t any true sacks in the game because defenders aren’t allowed to tackle quarterbacks. Milroe got the pass off because of that, but Moore wanted to make sure it counted.

“He’s sacked,” Moore says, loud enough for the entire sideline and the officials to hear.

Many times, it’s difficult to hear anything anyone is saying unless you’re within two or three feet of them. Considering the stadium wasn’t even full, it’s hard to imagine just how difficult it would be to hear if you were a road SEC team.

But there are definitely moments where it’s possible to hear a coach yell something out or a player shout. When a coach wants to make a point to a player, that point is many times made loud and clear. Emphasis on loud.

When players aren’t talking with coaches on the sideline between series, they usually watch the game. They sometimes react just like fans.

For example, Crimson quarterback Ty Simpson freezes some defenders on a run in the second quarter, White team running back Roydell Williams watches from the bench and reacts to each cut.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Williams says.

By halftime, Crimson leads 17-7. We jog back to the locker room looking to fix that in the second half.

Halftime

Rapid-fire messaging returns at halftime. Rees breaks off with the offense again on the left side and Steele goes with the defense to the right.

There’s a table in the back right with all kinds of snacks to help players refuel however they need. Uncrustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Cliff bars, electrolyte packets, beef jerky and more fill the table.

After the entire offense and defense meet, players break out into brief position meetings again. Only a few minutes remain in halftime.

“Four minutes,” David Ballou shouts.

Ballou, the director of sports performance, monitors the clock so the players and coaches can focus on the game plan. He stands in the center of the room, walking back and forth, alerting the team how much time is left every couple of minutes.

Right before halftime ends, Rees pulls the group together.

“Bring it up here,” Rees says. “Here we go.”

Rees bellows out a message, then it’s back to the field. We fill the tunnel then jog back to the home sideline.

Second half

The next score for the White team doesn’t arrive until 2:01 remains in the third quarter. Milroe hits Emmanuel Henderson Jr. on a 36-yard pass, and the squad is back within a touchdown, down 20-14. There’s still hope of a steak dinner on Monday.

As Henderson walks through the sideline, teammates send a barrage of high fives and handshakes as he returns to the bench. Tight end CJ Dippre makes sure to praise Henderson, too.

The offense can’t keep that momentum going, though. The White team doesn’t score again until 20 seconds remain as receiver Malik Benson catches a touchdown. But the Crimson team already has a 30-14 lead.

Still, the coaches appreciate how the White offense continues to compete on the final drive with the game out of reach.

“Way to finish, 11,” analyst Derek Dooley tells Benson.

White loses 30-21, which means franks and beans for dinner Monday night.

After spring awards at midfield, the entire team returns to the home locker room.

Postgame

Once again, Saban addresses the team.

Among the topics he discusses, he stresses the need to get rid of negative plays. It’s something he has emphasized in press conferences throughout the spring, and he hammered it home one more time after a game that included four turnovers.

Overall, Saban tells the team he thinks thought the spring was good. Then he breaks down the team one more time.

“Team on 3,” Saban says. “1, 2, 3, team.”

Monday dinner

Franks and beans are underwhelming on their own when you know others in the room are eating steak. Put those franks and beans in tin cans, and they look even more unappealing.

That's what was served for dinner to White team coaches, players and staff members at the team complex Monday. We schlopped the meat and brown water into paper bowls. Grasping water in plastic cups, we went to find places to sit. Some of us had to stand.

Meanwhile on the other side of the aisle, the Crimson team sat at tables with crimson table clothes on which to eat and glass chalices out of which to drink. I hope they enjoyed themselves. It's fine, though. I didn't want steak anyways ...

... Did that sound believable?

Nick Kelly covers Alabama football and men's basketball for The Tuscaloosa News/USA TODAY Network. Reach him via email: nkelly@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_NickKelly

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Behind the scenes with Alabama football at A-Day