Saban: Dallas Turner doesn’t have to replace Will Anderson in Alabama’s defense

To start off his appearance on the SEC teleconference, Nick Saban again talked about how this Saturday is an opportunity for Alabama to form an identity for the 2023 season.
It’s less about filling in any gaps from last year’s roster. While the Tide had three players selected in the first 12 picks of the NFL Draft (Bryce Young, Will Anderson and Jahmyr Gibbs), there isn’t a like-for-like replacement for any of them.
Instead, each fall is like the start of a new job for Saban. And that means handling a player like Dallas Turner no differently now that Anderson is in the NFL.
“I don’t think that any player should look like they’re trying to replace any other player. Will Anderson was a great player in his right, in his career here. Dallas Turner has been a very good player in his career here and we want him to continue to develop and be the best player he can be,” Saban said. " ... We don’t look at it like somebody is replacing somebody. You look at it like what do you need to continue to help develop that guy to play well?”
Anderson finished with 34.5 career sacks and garnered Heisman Award consideration during his time in Tuscaloosa. Turner, a blue-chip recruit on his own, grew into a formidable outside linebacker opposite Anderson along UA’s defensive line.
After four sacks in 2022, Turner said Anderson “prepared” him for this moment.
Earlier in the teleconference, which began its weekly run on Wednesday, Saban was asked about his keys to sustaining a successful program, which often includes finding new names to have success with after sending All-American talents to the pros.
“I think first of all you’ve gotta have good players, but secondly, you’ve gotta have the right kind of culture in your organization when it comes to not only what you wanna accomplish but everybody realizing what it entails to accomplish it and making a commitment to do things at the standard and the level that you need to do them on a consistent basis. And it’s not easy, it’s hard. But everybody’s gotta buy into it. I think culture develops discipline, mental toughness, perseverance, ability to overcome adversity, pride in performance, all those things are critical to the kind of intangibles that you need on your team to be successful. And that’s the culture that we’ve consistently tried to create here. Sometimes we’ve done a little better than others.”
Alabama will see how the 2023 season starts on Saturday against Middle Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. CST in Bryant-Dennt Stadium.