Henry To’o To’o Helping Teach Young Guys the “Alabama Standard”
Alabama linebacker Henry To'o To'o spoke to the media Friday before the second day of fall practice and offered his thoughts on a variety of topics, from how he doesn't consider himself a transfer anymore to the "Alabama standard" and how he's helping some of the newer members of the team reach that standard.
"I don't consider myself a transfer anymore. I'm about to get a degree from the University of Alabama," said To'o To'o. "Schematically, I feel great. The bond that I have with the players, it's beyond the charts of what I could ever explain."
To'o To'o came in via the transfer portal last offseason after two seasons at Tennessee and immediately became an impact player. Based on his comments Friday, it would appear that a lot of that was due to his willingness and ability to adapt to Alabama's standard.
"There's an Alabama standard that you have to live up to, and that's competing every single day, giving championship effort every single day, just coming in here and working your tail off," said To'o To'o.
"Nobody works as hard as we do, and that's something you have to embrace. That's something that coach Saban has built here. That we're going to work every single day, that we're gonna out work our opponent no matter if it's watching film, through the fourth quarter program, or spring ball, or fall camp, so that's something I had to adjust to," said To'o To'o. "And it's my responsibility to teach the younger guys, so that they can keep that legacy going."
Having a guy like To'o To'o come in through the portal, have immediate success, and then be willing and prepared to bring the younger guys and new transfers up to speed will be crucial to helping Saban's team not go through another "rebuilding year" and achieve the level of success they want to consistently.
In order to help bring this year's crop of transfers up to speed, To'o To'o is going out of his way to try to teach them that standard and what's expected of them when they come in. He advised this year's group to never change who they are, but to simply adapt to the culture.
"Being able to learn coach Saban's ways, learn the Alabama standard, and finesse your game around that," said To'o To'o. "That's one thing that kinda helped me, being able to hone in on that standard and respect it."