Coach always knows best, right?

According to a report by SEC Country, former Alabama RB Kenyan Drake didn’t want any part of putting on his uniform on for the Iron Bowl.

Drake was just two weeks removed from breaking his arm against Mississippi State and was not yet ready to return to the field, but the Alabama coaching staff wanted him to suit up and go through warm-up routines as though he would play anyway.

“Honestly, I didn’t want to do that,” Drake told SEC Country after his Senior Bowl weigh-in on Tuesday morning. “I just wanted to sit on the sideline.”

But Drake came around to the idea after he saw that it actually worked.

“It definitely worked out,” he said, “because Auburn had to change their whole gameplan with me practicing all throughout the week or going out there for warmups and everything.” “I loved (the ‘ploy’) after the fact, to be out there with my teammates suited up, it definitely gave me an added feel to the game,” Drake said. “I knew I wasn’t gonna play, but just being out there dressing with my teammates; there was no better feeling.”

Alabama won the game without him, with RB Derrick Henry carrying the ball 46 times for 271 yards and one touchdown in the 29-13 win.

Drake is taking part in this week’s Senior Bowl events in hopes of helping his stock for the 2016 NFL Draft.