After coaching them for five years, Wilder knows Ximines and Fulgham as well as anyone in football, and he flew down to Mobile, Ala., this week to support them as they were put through the paces in practices and interviews leading up to Saturday's game. While the game itself is not quite an afterthought, in Wilder's view it ranks third in importance behind private team interviews and four days of practices in which every rep is painstakingly scrutinized.