An aspect of Alabama football under Coach Nick Saban has been the defensive playbook, which has attained almost mythical proportions for his size and complexity. Crimson Tide junior linebacker Dylan Moses attests to the challenge it presents.

Moses was one of three Alabama players (quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy the others) who faced the media at SEC Media Days in Hoover Wednesday.

“I think it took about nine months to learn it,” he said, “but I didn’t really get comfortable with it until the Mercer game in my freshman year, the 11th game of the season, so you might as well say 11 months.

“I could tell you plenty of times how stressed out and agitated I was just trying to learn the playbook. That’s because it’s how bad I wanted to know it.”

He remembers fellow linebacker Josh McMillon helping him as a freshman with the task. And now, Moses said, he is helping this crop of freshmen with the assignment.

He said, “To see the freshmen stressing over it and say how they are crying in their dorm rooms and how they can’t get their plays. You tell them, ‘You’re going to get it sooner or later.’”

And did he ever cry?

“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “It was like a big frustration.”

Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses at SEC Media Days

It’s more than just knowing the playbook, of course. Moses said that in the summer work players are doing he has noticed both early enrollees and those freshmen who didn’t arrive until May. “Not knowing too much of the playbook and being able to perform like they do is very impressive to me,” he said.

Moses’s encouragement to the newest Tide players is an example of his expanded role for Bama.

“As a leader. I was already a ‘lead by example’ leader, but now I have to be more vocal. I have to learn to understand the other guys, try to reason with them on things like personal life stuff. I want to be that guy they can come to, and not just for football.”

To that end, he said that improving communications is a goal for him this year.

Alabama’s linebacker corps has been hit with injuries over the past two years, forcing Moses into an important role in his freshman year. He said the situation “prepared me I,n a lot of different ways. It showed me that anything can happen and to be prepared at all times. You have to be ready. Things can change very quickly.”

As Alabama’s most experienced inside linebacker after only two seasons, Moses said, “This is what I prepared for. I didn’t know it was going to be like this, but I’m happy to be the leader on defense, happy to be able to help guys.

“It’s no pressure.”

The 6-3, 235-pound Moses agrees with the contention that middle linebacker is the most important position on the defense, a position based on the middle linebacker’s job of both run defense, pass coverage and calling defenses for the front.

“Playing middle linebacker you have to be very vocal, a leader,” he said. “It’s like being the quarterback of the defense in a sense. And you have to be able to accept the backlash if something goes wrong; you have to have a short memory. As far as playing that role, I feel like I was raised for it and that’s what I have been molded to be.

“It’s hard.”

He was Alabama’s leading tackler last year with 86 (45 primary) with 10 tackles for 41 yards in losses and caused a fumble.

Moses said that one way he prepares himself mentally is watching Alabama’s offense.

“I think we have the best offense in the country,” he said. “I study Tua, trying to figure out what his reads are. If I have a feel for what he looks at, I think that helps me.”

Perhaps the biggest general storyline at SEC Media Days has revolved around Alabama’s 44-16 loss to Clemson in last year’s national championship game.

Moses said it was a missed opportunity. “I do wish we could have that week [of preparation] back,” he said. “I wish we could have the whole month of December back to prepare for Oklahoma (in the semifinal game) and Clemson.

“Obviously, in the Clemson game, we weren’t prepared. Clemson got the best of that day.

“But sometimes you need that. You have to be humbled, come back to reality. Everything happens for a reason.”

Moses mused over the possible reasons, including Coach Nick Saban’s observation that Alabama was not 100 percent focused.

Moses said, “Worry about external factors, things like this (media), worrying about what people are saying about you, the draft, things like that. Not worried about the team, worried more about yourself, and that takes you off your game. No question you learn from it. I think it has helped me evolve as a leader.”

A question suggested that Alabama and Clemson “have been so awesome” and wondered if Moses kept up with the ACC team.

He doesn’t.

“I really do think Clemson is a great program, but they’ll never be another Alabama,” he said. “I feel like we’re in our own realm.”

How has Saban done it?

“It’s all about consistency,” Moses said. “You look at our track record and everything we’ve done to this point. Offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, everyone has the same mindset. You come to this program it’s like they say: Built By Bama. They break you down and then build you back up. A lot of programs can’t say they do that. They’ll have a good year and then a down year. Here it’s consistent.”