17 in 17 : A Look Behind the Scenes at Alabama Football

Being a part of Alabama Football has been nothing short of special. To be able to contribute in any way possible to one of, if not THE greatest dynasties in College Football is still very surreal for me.

In the days leading up to my start date I remember putting a ton of pressure on myself. I still do to this day like most designers, but the prestige of the program alongside of knowing who has helped build this brand speaks volumes to how lucky I am to be where I’m at. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Buddy Overstreet, Jonathan King, Matt Lange & Tony Turnquist in what they were able to accomplish during their time here. They have certainly set the bar very high & continue to motivate me along with so many others in the world of sports design every day.

As we got closer to Fall Camp I still wasn’t 100% sure what to expect. With a new team & approach there was a lot of moving parts leading up to our first practice. There was definitely a new energy in the building when August hit which provided additional motivation as if you weren’t already prepared to run through a wall after listening to a few motivationals from Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Scott Cochran.

My role this season with Alabama Football was primarily focused on the creation of graphics including those outward facing on social media platforms, those seen in our facility & others specifically built for recruiting. Photography has always been something that I have gravitated towards. Having a team of photographers on staff here at Alabama has been fantastic. Stylistically they all bring something different to the table while still managing to keep the visual identity of Alabama Football cohesive. To me strong photography powers a brand. Those visuals serve as the framework to what you are trying to accomplish as a designer. My goal this year was to help bring recognition to our team of photographers to show everyone how talented they are.

From an outsiders perspective I had a decent idea of what the Football Schedule looked like based on what I remember seeing on my social media timeline from years past. Heading into Fall Camp I had a few concept looks that I wasn’t sure what we would use them for but definitely knew it would be smart to have those in the queue. The first couple requests came in pretty quick & then it hit me…we were in “Watch List Season.”

I thought to myself, this will be no problem. Build a template that you can execute pretty quick seeing as though we probably would have a decent amount of guys appear on these lists. What happened next was absolute madness.

It was like a tidal wave. I mean, seriously. It felt like every guy we had on the roster was on a Watch List. Not just that, but most guys were on multiple lists each day.

I think Minkah Fitzpatrick was recognized on every single one. No joke.

That’s when the fun began.

Fall Camp

I think we were one of the last programs to start camp due to the Kickoff Classic game being later, so as expected the team was kind of chomping at the bit to get going. There was an energy in the building for a few weeks leading up to this but that first day was different. It felt like everyone was bouncing off the walls. It was pretty surreal to see the GOAT in action. It’s almost like he has this mythical aura about him.

Our Assistant Athletic Director of Football Operations, Ellis Ponder once referred to him as, “The Man in the Straw Hat” which seams fitting. Gotta say it’s a pretty solid name & an even better look.

My main focus during camp was treating images & getting those ready for all platforms on social. Everyone has their preferred workflow but for me retouching images has always been a combination of Lightroom & Photoshop. Leading up to camp I had built out a few recipes in Lightroom, but the one we leaned on all year was called Practice #1, which had flatter curvature & lower contrast to create a muted look that was still vibrant.

I’ve always been a big fan of sports photography & to be honest I was looking for a combination of some of my favorites: Andy Kenutis, Brace Hemmelgarn, Dan Szpakowski, Jon Willey & co. to mention a few. Those guys have all been such an inspiration along with so many other shooters out there.

I’ve become obsessed with photography, especially retouching over the past few seasons. Definitely not on the level of some of the digital techs/retouchers that I worked with in past but hopefully heading in the right direction. Basically just over-saturating everything enough to get the attention of Sean Berry.

Those 30 days FLEW by. Seriously. It felt like we were finally getting into a rhythm on our practice schedule when it hit me. We had like 10–12 days left before Atlanta. Definitely time to revisit some of those templates to see if anything could be repurposed into our season creative.

It’s funny how creativity works. Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes it feels like you get in the zone & you can churn out work for days. Then the dry spell hits & design block sets in.

It was probably in the weeks leading up to the season when it happened to me. I wasn’t sold on any of the concepts that I had previously built out to carry the season look so I went back to the drawing board using our “Watch Us” mailers as a starting point.

We had a pretty solid inventory of imagery to work with from our 2017 Photoshoot which our CD Jonathan King directed. Some of my personal favorites were the dynamic action shots that you might remember from the Media Guides & Schedule Posters he built out. I’ve never thought of myself as a strong compositor so I chose to approach it by treating these images in LR before building out comps to see how they responded. I struggled for a bit trying to really zone in on what it was that I thought the Alabama brand was.

Inspiration can be a double-edged sword. Sometimes it can lead you to create some of your best work or at least challenge you to think a different way. On the flip side, I know for me at least, it can be overwhelming.

Sometimes you can see so much incredible work out there & feel like there is no way you could ever create anything that could hold a candle to it. My problem at the time I think was a combination of that along with being over-inspired. I wanted to roll out so many different elements/techniques into that initial look that a lot of them became these half baked concepts without substance.

And then just as fast as you can remember it was Game Week.

The stage was set.

The Kickoff Classic vs Florida State

The first football game to be played in the brand new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. College Gameday would be there too. Pretty exciting stuff for Alabama fans & for our team it was like being a kid in a candy store from a content perspective.

This would also be my first game being solely responsible for producing all live in-game content & distributing that onto all platforms with a brand new team. No pressure. Since it’s a new stadium surely nothing could go wrong. That’s what you would expect but you always have to prepare for the worst.

The calm before the storm.

Full disclosure. I was nervous as shit. I had designed enough live graphics for B/R to know that it’s an adrenaline rush. But that’s like 2 graphics at most during a game or live event.

Everything in the arsenal was already built out for the most part. (24 Hours, Gameday, Social Media Handles, Signature Animation Template, Score Update, Tagged Photo Templates, etc) You still had to capture, build out & distribute the content.

When College Gameday wrapped we walked over to the stadium to get settled in. After setting up shop in the Press Box we all hung out for a few hours watching the other games in the Locker Room. By then the nerves had calmed down a bit so I did my best to try & soak everything in. Everyone probably wondered who gave this fan a credential. I was snapping pics like a tourist at Disney World. The next 24/48 hours would fly by & I didn’t want to ever forget this moment.

With a few hours before kick, I trekked back up to my post to run a few test animations in After Effects along with trying & fine tune the animated Score Update. The static version was done, but I was hoping to bring this bad boy to life. Easier said than done for an AE novice who had probably opened the program 2 times in my whole career.

So I decided to phone a lifeline.

I had worked on it the night before with my brother AJ Liskiewicz (Motion Graphic Designer for the Chicago Fire of the MLS) but managed to break it during a few test runs. Although he’s 8 years younger than me I felt like the little brother in this scenario. He was such a big help in bringing that one to life that I didn’t want to let him down & use the static versions in game.

Our plan during the game was that I would handle Twitter & IG. One of our Sports Information Directors would handle posting on FB. Once assets were created I could simply airdrop those to him & everything would go off without a hitch. That was until the cellular network & WiFi went down. Luckily we had a backup plan in place to use Flash Drives to transfer graphics/animations onto. During that very moment it felt like we were using old school AOL. You almost hear that awful screeching, dial-up connection doing it’s best to connect while transferring files & waiting for the drives to eject.

I can’t honestly tell you what happened in the game except for the final score. That would be the standard all season. It wasn’t until 2 weeks after season that I finally sat down & watched an entire game.

That was it. 24-7.

Kickoff Classic Champs!

Podium cele, confetti & the whole works. And I’m still sitting here struggling (Joe Namath x Suzy Kolber style, sorry Joe) with this score animation. One last attempt to make the AE guru proud. After getting everything cranked out I posted to all our channels, but the compression was too much on FB/Twitter so I pulled it. Although I knew he’d be pissed (or at least in my own head at least let down) I couldn’t run something like that if it’s wasn’t right. One of the things leading up to the game JKing would tell me was, “Nobody knows what we have ready to roll so if it doesn’t go it’s really only us that knows.”

And so there it was. My first game in the books. Felt like I aged 20 years, but we got the dub & content seemed to hit so that’s the only thing that mattered.

That first game week was a bit chaotic when we got back to Tuscaloosa. Right after you get done backing everything up, Week 2 had already begun. You spend that first day wrapping up the previous week with any accolades & Game Win, Players of the Week posters & move right onto the next one. Before you knew it we would be playing in my first game in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Doesn’t get much better than that.

That one vs Fresno St was hard not to get caught up in everything going on. For the second week in a row I would have done anything to just be a fan but we had a job to do.

Those next couple of weeks came & went pretty quick but we all settled into a routine & really started to build some momentum as a whole to push new techniques on social throughout the week.

Week 4. Vandy

SEC Opener & my first team flight. Time to suit up for the first time since back in Florida. Those who know me, know that I’m not a big suit & tie kinda guy. Actually my first suit that I purchased in FL, I wore during Game 5 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After losing that game & then Game 6 on the road in NY I returned the thing. Haha. Not even kidding. Figured next season I would get something tailored instead of the store floor special.

That trip was one that I will never forget.

I think I was in row 4 on the team charter on the way to Nashville. Only a few rows behind Coach Saban & Mrs Terri.

After a quick flight we boarded the team buses. That was probably the closest I will ever come to feeling like a College/Pro athlete. I remember pulling up to rows of rowdy fans throwing up the bird & yelling obscenities at us.

In conversations with our team photographer road games were a little bit different. This time I would be in the media work room next to the field & he would be the only photographer. That meant I would be responsible for ingesting/uploading all tagged photos onto the FTP for media to access along with my regular in-game responsibilities. Wasn’t crazy about it but whatever I had to do to help the team I’d do. He did tell me that our “Work Room” was under the bleachers & didn’t have a TV.

When he sent the picture I couldn’t believe it. This was literally a pod underneath the bleachers with tables in it. I would be working this game completely blind.

The game itself was out of control.

Part of our in-game content were signature animations built out for big plays. Scoring plays, turnovers, etc

That day was an absolute nightmare & I don’t say that lightly.

Animations on animations on animations. Somehow, someway I managed to stay remotely afloat to get everything out.

59 doughnut.

And judging by my itinerary we are a bit ahead of schedule.

I still had about 30 min to wrap up post game & pack up shop. As I’m doing so I see the phone ring & my heart dropped. I knew what it was without even picking up.

Incoming call. Michaiah Smith.

OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Dude, where are you? You better get here! The buses are taking off!”

I reached out both arms across the tables & swept the 2 laptops, Ext HDs, chargers, accessories, etc into our laptop bags & my backpack & ran as fast as I could to the buses.

All I kept thinking was I’m gonna get left behind in Nashville. Heart pounding running through all the fans & security I see the buses about to take off.

As they do, the doors on Bus 1 open & our Assistant AD of Football Ops, Ellis Ponder leans out yelling some choice words that I will never forget.

There is 2 places in this world that I would never want to be. Holding up any team bus. Most definitely not Bus #1. That had most of our coaches & executive staff on it along with players.

The only thing that could have been worse would have been riding with Coach in the State Trooper but I believe Greg Byrne beat me to it.

Those next few weeks flew by piling up some W’s. As the season went on we all started to build on our success on & off the field.

What followed next was one of the worst trips all season. A 12 hour bus ride to College Station.

I’ll admit it was a great trip aside from the bus ride.

Being from MN naturally I embrace the cold. I think I’ve probably worn pants all of 2x since we’ve moved to Tuscaloosa.

During that first 6 hours on the bus our driver must have had the A/C parked at a balmy 50 degrees. Like an idiot I didn’t bring a pillow or a blanket let alone many warm clothes. For those who know, sleeping on a bus is never fun. The easiest way for some is to lean against the window. And that’s exactly where the arctic freeze was coming from.

It was like being trapped in the most uncomfortable ice box for what felt like days.

Somewhere in the middle of our trip I hear Michaiah behind me, “Dude……..I’m sooooo cold.” The guy was layered up like Cool Runnings with everything he had in his bag. T-shirts over t-shirts, 2 pairs of sweat pants & multiple hoodies on & THIS dude is freezing?!?!?!?!

I’m in shorts & a windbreaker….smh.

Like suckers we both had no other choice but to cave in & buy a $30 hand towel sized blanket & pillow from the gas station.

We arrived a few hours early so I got to sneak in some sun/pool time which was much needed after the events from the night before. As always the best part of gameday is getting to meet up with the other team’s creatives. Texas A&M was no different.

As a designer grinding it out every day, it’s nice to hear that you’re not the only ones going through it. Hearing the horror stories from the other side (Alex Lewis, Logan Hawk, Ruben J. Dominguez & Natalia Dorantes) made it seem better in some messed up kind of way.

Kyle Field. Hands down one of the best stadiums I’ve been to in my time no doubt. We escaped the “Home of the 12th Man” with a victory so it was time to head back on that awful bus. At least this time we had blankets.

November 11th. Starkville, MS

I’m not sure why it didn’t it hit me sooner but after getting set up & touring the stadium quick there they were.

COWBELLS.

Not just a few that I was used to growing up playing hockey in MN but 40,000 that wouldn’t stop. Any video you watch really does not put into perspective just how loud they are. 40k people feels like 70k at least.

The FTP/WiFi wasn’t working, as was the case with most road games so we had to run cards. Not that big of a deal considering how close the media work room is to the field at Davis Wade so I took the opportunity to sneak out a few times to catch some of the game.

MSU was driving late in the 4th with ease & I thought I was witnessing the end of our season. With a lighter schedule & a loss to MSU we might have a chance of losing the SEC West to Auburn. WiFi finally came back intermittently so I got my ESPN Live Stream to work again in the Media Work Room. That was when I heard the cowbells fall silent for a split second followed by a thundering roar. DeVonta Smith just caught a 26-yard TD pass from Jalen Hurts with 25 seconds left.

Unreal.

We just avoided disaster.

Little did I know that would happen in 2 weeks.

The Iron Bowl was set to be played in Auburn this year which to me was pretty cool. Another chance to see a SEC stadium.

I knew this would be a dog fight, but to be honest after hearing Coach Saban’s speech on Thursday night I thought our squad would come away with the W.

That one was tough. Not only did I know we played one of the worst games that we possibly could have, the fans had all stormed the field after the clock hit zeros.

Security locked down all the gates down to the field immediately.

Oh shit.

The Media Work Room was on the complete opposite side of the field from the buses. Knowing that we just lost what probably could be our season I knew those buses would leave as fast as physically possible. I had my stuff packed up for the most part but had to take the scenic route to get back.

Running in & out of 100k fans heading the opposite direction wearing Bama gear wasn’t the easiest way to get outta there. All I’m thinking to myself is Nashville here we go again. Unbelievable. At least this one is in the same state…

Quietest 3 hours of my life.

So there we were. 11–1. 2nd place in the SEC West. On the outside looking in.

Didn’t even make it to the SEC Ship.

That week I think we all were completely numb. You really didn’t know what to expect but assumed the worst. There was no way they’d put us in the top 4. That left us out of the CFP meaning that we needed help & a LOT of it.

I didn’t want to build anything out in the event we got in seeing as though the last thing I built out before it happened didn’t get used. (SEC West Champions graphic) Definitely wasn’t going to show JKing or Michaiah this time around.

I’ll never forget sitting & watching the announcement show. I had this sinking feeling that they were gonna put OSU in and…they said it. I had everything loaded up on all accounts ready to rock in the event it happened & I had to rewatch it a few times to make sure what I was seeing actually just happened.

WE. WERE. IN.

Time to get back to work.

We all had talked about a Post Season look but never built a ton out. There was assets that we didn’t use for the Iron Bowl that could have worked but still wanted to explore other looks. The one thing I knew was that if we got in that we definitely needed some additional horsepower in the content creation department for in-game assets.

As we got into Post Season Awards we really didn’t have a ton of time to build much out with Early Signing Day upon us. In between all the madness I had roughed out a ton of frames that I saw working as progression in potential animations. After running those by the team it was time to get the animator on board. (Adam White, Motion Graphics Designer for Alabama Athletics)

Every time I think of calling him that I feel like it’s some Matrix type of quest to go seek out the one who can bring all your designs to life. It’s pretty incredible what he can do so I like to think of him in that way at least.

Adam was phenomenal. I had 2 concepts in mind. A lighter version that had several variations on it showcasing the live photography (signature plays) with a more typographical approach & then another that would feature dramatic photography with a displaced treatment using those same elements. Both would showcase the Sugar Bowl/CFP logos along with the city & culture of NOLA along with our team.

Not 100% on this but I’m guessing he didn’t get a ton of sleep over the next couple of days. He magically turned around the first couple variations in a day or so. We went back & forth on a few subtle elements but overall he absolutely crushed this look in every facet. The statics I built would be used on Snap & IG along with serving as a backup should anything happen.

The beauty of these was that Adam built in multiple transitions so everything wouldn’t look exactly the same. Obviously he has a tremendous amount of talent but what’s more impressive is his attention to detail & structure when building out his files.

Finally it was time.

New Year’s Day. The Sugar Bowl, site of the College Football Semifinal vs Clemson.

This was our opportunity as a creative team to go head-to-head against one of the best creative teams in college sports. I had heard rumors that Clemson had dozens of resources at these games. Although that’s not entirely true they do have some very talented folks over there doing some great work. I was just happy to have Adam in the trenches with me.

If you are going to go up against the best you have to prepare.

And one detail that we were not going to overlook was the setup. As ridiculous as it was we brought the whole office basically. Both Adam & I would have secondary monitors to work on as opposed to the 15" MacBook Pro I did all season.

Real estate is key in design. Not only does it increase productivity but for something like this is would be crucial.

After we got all set up we found out that there was no working internet. The WiFi was down & the hard lines were out. We had all joked that the ethernet connections are probably all working but the main cord that should be connected to the server was unplugged behind the curtain.

It was almost gametime but we couldn’t begin until the first Semi finished up. They held the kick to see if OU vs UGA would go final but it never did.

With all the work that went into building out this look I remember saying to Adam, “What if we don’t get to use these?” To which he responded, “I don’t care if it’s a 1-yard run they are getting used.”

Man what a feeling. To have the game go your way is one thing but to have all the content go out the way you had envisioned it is another. As a designer you feel like a proud parent watching your kids go off to school. Well, maybe not that example for everyone but you get the point. There is always a million things that can & do go wrong but to overcome adversity (sounds pretty weak considering there’s no physical aspect of this) & still see everything go as planned is pretty special.

I did get a split second to chat with Jeff Kallin, Assoc. Director of Creative Media for Clemson, who was very gracious & complimentary of our teams work which means a lot. To have other creatives in the industry who are very well respected, have those kinds of reactions to your work is special.

“We’ve got this for 24 Hours…”

Too true. We packed up our luggage & drove back to Tuscaloosa.

After unpacking & backing up our files you only had 2 days before you were back at it again.

This time I actually had my brother AJ & some buddies flying in for the game. What I’ve figured out in a short period of time is these experiences are only as much as you make them & they become that much more special when you get to share them with the people you love. Although I knew I probably wouldn’t see them that much they would at least get to experience a Natty. Some of my favorite memories are those back in FL seeing our son Hendricks interact with the players & Stanley C. Panther. Seeing him reenact plays & remember everyone’s name/number is something that I will remember for a lifetime. And hopefully he does too.

January 8th. Mercedes-Benz Stadium.The College Football National Championship.

With President Trump in the building & this being the National Championship I knew it would be a little interesting when it came to access/security & credentials. We couldn’t even so much as look down the hallway leading to the field pregame let alone hope to get out there should we win this thing.

The 1st Half felt like it was in slow motion. I expected a bit of a feeling out process when it came to calling plays but man we couldn’t move the ball. I remember thinking to myself, “Damn. If we’re gonna go out. Not like this. This is boring AF & we are not even playing like I know we are capable of. At least make it a game.” Luckily for us the D had been extremely solid & held UGA to 13. This thing ain’t over but it’s not looking good.

HALFTIME

Alabama 0

Georgia 13

Working for the team you always hear rumblings of what people think or at least predict to happen but this was not one of them.

I did in my own head think Tua might get the nod coming out of the tunnel in the 2nd but that’s a tall task for a True Freshman.

Then I saw ESPN playing up that very same angle in warmups before the kick. As they focused their camera on him he didn’t take off his helmet on the sideline & I thought to myself they’re gonna do it. They’re gonna play him.

I think it was the 2nd play from scrimmage he was running for his life just to make it back to the line of scrimmage. That was the spark they needed! A couple of 3 & outs later & you are left wondering if it just wasn’t our night.

Then he started to air it out a bit more. The Ruggs drive was the moment that I truly thought we had a chance. Down 13–7.

We had a game.

That’s when the adrenaline REALLY starts going. You simply cannot hold back from being a fan & rooting for your team. As they continued to battle back you felt like it’s too much momentum for us to not win this thing.

Setting up that final FG I thought this is too easy. There is no way he puts this through the uprights & we take home the Natty. It’s too perfect. And then he pulled it about as far left any golfer when they’re gripping it too tight.

That thing never stood a chance.

Overtime.

As a hockey fan all I could think about was, “Big save Goldberg. You’ll get em in Overtime.” -The Mighty Ducks.

Tails Never Fails.

Not sure what Boze called but it had to be that.

It NEVER fails.

OT begins. Thinking this might be a while but who knows at this point. Then the D came about with back to back big plays setting up a 52–54 yard FG attempt.

I’m thinking to myself. This kids good but….c’mon. Not THIS good is he??????

Yup. He’s he’s that good.

No worries. We got this. Walk off TD.

And then Tua rolled back. And back some more. And back some more. Dude was straight up stealing my style of playing QB in Madden.

Run back a country mile. Assess the D. Then run up 10–15 yards to the line of scrimmage & either throw a laser or tuck it & run.

This time not so much.

UNREAL.

We’re done. Like Mississipi State done. Nope. Auburn done. It’s all over. Valient effort boys but no shot way we even get in FG range let along JK Scott would make one.

2 & 26.

To summarize. You just went (in your own head) from getting completely shut out, to being a National Champion, back to possibly losing in OT. A total crapshoot.

I remember watching the TV but not hearing any audio in the work room or on TV.

Tua dropped back & Smitty was gone. Four verticals or Seattle as they call it. He heaved it up & all I could think was don’t drop it. Please don’t drop it.

*Audio turns back on*

Followed by the celebration.

We waited for a few minutes to get images off the FTP which weren’t coming through so we posted what we had & tried everything we could to get onto that field. We ended up running up to the 2nd deck & down the stairs to get as close to the field as possible. Finally we went back down & made a mad dash for the field down the concourse. The presentation was over but we still got to take in some sights.

That night we probably didn’t get all the content produced & out until around 3:30am or so. We got back to the hotel around 4:00am & everyone was still up. The team charter was set to depart 9:00am & luckily we drove out so you could do your best to try & catch some sleep but knowing that there was a plethora of content out there to be produced it was hard to sleep.

One of the coolest memories I have of it all was the Championship Parade.

Even though you work for a team sometimes you don’t necessarily feel a part of it. Maybe that’s just me since I don’t play an active role in coaching or directly with the players on the field, but during that very moment you were part of something. Something I will most certainly never forget.

Thousands of fans lined up on University Drive as we walk up, coaches, players & support staff en route to the Walk of Champions. During the season I always meant to get out there to actually check it out but never did. Too busy retouching images from pregame & the walk itself to break away. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think the very first time I would see it I would actually be walking in it.

40,000+ people in attendance that day as Alabama Football celebrated it’s 17th National Championship on the front steps of Bryant-Denny Stadium. Words cannot being to describe what that moment was like.

Still hasn’t set in until I am typing this out.

What an incredible journey.

And I wouldn’t be here without thanking God for the talents that he has given me. I am extremely blessed to have this opportunity & even more so to have a wonderful family be as supportive as they have been over the past 2 years.

So in closing, thank you to everyone who has been there for me over the years & helped me mature as a designer & more importantly as a person.

-Roll Tide