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TAMPA, Fla. — Alabama defensive back Bray Hubbard kicked off Day 3 of 2026 SEC Media Days by speaking in the electronic media room at the Tampa Marriott Water Street. Below is a full transcript of everything Hubbard said at SEC Media Days on Wednesday morning.
Q. Team goals obviously at the top of your list, but what individual goals are you aspiring for to make those team goals happen?
BRAY HUBBARD: I mean, honestly, I guess some of my team goals would just be playing consistent every day, every game and going out there and giving my team my best effort. And that’s what I’ve got to do to help my team win and do my job at a very high level.
Obviously, I have all of my personal goals. At the end of the day, we’re all striving to be the best in the country and ultimately win a national championship.
Q. With so many new faces on defense, how has the secondary built chemistry this offseason?
BRAY HUBBARD: Like you said, there’s a lot of new faces, especially in the second level — not necessarily on the second level, but really on the D line, there’s a lot of new guys there. There’s really just younger guys over at the linebacker position.
But with the secondary, obviously we’ve all played together for about two years now. So just the unity that we have and the trust that we have built between all five of us back there — whether that’s D.J., Z.B., me, Keon and Red, and even some of the younger guys that are our backups — we just trust each other. But that also allows us to play fast.
I can trust Z.B. that he’s going to do his job, so that allows me to just focus on the call, focus on maybe the formation and what I’m expecting out of a certain formation or anything like that.
So just the trust is a huge thing between the back end. But that also shows us that obviously we’re all returning, and we played a lot of snaps together.
Q. With you being a Mississippi native, what are your emotions going into that game heading back to your home state and playing under the cow bells?
BRAY HUBBARD: It’s funny. So my brother actually went to Ole Miss. My sister went to Mississippi State. So I think my sister’s actually going to be pulling for Alabama.
But I’ve played — when did we play them? My freshman year, we played them there. I think I was on special teams. I don’t think I played any there. But I’ve been to many of those games before. It’s going to be an electric atmosphere. Great program. Great team. I’m excited about it, going back to my home state.
Q. What did you learn about yourself last year, and what would you like to see improve on the defensive side?
BRAY HUBBARD: I guess what I learned about myself was, not to sound cocky or anything, but I’m a great player but I’m also a leader of this team and of this defense. Also I gotta bring my best every game.
Obviously the guys around me are watching me, watching the leaders on our team to see how we react to certain things, react to adversity. So I’ve gotta stay cool, calm and collected whether we face adversity or whether things are at an all-time high. I’m excited for this year, improve my game and take it to another level.
Q. I don’t think we talked to you in the spring. Just what went into your decision to come back, and what does the university mean to you?
BRAY HUBBARD: The university means everything to me. I don’t think I’d rather be anywhere else but the University of Alabama. Just getting developed as a person but also getting developed as a player. I’ve absolutely loved my time at the University of Alabama.
There’s a lot that went into the decision, but ultimately, when you look at it and when I looked at it with my family and everything like that, it’s crazy to think about that I’ve only played a year and a half. It feels like I’ve played two years — two, three years — but I’ve only played in the defense for a year and a half.
So there’s a lot more that I can put on tape for my career at the next level, but coming back and being one of the leaders of this team and helping bring this program back. I shouldn’t say bring it back, but just helping the program strive for greatness and helping these young guys and getting them into the process and trusting the process.
Q. Speaking of electric atmosphere, it’s Saturday, September in Tuscaloosa, you’re at Bryant-Denny Stadium. You’re in the tunnel. You’re looking at a whole bunch of red, everybody going crazy. Do you still get goosebumps?
BRAY HUBBARD: Oh, yeah, you’re going to get goosebumps especially with that crowd. There’s a 100,000-plus in there that’s screaming and trying to make sure that you’re going to run through somebody’s face. You can’t beat the crowd at home especially when all the stadium is covered in crimson.
Q. You mentioned the amount of time that you’ve spent playing with guys like Zabien and Keon, and then the amount of time you’ve spent in Kane Wommack’s defense. What does communication look like going into, especially this year, is there more communication, less communication because you kind of know what every member brings?
BRAY HUBBARD: I guess you could say there’s more and there’s less just because you don’t have to spend as much time, I guess, hollering the call to, say, Z.B. I mean, all I have to tell him is, hey, we’re running this call, and then we can start breaking down formations and say, hey, out of this formation, we’re about to get this, or we’re expecting this, we need to play it this way.
So I think that’s just with how much we’ve played together, I think when you look at just, I don’t know, the trust is what’s huge just because I can trust Z.B., I can trust D.J., I can trust Keon, that they’re going to do their job. That way I can focus on my job and make plays in the defense. But they can also focus on their job and not worry about if I’m going to do the job right or anything like that to where they can play fast and make plays, too. So that’s huge.
Q. I wanted to ask about Cederian Morgan, what it’s been like practicing with him so far. What has stood out to you about him, and do you think he’s a guy that can play early on?
BRAY HUBBARD: Yeah, so Cederian, he’s a big receiver. He’s also put on a lot of muscle mass. He’s a strong receiver, too.
But you throw anything his way, he’s going to catch it. He’s got really good hands. So I’m excited for him. I think he’s going to have a huge role in our offense.
Obviously, I’m not on that side, so I can’t speak too much about it, but I go against him a good bit. So he’s a great player.
I remember in bowl prep, when he early enrolled and came with us for bowl prep, I mean, the dude was catching some stuff. And I was like, man, this kid’s gonna be a great player.
Q. Can you just talk a little bit about after the loss against Indiana in Pasadena and some of the things that people have said this offseason about the program, how has that motivated you guys this offseason and going into next season?
BRAY HUBBARD: I mean, that was definitely a tough loss, which you’ve still got to learn from it. I was talking to Coach Wommack after the game and we were just kind of talking about different things that went wrong during the game. And it just comes down to execution and guys just focusing on their job, but that’s what you need all year.
You’ve got to have guys that are consistently doing their job at a high level. And ultimately that’s how you’re going to win. And that’s how you’re going to stop teams from scoring points.
So when we look back at some of those games that we had struggles with or that we lost or anything like that, you’ve really got to look, is everybody doing their job to the best of their ability and are we executing the way we now to execute? Because when we do execute and everybody is doing their jobs, we play to a really extremely high level.
But what also gets kind of frustrating sometimes is when you rep the reps in practice and then you get in the game and you get that same exact play that we’ve been repping in practice and you mess it up in a game, it’s really frustrating, just because we know we can do it.
Q. You played in three games against Tennessee in the third Saturday in October, and games have gone both ways. What’s that rivalry like to play and be a part of?
BRAY HUBBARD: It’s an electric atmosphere every time we play, whether that’s in Knoxville or whether that’s in Tuscaloosa. It’s always going to be a really, really good game. It’s always, I would say, a bloodbath. But it’s a good game. Obviously it’s a big rivalry. I mean
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