Rolando McClain figured it was always good enough to lead by example, especially since he was extraordinary in his first two years as an Alabama linebacker.
Twenty-three starts in 27 career games, 169 tackles including 17 for losses with four sacks and three interceptions. First team All-Southeastern Conference last year and a finalist for the Butkus Award. Preseason Playboy all-American this season.
"I thought if I did my job and made plays, guys would feed off me," McClain said. "I like to be real laid-back. I like to do my work and go home. I don't even like to be in the eye of the media."
Call McClain a victim of his own success. When Alabama coach Nick Saban was looking for veteran defensive leaders this past spring to replace departed stars like Rashad Johnson, he started with McClain.
And so, McClain said he's forcing himself into a more vocal role while acknowledging that Johnson's act is hard to follow.
"Rashad was a great player, but even more than that he was a great leader," McClain said. "He'd give a guy a look in the huddle, and you would just know (what you had to do). He worked so hard, and everyone honored his work ethic.
"Coach Saban wants me to speak up and be an emotional leader. I'm trying to embrace that role. If it helps the team, then that's fine with me."
Saban has faith that McClain is the man in the defensive huddle that 10 other sets of eyes can look to when the heat is on.
"Ro showed a tremendous amount of maturity from his freshman year to the start of last year, and it's not just as a football player," Saban said. "It's what he has been able to do as a leader.
"Leadership is not an easy thing. As you learn and grow as a leader, you learn which people to pat on the back and which ones need a kick in the tail to get them going when they need it. Ro is a very good leader, because he does affect other people."
McClain understands the importance of everyone around him. For instance, he knows his life is a lot easier every snap because he has space-eating defensive tackle Terrence "Mount" Cody -- all 6-5, 350 pounds of him -- occupying at least two blockers.
"Having Cody up front frees me to make plays," McClain said. "Having the defensive ends get a good pass rush makes it easy for me to cover receivers. It's all about everybody having each other's back."
If McClain makes his normal annual progression, there's a good chance he'll project as a high NFL draft choice, meaning he could leave school a year early. But he hasn't thought about the future, since there's immediate business in front of him.
"Coach told me I had a good year last year and that I just need to polish a lot of areas," McClain said. "When our season is over and if Coach thinks it's best for me to go to the NFL, then I'll do it. Right now, my focus is to make my team better so we can win the SEC championship."
That goal eluded 'Bama last year, which finished 12-2 after winning all 12 regular season games.
A fourth-quarter collapse in a 31-20 SEC championship game loss to eventual national champion Florida was nothing to hang heads about. But the sting of a 31-17 Sugar Bowl loss to Utah, a non-BCS conference school, lives on.
'Bama went into that game without its two top offensive linemen -- Andre Smith was suspended for contact with an agent and Mike Johnson was injured. Utah took advantage with eight sacks and constant pressure on Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson.
The Crimson Tide defense didn't have any excuses. Utah scored touchdowns on its first three drives.
"There's no way to sugarcoat it," McClain said. "We lost to a good team in Florida, and we came out flat against Utah. Why? I don't know. But they had a great offensive scheme, a good quarterback and they made some great plays. They got the best of us.
"We win 12 games, then lose the biggest two games of the year. It's like Coach Saban says. Don't think you've arrived until the job is finished. I know the bull's eye will be on our back this year, but we can't accept anything less than finishing."
(Ron Higgins writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)
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