Nick Saban
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Alabama, a position he has held since the 2007 season. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other universities: Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, and the University of Toledo. His eight-year contract totaling US$32 million made him one of the highest paid football coaches, professional or collegiate, in the United States at the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth31 October 1951
CityFairmont, WV
CountryUnited States of America
We have a goal for how many explosive plays that we want to make. We don't want to make those explosive plays at the expense of making poor decisions that are going to turn into turnovers and interceptions. Taking care of the ball and managing the game are more important than that.
We've been able to move the ball a little bit better,
He did some straight-line running (Monday). He threw the ball some. He took some easy drops. So it's not like this guy is not at a point where he can't start doing some things. Now, I didn't see all that. I'm just going on what the trainer and the people doing the rehab with him did. But he was there early and stayed late and worked hard. We were pleased with what he did.
Ronnie did a nice job in the game. I'm sure nobody feels worse about fumbling the ball in the situation at the end of the game than he does and that's something that we'll have to learn and grow from.
We thought we could bat a lot of balls on him, and have some players who are athletes, ... When you're pressuring, getting as close to the quarterback as you are, that's got to be an advantage for you. You can't just cover on the back end.
He's still hard to block. He does a great job of using his hands. He still plays with a lot of power. He still can rush and block people back to the quarterback. He's very instinctive on the field -- batting balls down and making a lot of plays. I think the guy is an astounding player and I think he's had a really good year doing what they expect him to do.
The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage much better in this game. When you run the ball for five yards per carry, that's a good job. And we had pretty decent protection for the quarterbacks.
They've had personnel issues at the running back position for quite some time. They are getting those guys back now and I think those guys are playing better and better. I think they're as healthy as they've been all year. I think that's the key to it. They ran the ball effectively down here. Heath Evans was basically playing tailback. I don't think there is anything wrong with their running game; I just think that they haven't had all the players available in all the right spots being healthy this year that can help them develop the running game more quickly, but it's certainly developing nicely now.
It was a close call. You don't want the game to come down to that situation if you're playing like you're supposed to for the 60 minutes in the game. Secondly, we need to be (holding) the ball so it's not close.
We just want to continue to be able to let them develop and progress. We're not disappointed in anybody. We're actually encouraged by our ability to throw the ball with consistency in the game by all the quarterbacks.
I think we have two really good receivers. We have Chris Chambers, who went to the Pro Bowl, and Marty Booker, one of the leaders in yards per catch. If we could find someone who would complement those guys, that would certainly be something that would be a secondary priority on offense if we had the opportunity to do it.
I think we still have a lot of areas we need to clean up and improve, and consistency is probably the big one. I don't think we're where we need to be or where we can be.
I think it's something we need to evaluate. It seems the entire preseason whichever quarterback played second has played best.
It happens every week, so it is not fair to the players, in all honesty.