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
I don't care if you are a coach or player, you have family and personal issues and those things that are of concern. Everybody's safety is of concern. I have a great appreciation for the players and what they were able to do today to stay focused on the things that we wanted to try to get accomplished.
Maybe we can create some problems and issues for teams by doing that.
That issue has gone under the bridge, under the next bridge, over the next dam and is gone.
I think if he showed he was committed to coming back and wanting to be a productive player, that's the only issue with me. From a team standpoint, I've discussed this with some of the key leaders on the team ... and it would be counterproductive to me to turn my back on all that.
If you don't have an indoor facility, you've got to cut down the practice time in preparation for the game so the players can recover. Or you change the environment they do the work in, which an indoor facility allows you to do. It's really a player health and safety issue as much as anything.
Sometimes, just like when players are available, you have to make decisions on whether we should bring someone like that into our organization. It's not about whether you have an opening or not. It's about whether this is a positive addition to our organization. That's what we've done. That doesn't mean that it creates other issues for somebody else.
I'm not here to say we're disappointed with Gus. I'm not here to say we're satisfied with Gus. I don't think it's just that position. There are other issues that create a problem for that position.
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.
Even though our offensive line did a really good job this year, it is an area of our team that we may be able to add something to that might enhance it even more, especially with the kind of running backs that we have. I don't think we have an older guy on our team who is not capable of continuing to play. I think the issue becomes, can they do it and sustain it for the season? Those are the tough decisions that we have to make, but we are going to have to do that with defensive players because we need to get younger.
I think that he needs to play some, I really do. With only one exhibition game under his belt, he probably needs to play a little bit more in this game.
There's an old saying, ... If a rattlesnake bites itself, it still dies.
He had a lot of tough yards out there.
I've looked at all of them. Just because you're on a diet doesn't mean you can't look at the menu, right?
The analogy that I like to use is it doesn't do a lot of good to buy a condo on the beach that the mortgage is so high on it you can't put any furniture in it. You have no couch or TV. And a part of this process is to be able to inspect that condo and make sure that it's worth what you think it might be worth.