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.
Thinking about anything other than what we have to do to prepare to play the next game, to minimize our errors and maximize our performance is out of the question.
I felt very much appreciated on the field today, ... There were a lot of people with Saints jerseys that were very nice to me in welcoming me back. I don't want to minimize the fact there was some personal adulation based on the reception I received.
I think he played outstanding and I am so happy for Ricky for some positive self-gratification that he'll get from his performance today because he certainly deserves it.
I wouldn't say that he has been demoted. The way I'd rather say it is that Sage Rosenfels has earned, through his efforts and consistency and performance through this preseason, the opportunity to compete for the number two position, and he's been put in a position to do that. I don't think anybody has been demoted.
Doesn't that make perfect sense? Isn't it the Dolphins offense? We don't change systems just because we've got one new guy walking in the building. Why would we change it for all the players on offense? We want to build on what we have.
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.
Olindo has had a fantastic camp. He has made a much higher percentage of his kicks than what our standard would be.
If a player isn't performing relative to the so-called investment that you have in him, sometimes you have to make tough decisions. We were committed to the guy. He was committed. If anything, I feel personally responsible that we didn't make it work with the guy.
Ed Perry has done a good job for this organization for a long, long time. I have a lot of respect for him as a player and as a person. But from a business standpoint, it always makes sense to go with the younger guy.
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.
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.
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.