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 think it's something we need to evaluate. It seems the entire preseason whichever quarterback played second has played best.
I don't think we played very well. We didn't look quick, we didn't look fast and we didn't play with the same energy level that I've seen us play with throughout the year so far. I'm not blaming it on anything because that's not my nature, but we certainly didn't have the energy and the enthusiasm that we've played with to this point.
He's played a great role for this team all year. He's been unselfish, he's been a really good team guy and he's been very helpful with a lot of other players in terms of what he's done. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it as an organization based on what he's done and how he's played and how he's overcome a lot. We're real proud of him.
Jason has had a great camp and has done a great job in every regard. He's probably one of the guys who has had a lot more to learn because he's never really played that position as a professional player. He's playing a combination of two positions right now, but he's done a tremendous job of adapting and making plays.
I would say that if Jason Taylor had played in a 3-4 system somewhere, he would have been a Hall of Fame outside linebacker. There is no question about that based on the athletic ability the guy has. He's smart and he's got great instincts to learn things better than I ever hoped for. It gives us an opportunity to move him around and use him in a lot of different ways.
I'm not blaming it on anything because that's not my nature, ... but we certainly didn't have the energy and enthusiasm that we've played with to this point.
Gus did well, but he looked more comfortable and confident with the offense because he's played in the system before. I think we were a little tentative early in the game and I think the longer we played, the better we played.
Part of the things that we are doing is because of his unique abilities. I would say that if Jason Taylor had played in a 3-4 system somewhere, he would have been a Hall of Fame outside linebacker. He's smart, and he's got great instincts to learn things better than I ever hoped. It gives us an opportunity to move him around and use him in a lot of different ways.
Lamar did a good job for us here. He worked hard. When you look at some of these circumstances, everybody has to have a role on the team. Some of the guys at that position are very good special teams contributors, and that certainly played a role in the backs that we've selected.
He's done a good job. He has minimized his mental mistakes. He's become a starter and he has played fast in the games and made some plays. We (will) keep working with him in hopes that he'll be able to execute on a consistent basis and continue to eliminate those mental errors that can get him in trouble.
He put half of our defensive team in the training room for a week every time we played him. The thing that separates (Brown) from the other running backs available in this draft was his versatility and the number of things that he could do as a football player. I'm surprised that other people ... have not made a more significant emphasis about the versatility this guy has.
It's something that we need to continue to evaluate. It has seemed the entire pre-season, whichever quarterback played second has played best.
Rather than wear him out, we played him about as much as we planned. We'll play him more and more as time goes on and he gets in better and better shape.
He played with a lot of poise and he executed. It's a positive that the results were gotten by a systematic approach of doing the right things, and it paid dividends in results for him. I hope he gains confidence in his ability to do that in the future.