Destined to be remembered as one of the greatest to ever put on a headset, Nick Saban’s time with the Alabama Crimson Tide is simply invaluable to the world of sports. Having surpassed the likes of Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes for the most national championship wins by any head coach in history, the 73-year-old will certainly be remembered well after his time has come.
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Revered for his work ethic and dedication to the game of football, Saban made it clear to his players that time off was to be earned, not granted. During a recent appearance on the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast, one of Alabama’s former defensive ends, J.C. Latham, suggested that “it was kind of messed up” how much the head coach predicated things on winning football games.
According to Latham, even your offseason break was dependent on the outcome of the playoffs.
“I got there January 13th, they just won the natty… Saban’s thing was, right after the season ends, if you lose, you get a week off. Like, season’s over, we just lot the natty, get a week off and we’ll be back here next week. If you win, it’s like a week and a half or two weeks. They had just won the natty, so there’s no workouts going on, there’s none of that stuff going on. But once it started back up, I understood why Alabama became what they were.”
Given the number of stories that have started to come out from various Alabama personnel throughout the past years, it’s safe to say that Saban’s process has become just as legendary as his championship wins. Whether it’s a former water boy or an NFL-caliber running back like Josh Jacobs, everyone seems to have at least one memorable story about their time with Coach Saban.
While he may be disciplined in his routine and film study, Saban wasn’t necessarily the best at controlling his anger. Naturally, competition can get the best of you sometimes, resulting in the occasional temper tantrum on the sidelines.
Unfortunately, during a regular season outing against Ole Miss, the team’s running back at the time, the aforementioned Josh Jacobs, had heard just about enough from his then-head coach.
“I had scored. Henry Ruggs’ little brother played linebacker at the time, and I dragged him; he’s holding onto me. Six yards into the endzone, he’s still grabbing me, so we have some words, and they threw the flag… Saban cussed me out, I’m like, alright, whatever. But then, a couple of drives later, he came back to cuss me out again. We have some words. We come back out at halftime, I’m returning punts… I return it like 60-70 yards, I didn’t even celebrate, I just stared at Saban.”
Saban’s antics may have gotten Jacobs a little bit hot under the collar, but they also proved to get the most out of him, so is the art of coaching. Now that he’s gone, Saban himself seems reminiscent of a completely different era in football, one that was much grittier than today’s game.
Nevertheless, it is stories like these that will ensure that his memory lives on, for better or worse.
