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 all have a professional responsibility as clubs to live by the confidentiality rules, which are designed to protect players. However the information got out, I hope those people will take that responsibility and let us make any necessary changes. ... I'm going to be proactive in that effort.
You would hope that a guy would want to do something for positive reasons, because he wants to be successful and he buys into the things that can make him successful at what he does.
Absolutely. He's done an outstanding job in practice and he finishes every play. He has done everything that anybody could ask of a player. If you asked me, give me the top five guys that are the best practice players, he would be one of them. 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 for.
I know he's going through due process. Ricky is as good a guy as anyone I've ever coached. I never had a problem with him. I have nothing but the highest regard for him. I hope things work out to have him on our team in the future.
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.
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.
I don't think he's ready to carry it 45 times. We're going to have to keep playing him into it, but hopefully we can get him in that 12- to 15-touch mode.
I would hope that self-indulgence is not something that we're concerned about at this point. Personal ego has to be given up a little bit out of respect for one another.
Gus has the best understanding of the offense right now. We feel like he hasn't played his best football yet, but with his knowledge and understanding and leadership, we're hopeful that he can show continued improvement, and that we can make some improvement as an offensive team. We've had spots of doing those types of things, and hopefully we'll continue to be more consistent.
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.
I don't think he is ready to carry it 45 times, but hopefully we can get him in that 12 to 15 touch-mode. We're going to have to keep playing him into it. He's going to have to keep increasing his work load as we go.
I'm very confident in him, ... Him being able to manage this situation with the first team out there is going to be a good experience for him. If this circumstance ever pops up in the future, it will be something that will serve him well.
I know they didn't play all of their players the whole time. At the same time, we did what we had to do in the game. It probably shouldn't have been as close. I'm pleased with the way these players came out given the situation.
I know Randy has learned a lesson from this. It's important for all our players to understand that they represent this team and this community, and conduct themselves accordingly. Regarding anything we will do in this specific instance, it's a team matter and as such will be handled privately.