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 missed a couple of throws and had a couple of turnovers. . . We made some big plays on defense, which helped us. We just have to take advantage of the field position when we get it.
Do we want to play him 75 plays in the game?
Do we want to play him 75 plays in a game? Probably not, ... Do we want to play him in spots and spurts and see how he responds and reacts to it? It's almost like you would do in a preseason game -- six, eight plays, take him out for a few, put another guy in, give him six or eight more and see how he manages it.
I don't feel like we have enough depth. Lance has certainly made a lot of improvement. He is a veteran player that's starting to feel more comfortable in the system. He did make a couple of good plays in this game.
He's still hard to block. He does a great job of using his hands. He still plays with a lot of power. He still can rush and block people back to the quarterback. He's very instinctive on the field -- batting balls down and making a lot of plays. I think the guy is an astounding player and I think he's had a really good year doing what they expect him to do.
We have a goal for how many explosive plays that we want to make. We don't want to make those explosive plays at the expense of making poor decisions that are going to turn into turnovers and interceptions. Taking care of the ball and managing the game are more important than that.
Typically, people who can score touchdowns or create big plays, whether they affect the quarterback on defense or make the plays down the field, are guys that have a little bit more impact.
You don't have to make all of the plays as a quarterback. You have to run the offense. That is what we need to get out of our quarterback... game management.
The guy is very magical with the ball. He has speed and can change direction. He plays with a tremendous amount of toughness for his size and he's done an outstanding job in what he has been able to do in their offense.
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.
I'm really pleased for the players. These players have suffered a little bit over the last year or so in terms of things not going so well for them, ... I think that they all wanted to prove something.
I'm looking forward to seeing them. I was really proud of the way they did this year.