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 tried to create a little bit of an identity as a team today. I'm proud of the effort that we put in and the way we persevered and overcame adversity. The big thing that this team did today was they had a little tenacity, a little perseverance. And I think that's something you definitely need in this league relative to the competitive balance and what you have to do to win games.
We just want to continue to be able to let them develop and progress. We're not disappointed in anybody. We're actually encouraged by our ability to throw the ball with consistency in the game by all the quarterbacks.
During his tenure in Pittsburgh, the Steelers had one of the most effective offenses in the league. His expertise produced an explosive and physical style of play, and he raised the production level of his quarterbacks during that time. We feel Mike is a quality person who will be a great addition to our team.
At this point, I'm not ready to say that changing quarterbacks is going to solve all our problems, so that's where it's at.
To be honest, I didn't even get a chance to watch the game. We came back from practice and watched film on our practice, so I didn't get to see any of the game. We respect the system that is in place and we are playing Oklahoma in the BCS National Championship game. It's a tremendous opportunity for our program and right now all we are focused on is getting our players ready to play Oklahoma.
I think if he showed he was committed to coming back and wanting to be a productive player, that's the only issue with me. From a team standpoint, I've discussed this with some of the key leaders on the team ... and it would be counterproductive to me to turn my back on all that.
The analogy that I like to use is it doesn't do a lot of good to buy a condo on the beach that the mortgage is so high on it you can't put any furniture in it. You have no couch or TV. And a part of this process is to be able to inspect that condo and make sure that it's worth what you think it might be worth.
I would have liked to determine it a month ago or two weeks ago. I would like to determine it. I don't have a problem with determining it. We are trying to determine it. But we don't want to upset the apple cart of what we are trying to accomplish with the development of both of these players by trying to determine something that is not ready to be determined.
Nobody has a crystal ball. Nobody can make a prediction. But based on history, the guy is making good progress to come back. ... And as you see his progress being made, it doesn't become a leap of faith to determine whether the guy can come back.
Maybe we can create some problems and issues for teams by doing that.
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.
We all like winning. The fun of this is a job well done. The purpose of what we do is to have success. We focused a lot this year on the process of what you need to do to be successful. I think this team has bought into that and has a belief system that has been beneficial to how we've competed.
It's more difficult than it's ever been. It's possible, but I think it's a little less probable than maybe it was 20 years ago.
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.