Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban: ‘Lot of things we need to work to improve on’
Alabama coach Nick Saban speaks to the media at the Monday Morning Quarterback Club meeting. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr/ Alabama NewsCenter)
To the surprise of no one, Nick Saban isn’t spending the bye week of his Alabama football team planning the celebration of his 70th birthday.
The coach of the Crimson Tide was asked prior to speaking to Birmingham’s Monday Morning Quarterback Club how he’ll spend his birthday when it rolls around on Sunday, October 31.
“We’re focused on what’s happening here today,” he said. “This is a great organization. We always look forward to coming over here. These guys really support Children’s Hospital and do a lot of good things for a lot of people.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban speaks to media at Monday Morning Quarterback Club from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Saban’s appearance marked the halfway point in the club’s 2021 fundraising season, having raised $723,000 towards its highest fundraising goal to date of $1.175 million. Funds raised are distributed through its foundation, Quarterbacking Children’s Health Foundation, to 28 charities across the state that focus on children’s medical needs.
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The Tide pulled away from Tennessee 52-24 last Saturday to climb to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25. After sitting out play this week, the team will host LSU on Nov. 6 at a time that will be determined by television.
As for celebrating his birthday during a bye week, Saban approaches it as he does his progression toward another possible championship – one day at a time.
“There’s a lot of things we need to work on to improve on,” he said. “When we get done, we’ll spend a little time trying to enjoy our birthday. But once you get to a certain point birthday-wise, it makes you think about a lot of things that you could back up and do differently. I guess that’s part of the experience that you develop through the years.”
Saban was asked if his approach to dealing with players has been affected by changes in college football the past several years. He said the sample size is still too small to know if those changes truly impact players. The coach did, however, cite a societal change that can be seen everywhere.
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young makes a play against Tennessee. (CrimsonTidePhotos)
“I think some players get affected way more than I would like by external factors – whether it’s media, what’s written, what’s said – because everybody’s always on their phone,” Saban said. “If you walk around campus, it’s not just the players, it’s everybody. People are running into trees because they’re looking at their phone.
“You start to believe what you read and sometimes that’s not really the reality, especially when you’re in competition,” he continued. “If that affects your ability to prepare, the intensity that you play with when you go to the game, then that’s something that you really have to be careful of with your team and your players, that this is not impacting them in a way that affects preparation or their intensity on game day.”
