Nick Saban famously doesn’t like to make comparisons between current teams and players and those from the past, but he did say Thursday that the current Alabama team had a similar characteristic to one of his six past national championship teams with the Crimson Tide.

Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN as he does every Thursday, Saban was asked if the 2023 Crimson Tide reminded him of any other in the sense that it struggled early in the season but seems to be peaking toward the end. His mind went quickly to the 2015 Alabama team, which lost an early-season game to Ole Miss, then won every game the rest of the way before winning the SEC title and then beating Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship game.

He also noted that the 2022 Alabama team, which was considered thee national championship favorite headed into the season, didn’t play well late in the year or late in games.

“I think the talent on every team is a little different,” Saban said, “but if you’re talking about competitive character, I think it was 2015, we had quarterback issues early on, Jay Coker became the quarterback. We had a really tough, physical team that had to overcome a lot of adversity, had great perseverance and they played that way and they managed. … I always say, how do you manage ‘hard?’

“We had a really good team last year, but in a couple of games that we lost, we didn’t manage ‘hard’ at the end of the game very well. We made some mistakes that helped the other team and had to live with the consequences. This team so far has been able to manage really, really well and make some of the best plays in critical situations in the game, which when you have great competitive character, that’s what you have an ability to do. And I think that’s really, really important if you’re going to be successful.”

Saban also made what has become one of his favorite analogies in recent years, saying this year’s Alabama team is not beset by what he calls “energy vampires” — that is, players or others around the program who aren’t willing to work or push through adversity.

“You don’t have to spend all your time with a few guys who are never doing what they’re supposed to do,” Saban said. “Guys are bought-in, they’re trying to do what they’re supposed to do. They respect their teammates, they enjoy each other and they play well together.

“So that’s always fun when you have a team like that.”

Saban’s Crimson Tide (8-1, 6-0 SEC) travels to Kentucky (6-3, 3-3) for an 11 a.m. kickoff Saturday on ESPN.