This is an opinion column.

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The holiday season is right around the corner. For now, and until we get to the Iron Bowl, it’s going to be stop-talking and shut-up season for Alabama coach Nick Saban after Saturday’s 49-21 blowout victory at Kentucky.

Stop-talking season as in that’s what all the “naysayers” can do at this point after doubting this Alabama football team back in weeks two and three.

Shut-up season as in it’s time to officially end the discussion about Saban’s place atop college football’s mountaintop.

I didn’t think there was anything left to learn from Saban after all these years of winning. Turns out, this might be his finest teaching moment of all. Let that cake dough bake, Saban said in the beginning, and it’s all finally beginning to take shape. After what we’ve witnessed in 2023, after how Alabama went from losing to Texas to winning the final SEC West division title with games to spare, no one can ever again question the king.

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And so Saban took a little bite out of his critics after this one. His postgame news conference from Kentucky’s Kroger Field was an all-timer. In one sentence, Alabama’s coach decided it was time to dunk on clowns like me. In the next breath, 72-year-old Saban was wondering aloud if quarterback Jalen Milroe took “Geritol” during the off week before playing LSU.

Saban said there were “a lot of naysayers out there,” but that he “always believed in this team that they would develop into something special.”

Not everyone had the same kind of faith in this Crimson Tide.

Did I doubt this Alabama team? Oh, heck yes. Hand raised. Guilty. Throw all the stones and rotten fruit you can find right this way. I questioned Saban’s hiring of defensive coordinator Kevin Steele and I then questioned the heart of the entire operation. What a dope. To its great credit, Alabama responded to the challenges of turning a team that seemed lost in the wilderness to one on a new path towards the SEC championship game.

It was bleak after that fourth quarter against Texas and then the game against South Florida was like watching the ghost of a team melt in the rain. Saban benched quarterback Jalen Milroe for that one. Good thing Alabama figured out early that keeping Milroe on the sideline was a bad idea. After reinstating Milroe the next week against Ole Miss, this team has just kept getting better and better.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Saban said. “This team has come a long way. They stayed positive and stayed the course.”

It’s heart-warming to see how much Saban loves this group, and especially if this is his final season with Alabama. They said the dynasty was dead, but Saban now has another jewel to affix atop his crown as the greatest coach in the history of college football.

And this one might shine a little brighter than the rest considering how things started.

This is the final season of the storied SEC West, and Alabama will go into the Iron Bowl with the divisional championship already in hand. Alabama has won 15 SEC West titles in the 32 years that the conference has used a two-division system to determine who plays in the conference championship game. LSU is second in the West with seven division banners, and Saban won some of those, too.

No.8 Alabama (9-0, 7-1 SEC) is playing like one of the best teams in the country with two games left in the regular season. Name a better team out there that doesn’t use spies to steal signs from future opponents.

A lot still has to happen for Alabama to get an invite to the College Football Playoff, but if the Crimson Tide runs the table from here, and wins the SEC championship, then it’s going to be tough to keep Alabama out. Does all that mean Alabama is going to roll over Auburn? Not a chance. Alabama might be the most improved team in the SEC this season, all things considered, but Auburn isn’t far behind based off what we saw on Saturday against Arkansas.

This is going to be another crazy Iron Bowl, isn’t it? What better way to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Kick Six.

Milroe is officially Alabama’s new star after this one, and he’s on a tear that’s worthy of Heisman Trophy consideration despite that early season benching. I compared him to Tim Tebow last week, and then Milroe went out and accounted for six touchdowns against the Wildcats. For the record, Tebow never did that in his three victories as a starter against Kentucky.

“I didn’t put any expectations on this team,” Saban said. “They’ve sort of blown it out of the water how well they’ve done.”

Once again, Saban acknowledged how much fun he’s having during this ride. It shows in the demeanor of his quarterback. There should have been an immense amount of pressure on Milroe’s shoulders this season, and especially after he was benched.

Somehow sitting Milroe released the tension instead of creating more. Looking back, it was another brilliant piece of coaching by Saban and maybe his best yet. Sometimes it’s best to just shut up and listen.

Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama”, a book about togetherness, wild times and rum.