Nick Saban's final Alabama football team shares what he meant to them
General

Nick Saban’s final Alabama football team shares what he meant to them

Posted on by admin

Nick Saban walked off Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl, his brow furrowed, flanked by security. Tears streamed down the faces of his players. The inconceivable future — one where Saban was no longer head coach of Alabama football — lingered a week away, a frightful thought tucked behind the devastation of an overtime Rose Bowl loss to Michigan.

During one of the final opportunities the 2023 Crimson Tide would be together, Saban decided to dedicate it to their success. He told them he was proud of them. Wrestling with expectations and a dour 1-1 start, Saban congratulated them for “one of the most amazing seasons” of growth in program history. Then, the six-time UA national champion got behind a microphone and said the same thing to the media.

“Well, I just think that I don’t look at it necessarily from winning and losing, you won the championship, you can’t win the championship,” Saban said on Jan. 1. “As a coach, you’re always trying to get your team to improve and be the best that they can be.

“That’s why I think for me as a coach, maybe not for everybody else, it’s one of the teams that I’ll always remember.”

Meanwhile, back in the locker room, players explained what Saban had meant to them, unaware they would be the last group Saban shepherded.

“Not growing up with a father, having someone like Coach Saban, you know, it’s just like little things. He always makes sure that we’re OK,” starting wide receiver Malik Benson, who later transferred to Flordia State, told AL.com. “He lets us come eat dinner at his house. I really appreciate that from him. I’m getting recruited and I’m talking to him he never lied.

“He’s a good dude and I can see why, Alabama, we have this legacy that we do because he takes, people might look at Coach Saban and think, ‘Oh, he’s rah-rah.’ They see him as one way but he’s just a loving and caring person. He cares about us more than just football players.”

Chris Braswell kept a towel over his head and his eyes lowered while officials presented Michigan with a trophy. His four-year college run concluded, but Braswell developed into a textbook case of a Saban maxim: Come to Alabama, build value for yourself and prosper.

A five-star prospect from Maryland, he sparingly played his first two years but worked into the rotation as a junior and had a breakout in 2023. Braswell is expected to be one of the top edge players selected in this April’s NFL Draft after producing eight sacks. But Saban never promised him an opportunity, just that he could earn it.

What did Saban mean to Braswell? “Everything,” he said. “He taught me how to be a better man overall a better person.”

Saban, quarterback Jalen Milroe and star freshman Caleb Downs, who entered the portal exactly one week after Saban’s departure, raced to the facility each morning to start either film review or workouts. It’s not a surprise that in 17 years of top-ranked recruiting classes, Saban found like-minded players dedicated to the grind. Generations can be linked from Julio Jones to Dont’a Hightower to Will Anderson Jr.

The consistency is key for Saban, part of the Alabama standard that new coach Kalen DeBoer is charged with maintaining. Cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry noticed Saban jogged “everywhere he goes.” Saban still stretched with the team at the start of every practice. Each game day, Saban guided the Tide out of the tunnel and onto the sideline.

“Coach Saban, he’s still in his youth a little bit. He jokes and stuff. His connection with us. I feel like he’s truly trying to connect with us, just being our team, listening to us more, just seeing what we feel like. He actually, like, listens. He tells us stuff, then he listens to what we want from him, what we want to see,” said senior running back Jase McClellan.

McClellan arrived in 2020 and said Saban has mellowed over the years. Stories of Saban’s juvenile humor have crept into public knowledge. Milroe — who grew alongside his teammates toward a Southeastern Conference Championship, rallying after Saban benched him in September — cited a “secret formula” that Saban operates under to explain how the 72-year-old kept going through over 200 wins.

“I mean, that’s the greatest coach of all time, you know what I’m saying? To come in play for a man like that, as a leader like that and has had that experience, it’s such a blessing having him in my life,” freshman left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who also entered the portal after Saban’s decision, said. “I can go talk to him, spit it up with him, you know what I’m saying? He’s not an absent coach. He’s in my life, talks to my family and is just such a well-rounded man.”

Added legendary kicker Will Reichard: “He’s definitely a mentor in this locker room. He’s meant the world to me … Being able to sit in every team meeting and learn, not just football lessons but life lessons, is something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”

Last month, multiple Tide players said this year’s team bonded more than past groups. It partially centered around Saban, who seemed to cherish victories, like when he jogged out toward the student section after Alabama beat Tennessee on Oct. 21. There’s a reason, as Terrion Arnold told The Next Round last week, Saban’s retirement “really does hurt.”

Nine players have opted for the transfer portal since Jan. 10 and more may follow. UA athletic director Greg Byrne said Saban has talked with the recent enrollees from the class of 2024 — who arrived in Tuscaloosa this winter thinking Saban would be around for at least one more year.

While Saban will still have an office in Bryant-Denny Stadium and DeBoer has already extended an open invitation to practice, on Jan. 18, four-star defensive back Jameer Grimsley became the first recent signee to enter and explore future options.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].