Josh Chapman, Denzel Devall and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix were 'critical' during Alabama coaching change
"They bleed Crimson. They played a major role in what happened in those hours, days and weeks of transition took place and getting us through it."
🔗: (On3+)
Nick Saban was just asked what he will choose during the coin toss at LSU -- kick or receive?
Saban: "To be honest with you, I hope we elect to kick ass, is what I hope we do."
Nick Saban reiterates the players voted to not leave the team hotel.
"You're not gonna remember what you did on Tuesday night in Dallas three months from now, three weeks from now or three years from now. But you'll remember for the rest of your life what happens in the game."
Nick Saban in August: "There's only like one player that I was really like disappointed that the guy didn't stay here, and I couldn't understand why he was leaving."
Saban said Jalen Hurts wanted to transfer to Maryland or Miami, but Saban asked him: "'Who's got the best players on offense?' He said Oklahoma, and I said, 'That's where you need to go.' ... And hell, I told him to do it knowing that we might have to play against him."
Saban on the Italian show he and Miss Terry are currently watching: "We have to read the captions, whatever, the subtitles because it's in a foreign language. And Terry keeps saying, 'Turn it up. I can't hear it.' I mean, what are we doing here?"
Nick Saban: "I know our fans are disappointed, but I can promise you that our players are disappointed, and we're all very, very disappointed. It's my responsibility to get our team to do these things better, and that certainly will be the goal in the future."
Saban: "Bo Scarbrough was here today and he put his finger on the table and said, 'When we played here, we were making sure that the other team, when the game was over, would say we never wanna play them again.' ... That's the kind of culture that we want to recreate."
Nick Saban: "When we recruited DeVonta Smith, he weighed 159 pounds. I wished he was bigger. Now he weighs 170 pounds, and I think people at the next level are probably saying, 'I wish he was bigger.' But there are bigger people who don't perform anywhere near how he performs."
Saban: "I'd just as soon be the secondary coach as the head coach. It just doesn't pay as well. I can't afford Miss Terry on a secondary coach's salary."
Nick Saban, in an Instagram Live interview with Maria Taylor, said the one positive of the COVID-19 pandemic is he has an email now.
"They were sending them all to Miss Terry, aight. She fired me and said, 'I'm not dealing with your stuff anymore,' so I had to do it on my own."
Saban: "You guys gave us a lot of positive rat poison. The rat poison you usually give us is fatal. But the rat poison you put out there this week was yummy."
ESPN's Trey Wingo joked with Cleveland Browns coach and former Alabama QB Freddie Kitchens to not add too many LSU players or he might not be welcomed back in Tuscaloosa.
Kitchens: "If they would have played a little better in high school, they could have went to Alabama."
Saban: "We used to play better on the road around here than what we played at home because we had some hateful competitors on our team and when they played on the road, they were mad at 100,000 people, not just the 11 they were playing against."
DeVonta Smith: "To all the kids out there that's not the biggest, not the strongest, just keep pushing because I'm not the biggest, I've been doubted a lot just because of my size. Really, it just comes down to if you put your mind to it, you can do it. No job is too big."
Brian Robinson: "I wanna lay it all on the line for my team, for my school. With this being the last time suiting up for
#Alabama
, I just wanna leave no doubt that this university is truly in my heart and I love it. I'll do anything to just see us come out on top one last time."
Nick Saban: "I think our coaching staff did a marvelous job today. ... Sark did a nice job of managing things. I sat here and felt a little helpless. But I could yell at things and listen to Miss Terry cheer downstairs. It’s a little different, but it still feels good to win."
Saban on the viral video of Brian Kelly dancing with Danny Lewis on his visit to LSU: "I have not seen the video, but I like to dance, too. I like to line dance, do the Cupid Shuffle or whatever they call it."
#Alabama
LB Will Anderson on if he considers himself to be hateful on the field: "Yeah, I do. I tell people all the time that the audacity for the other team to even step on the field is disrespectful to me."
#Alabama
S Jared Mayden shared a great story of when Mac Jones was on scout team and "throwing bombs" to Tyrell Shavers.
Nick Saban: "Man, stop throwing it to him all the time."
Mac Jones: "Well, tell your defense to stop it."
#Alabama
RB Najee Harris on not being a Heisman finalist: "I'm not tripping at all, man. The two guys we've got in there right now is good enough. I play my play when my name is called. It really doesn't matter if I'm in the race or not."
Nick Saban on his first recruiting class at
#Alabama
: "I just remember the equipment guy walking out on the field when those guys came to the first practice.
"He looked at me and he said, "I ain't seen a bunch like that around here in a while.'"
Nick Saban on Mac Jones and DeVonta Smith: "For all the folks out there that have young people who are looking for somebody to emulate, these two guys have probably done it as well as anybody that I've ever had the opportunity to coach."
Kalen DeBoer: "Our goals? To win the SEC and a national championship. How are we going to do that? We're going to do that with class, with integrity and with academic excellence."
An active former Alabama player is guaranteed to win a Super Bowl ring.
Chiefs: Reggie Ragland, Gehrig Dieter
Patriots: Dont’a Hightower
Rams: Mark Barron
Saints: Mark Ingram
Saban on almost getting hit on an INT return today: "If they run into me, it's very similar to running into the goal post. It's not a good choice and decision for them."
Nick Saban: "Obviously, this is a very disappointing loss for us. I know the players are disappointed. But I think everybody needs to remember how they feel and not forget it."
In 2016, 4-star PRO QB Jake Fromm flipped his commitment from Alabama to Georgia.
5-star DUAL QB Tua Tagovailoa later committed to Alabama.
In 2019, 4-star PRO QB Carson Beck flipped his commitment from Alabama to Georgia.
5-star DUAL QB Bryce Young later committed to Alabama.
Saban to fans: "Terry and I and our family appreciate you more than you know, and thank you all for making this a very special opportunity for us. ... It's very special to be your coach, and I wish everybody out there a very happy, prosperous Thanksgiving."
Avery Johnson: "The crowd that I witnessed today -- this is not me blowing smoke ... The crowd I witnessed today in Tuscaloosa, Ala., for an Alabama basketball game, it was magical. I'm honored to be the coach and I'm honored to be a part of it."
Saban: "I think what I'll remember most is never had any issues at all, not any complaining at all. Everybody bought into what we asked them to do on a daily basis. ... This is just the most together, committed group I think we've ever had the opportunity to be associated with."
Saban: "I didn't want to score any more points when we had 59 (vs. Western Carolina). I didn't want to score any more when we had 52, aight, because those kids have pride and they have a mom and dad. You just don't feel good about humiliating somebody else."
Saban: "Hell, I'm a kid from West Virginia. I grew up in a coal-mining town and I pumped gas until I was a junior college, aight, at my dad's service station. So, I'm grateful to be here, to be the coach at Alabama, and I'm not taking this opportunity for granted."
Saban on ovation for Jalen Hurts on Saturday: "I don't think there's anybody on our team who deserves greater accolades and greater show of appreciation than Jalen because of what he's doing for our team in terms of staying here, being a part of the team, being a good teammate."
Saban said Tua Tagovailoa sat in on the defensive meeting today.
"He sat on the bus and could not believe all the stuff and all the adjustments that you've got to make and all the coverages, fronts and formations.
"He was like, 'Man, it's really complicated to play defense.'"
Saban on his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty vs. Duke: "Miss Terry made me run on the treadmill for 20 minutes. The leadership had a meeting and they wanted to implement some disciplinary action, but that got overruled."
Amari Cooper and Ryan Kelly are the eighth and ninth
#BamaBusts
to earn nods to the 2020 Pro Bowl.
They join...
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Derrick Henry
Dont’a Hightower
Marlon Humphrey
Mark Ingram
Eddie Jackson
Julio Jones
Nick Saban makes case for No. 6
#Alabama
to earn a playoff berth
"If we played these teams in question, would we be underdogs in the game or not? That should answer everybody's questions relative to who the best teams are at present."
#Alabama
QB Mac Jones on Landon Dickerson: "If Landon's gonna stay on the ground then you know something's wrong. He tried to get up, honestly, but our trainers were like, 'Stay down, stay down.' That guy would put his whole life on the line for Alabama football."
Nick Saban on his radio show: "When former players come back to me, it hurts my heart ... that anybody that's ever played here would think that anybody on this team is not playing to that culture and to that standard. That really breaks my heart because I'm responsible for that."
DeVonta Smith via Zoom: "The two main reasons I came back was to get my degree and to win another national championship. I've checked one box, and I'm just trying to check the other one now."
What a week for Will Anderson.
Monday: wins Nagurski Award
Wednesday: wins Lombardi Award
Thursday: wins Bednarik Award
Saturday: graduates from UA
Sunday: wins Lott IMPACT Trophy
Nick Saban: "Landon Dickerson had successful surgery. He'll obviously be out for this game.
"We're excited about the fact that he's gonna be OK in the future."
Nick Saban on being hired at
#Alabama
15 years ago today: "I'm 70 years old. I don't think I have any form of dementia or anything like that, but I don't really remember what happened 15 years ago.
"... There's been a lot of games, a lot of third downs since then."
Saban was asked if this season has been a test of his patience: "I don't have any patience, so anything that happens is a test of my patience -- including sitting in this chair right now (laughs)."
Najee Harris on if he deserves to be in the Heisman conversation after tonight: "I ain't worried about that. I feel like the two guys we've got up there right now are good enough."
Nick Saban: "I can't tell you how proud I am of the way our players kept competing in the game. Over, over and over, we came up with plays when we needed plays."
Saban: "One thing fans should understand is these guys are college players, and if they were in the locker room after the game and you saw these guys crying their eyes out because they lost the game ... when we don't have success, don't think you feel worse than we do."
Nick Saban: "I tell the guys when they come here -- 'Look to your right, look to your left. This may be the first time you've ever been in a situation or a room where the guy to your right and left is as good or better than you.'"
DeVonta Smith on winning the Heisman: "I kind of feel relieved just that it's over with now and I can just focus on this last game. But it feels great just to hear my name called to win this award."
Saban asked if anyone on the team reminds him of himself as a player at Kent State: "First of all, I wasn't good enough to play at Alabama. And if there's anybody on our team that reminds me of me, I hope they don't get to play because we might be in trouble."
#Alabama
QB Bryce Young said the first Heisman Trophy winner he remembers watching was Baylor QB Robert Griffin III in 2011.
"That makes me sound pretty young, probably."