Alabama football head coach Nick Saban shouldn’t have to tell anyone about when it’s ‘Tua Time’. The backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not the main goal.
Does Saban have to get all Herman Edwards on everyone? Hello? You play to win the game!
During a recent press conference, Saban was asked about a number of personnel questions. Michael Casagrande of AL.com reported that “when it comes to how he’ll use backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, Saban said they hadn’t decided. ‘And I wouldn’t tell you if I did,’ he said. ‘So, I don’t mind you asking the question but I don’t need to answer it.'”
The tongue lashing continued:
"“But I will call Colorado State and tell them exactly what we want to do as soon as I get out of here […] I know Mike Bobo [CS head coach], his dad lives up by my house at the lake. So, I’ll just call him up and tell him who we’re playing, when, how long, when we’re putting them in, tell them the whole thing. Aight? Is that alright with you? So you can call him and find out.”"
Sometimes people need a good tongue lashing.
Too many times, Saban has been criticized for giving reporters a hard time. These reporters have jobs with the pressure to dig deep into the content and flesh out something worth reading every day, while competing with other reporters who are trying to do the same thing. Well, Saban’s job has just as much pressure, if not moreso.
Saban has multiple national championships, but the need for Alabama football to stay on top requires a ton of hours, effort, and sacrifice. From waking up early to running practices to having late post-practice press conferences, with lights in his face and microphones just drooling with anticipation to catch him saying the wrong thing, the last thing that Saban wants to do is worry about questions that make no sense.
No matter what anyone says about the Colorado State Rams football program, they are a team of young men who are not just going to roll over and play dead. Kyle Fredrickson of The Denver Post reported Bobo’s message to his team: “Who is the only team who gets to play the No. 1 team in the country this week? We do. We’re that football team. Let’s relish this opportunity, let’s prepare like we never have, let’s walk in there like we expect to play well because of our preparation and let’s go see what happens.”
Does that sound like a message from a defeated coach? It sounds more like Saban, himself when he first developed ‘The Process’ and defeated a program that was supposed to be superior to his, at least on paper, years ago.
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Saturday’s game is important for Alabama football so that they can remain undefeated and continue on their journey to another potential national championship. It isn’t some preseason game that doesn’t matter. So, why should Saban give any indication about how he will use his backup quarterback?
Tagovailoa through six completed passes in nine attempts for 64 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked once and seemed indecisive at times. Normal for a freshman, but it doesn’t sound like the 219-pound native of Hawaii is about to replace starting quarterback Jalen Hurts any time soon. At least, not unless Saban wants Hurts to have a break.
That’s up to Saban, though.
How is Saban supposed to answer that reporter’s question with any sincerity? He won’t know the answer to that until he sees how the game plays out. Also, why should Saban give any help to the opposition to know when they will have a chance to rush or blitz Alabama’s backup quarterback? It makes strategizing for the game that much harder if a head coach shoots himself in the foot by giving away his game plan to the other team.
The question is also disrespectful to the Rams. Getting Alabama’s head coach to talk about when they will take the proverbial foot off of the gas pedal gives the opposition bulliten-board material that Saban does not want to provide. The Rams defense would take it as motivation for a potential upset or, at least, giving everything they had to make Hurts have a rough day.
Why would Saban want to help the Rams up if everyone thinks that they are down?
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Saban’s response may be harsh, but what is he supposed to say? The Rams are big boys, they can handle preparing for the game without help from Saban. If anything, Saban’s words were necessary to a media that sometimes needs a timeout from their flippant behaviour. Like a parent consequenting his child, the medicine may not taste good but it is sure necessary.