Thursday night was Nick Saban’s best radio show of the 2021 season. The soon-to-be 70-year old blew out candles on a large, complete with a football, birthday cake. The actual date is Oct. 31 but with Alabama Football off next weekend, there will be no Thursday night Hey Coach show.
As always a full viewing of the show is worth the time. A video of the Saban segment is provided below.
The most social media buzz Thursday night was about Nick Saban, again using the s__t through a tin horn reference he is famous for. The outhouse reference is always used to describe an offense running unimpeded through a helpless defense.
The latest use was to describe what happened many years ago, to his Cleveland Browns defense against Dan Marino. As Saban recounted it,
"We played great all night on defense … We’re ahead in the game, 17-14. They get the ball back with 1:21 to go in the game, and I got all of our guys huddled up on the sidelines and we’re gonna play 8-pack (seven defensive backs) …Marino trots on the field, looks me right in the eye and looks everybody on our defense right in the eye like, ‘I’ve got this, and there’s nothing you can do. I don’t care what you do.’ That was the feeling … they went through us like s__t through a tin horn, and went right down the field and scored and we lost the game."
Nick Saban had many other things to say Thursday night. None were as colorful as the Marino and tin horn story. Another statement from Saban should not go unnoticed. In fact, it is probably the most noteworthy comment he has made about a player in quite a long time.
Taking about Will Anderson Jr., Saban said,
"Will has been a really good player for us all year. And he’s not just a good player on game day. This guy’s got some of the best character, one of the best people we’ve ever had on our team. He’s got really good leadership qualities. He’s a hard worker. He sets a good example every day. He tries to do everything right. And he doesn’t ever worry about the wrong stuff. He’s always in the moment, always trying to improve, play the next play, takes coaching well. He’s really about as fine a person as we’ve ever had on our team."
High Praise from Nick Saban
In the past Minkah Fitzpatrick, Dalvin Tomlinson, Tua Tagovailoa, and a few others received such glowing praise from the man more inclined to understate than overstate. It is hard to remember any past comment made by Saban about any player, that was filled with such lavish, but clearly sincere praise.
Will Anderson Jr. is the kind of person that makes those around him better. He is the kind of person that leads by example and shows others the path to success. Championship teams often thrive because of such players.
One more surprise Thursday night was Saban talking about scripted plays. Not a surprise the Crimson Tide uses the approach, but that according to Saban there are 20 plays scripted to use against Tennessee.
Nick Saban is adept at telling during the week, whether or not his team will be prepared to play well. Thursday night he said the team had a good week of preparation.