Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban makes honest admission about coaching in big games that will come as a surprise
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is arguably the greatest college football coach of all time. During Saban's illustrious career, he won seven national championships and 11 SEC championships (he also won a MAC Championship during his lone season as the head coach at Toledo in 1990). Saban always coached at an elite […]
Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is arguably the greatest college football coach of all time.
During Saban's illustrious career, he won seven national championships and 11 SEC championships (he also won a MAC Championship during his lone season as the head coach at Toledo in 1990).
Saban always coached at an elite level and he was at his best in big games.
That's why it came as a bit of surprise on Monday to hear Saban admit that he was nervous and anxious going into games.
"I think I had nerves going into every game," said Saban during The Pat McAfee Show on Monday while previewing the College Football Playoff championship game. "And sometimes I was more nervous about the games that we were supposed to win — like when you're a big favorite, but you're playing a pretty good team and you know your team's probably not looking at the game like you need to. But I think to ignore anxiety — I think all players and all coaches have anxiety when you go into games like this.
"And I always thought as a coach, the most important thing I needed to do was manage that anxiety, because that anxiety was not going to help you perform well. And to keep things simple…do your job, dominate your box, don't worry about the scoreboard. All those kinds of things kind of minimize anxiety. Because everybody wants to win. Can we focus on doing the things that we need to do to win? That was what I always tried to promote to the players. And I didn't want to make them think that I was anxious, because if they saw me nervous and anxious, then that means I don't believe in them."
Saban noted that he'd often do some stretching and yoga to stay relaxed before games.
It's a bit of a surprise to hear that admission from Saban — mostly because he never ever gave off even the slightest hint that he was "nervous" before a big game (or any game for that matter).
But hey, that's the human element that we often forget about. Despite the long list of impressive accomplishments during his career, Saban isn't a robot.
The one time Nick Saban couldn't prevent his team from being anxious
There was one notable time during Saban's career at Alabama where he wasn't able to prevent his team from being anxious before a big game.
After Alabama lost to the Tennessee Vols in Knoxville in 2022, Crimson Tide edge rusher Will Anderson admitted that the team had some anxiety before the game.
Saban recognized that his team was "tight" right before the game, but it was too late to ease the nerves by then.
"We were tight, especially starting the game," said Saban after the loss to Tennessee in 2022. "Coming out of the locker room our players always chant, they weren't chanting, I said 'why aren't you guys chanting, what's up with that'."
There weren't many instances like that during the Saban era. In fact, that might have been the only time that Alabama wasn't able to shake the nerves before a big game.
