Nick Saban: 'If things were normal, we’d be playing USC today'

Alabama coach Nick Saban made an appearance with the SEC Network's Ryan McGee and Marty Smith on Saturday morning

The original schedule had Alabama vs. Southern California at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas today.

Instead, Nick Saban was getting ready for practice and did an interview with Ryan McGee and Marty Smith on the SEC Network while getting in his car to head to campus on Saturday morning. 

Saban again talked about his Kent State experience in regards to the 1970 shootings, and volunteered that he'll probably be one of the guinea pigs for the newly released Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie cereal.

It turns out that Saban drinks two-percent milk (to balance out the fat in the Little Debbies). 

Two subjects stood out, though: 

On how Alabama has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic:  

“I think the first thing is we were all concerned about player safety. I think we’ve learned a lot about this disease, how we can manage it, how we can actually test, social distance, do the things you need to do to stay safe. We learned a little bit about the fact that young people — for the most part — aren’t as great a risk unless they have some pre-existing condition. But the real issue is how contagious all this is. So, putting that all in some kind of context leaves you with, ‘OK, how do you manage a football team of 125 guys?’ It’s pretty easy for us to keep them safe when they’re with us, the things that we do in our building to manage them.

“But I think the biggest challenge is everybody having the discipline relative to their personal umbrella when they’re not together as a team, when they’re not in our building. I think that’s been the challenge, especially since school’s started with lots of students being around. But we’re rolling through it pretty well, and hopefully, we’ll be able to continue — it’s not normal camp, it’s not normal practice in terms of the days that you practice, the days that you have off.

“But we’re still making progress and hopefully — you don’t really know if the changes that you’re making, the adaptations, as you put it, that you’re making really will or won’t work because, basically, we have no experience with this kind of situation. So, you really hope that what you’re doing is going to help your players create value for themselves by playing well when the time comes. But nobody really knows that for sure.” 

On his "evolution through time as a leader:" 

“I never, ever really felt that I had to win at all costs. I always felt like I had to win early in my coaching career because, just like you and your profession or anyone else in theirs, everybody has to prove themselves at some point in time that you’re worthy, that you can do the job, that you can lead and get people to follow, that you can set a good example, be somebody that somebody wants to emulate. You’ve gotta kind of prove that. But I’ve never been of those win at all costs guys because to me if you want to win at all costs, you’re going to compromise your character to do it, and I don’t think that’s what athletics are all about.

“But I think that as time goes on you develop a greater and greater appreciation and respect for players, and you realize that, hey, this experience that these players are having is — we all have a responsibility and obligation to elevate their chances to be successful as people, as students, as players, their career development. All these things become the essence of why you should go to college and why you should have a program and a team. It’s not just about winning the games.

“Amazingly enough, when you do those things well, people see that the program that you have creates value for them and their future, which is really what most people want. Whether they know how to get it or not is another story, but that’s what they really want deep down inside. So, when you do that, I think you also enhance your chance of being successful. I think one thing leads to being helpful in all areas.” 

BamaCentral will post a practice report, including photos and video, after the Crimson Tide wraps up its third week of fall camp on Saturday afternoon.

To hear the full interview, check out: Marty Smith's America The Podcast