Everything Nick Saban Said After Alabama Won the Iron Bowl

Saban joked about his injured face, shared his thoughts on Alabama's CFP chances and talked about the legacy of Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr.

Katie Windham | Nov 26, 2022

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Alabama Crimson Tide

The Alabama Crimson Tide won its third straight Iron Bowl.

Here's everything Alabama head coach Nick Saban had to say after the game, including an update on his injured face:

“Before you ask, you oughta see the other guy. You know, I took one of the hardest hits of the entire game, and unlike some of our players who had to go to the medical tent, like I always say, ‘they don’t make ‘em like they used to.’”

Opening Statement

“I was really proud of our team, this whole season actually. To win 10 games, to go through a rough patch when Bryce was hurt, now he’s healthy again which makes us a different type of team I think. It’s a great win to win in the Iron Bowl. For our players, it’s great that they won 10 games.

“But I think one of the things I’m most proud of is the fact that when everybody thought they were out of it and there was a lot of naysayers out there, that this team didn’t give up on themselves. They didn’t give up on each other. They kept fighting and won some tough games to finish the season. So I’m really proud of the fact that everyone hung in there, stayed together and continued to try and get better. And we’ve had a lot of injuries, a lot of guys miss some time, so it gave other people opportunities. But I’m really proud of the way we finished.

“I know I got asked about the playoffs out there, but unbeknownst to me, I didn’t know who won, who lost or anything else. It’s a great opportunity for our team to be considered. We lost two games on the road against two top-10 teams by four points, so we are a good football team and hopefully people will recognize that.”

Will you campaign for a CFP spot?

“Look, if I think it’ll help our team, I’ll certainly do that. I haven’t really thought about it at this point. My whole focus was win this game. That’s the best opportunity we had for anything good to happen to us. And to win the Iron Bowl is a significant accomplishment for our team and for our fans, which we certainly appreciate, and to win 10 games. So I haven’t really thought about any of those things beyond that, and I’m really proud of our players because I don’t think they were thinking of anything except that as well.”

What was behind the success of big passing plays?

“Well, we did a lot of quality control before this game to break every tendency that we had and get some different formations, different presentations of things that we did, different play action passes. It paid off for us. I think being able to run the ball a little bit effectively early kind of set up some of those things from a play action standpoint. Bryce played really well, and I thought the receivers played well. There were a couple balls we maybe could’ve caught. It was a tough interception down there at the end of the game. Could’ve iced the game right then, but all in all, I thought the offense did a really, really good job.

Legacy of Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr.

“Those two guys have been not only great players for the University of Alabama, they’ve been great leaders for our team. They’ve been great ambassadors for our university in the way they’ve represented themselves. And they’ve set a marvelous example for any upcoming young person who plays sports to emulate them in terms of how they go about what they do, the class and character they have. And I couldn’t be prouder of two guys in terms of what they’ve contributed, but also how they’ve represented our program and the university.”

How fulfilling is it to see Bryce persevere through injures

“I’ll tell you what, it was really an example of his grit, his determination, his character and his commitment to the team. Because, he wanted to play for the team even those weeks when he couldn’t throw much in practice. It might have hurt our development a little bit for the rest of the players on our team, but he still went out and played really, really well, prepared well. And I’m sure he played with a little pain at times, which shows what kind of mental toughness that he has. But the guy’s a great competitor. He has great grit. And I can’t say enough about what he’s done for our team this year.”

Keys for maintain focusing among doubters

“To be honest with you, I think that a lot of the naysayers, a lot of the people who were very negative about this team, a lot of the things that were written and said about this team really united the players. They would say things like, ‘This is all we have, but this is all we need,’ is the people in this room. We have some great fans. We had great fans, great stadium and a great atmosphere tonight, and we appreciate that. I appreciate that, and I know our players do as well. But people who are negative and naysayers, if you support the University of Alabama, you are hurting the university, you are hurting the program because it’s a reflection on our culture and how positive we are.

“This program was built on positive. It was built on 95,000 people coming to the spring game when we came here the first spring when we were here, and everybody wanted to be a part of that. It wasn’t built on naysayers. It wasn’t built on negative. It wasn’t built on expectations that if we don’t succeed at a certain level that there’s going to be a lot of criticism. And I think that actually brought this team together more than anything else. And they wanted to persevere and prove what they could do.”

Thoughts on defense’s performance, Auburn’s ability to run the ball

“I’ll tell you what, Auburn did a great job with the run game. They created some edges. Some of the plays they ran – when I was 10 years old, we ran the single-wing. You guys don’t even know what the single-wing is. But that was my first football (offense). I was the quarterback in the single-wing. But the quarterback doesn’t do anything in the single-wing except block. Some of the plays that they were running with the quarterback, I hadn’t seen them since Pop Warner (laughs). And they’re good plays, and they’re hard to defend. Their quarterback played an outstanding game from a run standpoint, and they executed.

“It’s like playing against Wildcat when the running back’s in the backfield and somebody’s gotta go cover the quarterback, except he’s a good enough quarterback to run. And then they created some Wildcat situations, as well. So they really attacked us on the edges and did a good job of cracking and blocking us on the edges. We practiced against some of that stuff. We didn’t execute it as well as we’d like at times, but they also created some advantages for themselves.”

What momentum did the offense build over the last few games that can carry over moving forward?

“I think that what we did on offense tonight was really, really good. We always wanna improve, we always wanna do better and I think we wanna continue to feature the players that we have in a very positive way and try to get as many players involved as possible. But we’ve had really good production the last two games, and hopefully, we can continue to build on that.”

How big were the two turnovers in first half?

“I think that’s what sort of gave us a lead is the two turnovers. We capitalized on those two things and the good field position on the onside kick really was three kind of opportunities that were created with good field position. We were able to capitalize on those, and I think that was the difference in the game. When we got ahead a little bit, they kept running it and we didn’t tackle very well, which is another issue. On that last run, we must have had five guys miss a tackle, so that’s something that we’re gonna have to do a better job of, as well. But I thought the turnovers were huge. Turnovers are always big, and they were certainly big tonight, especially early in the game for us to get a lead.”

How encouraging was the fan environment?

“It’s great. That’s what you need to have a program. That’s what you need for people to see the culture and the support and the passion that people have to want to have a successful program. I think it’s huge. I think when people are negative and critical, it makes people have questions about the culture of the program. And the culture of the program here is just as good as it’s always been, and the players compete just as well as they always have. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the culture here. We lost two games by four points. Nobody feels worse about that than me and the players, who made a tremendous commitment to win those games in tough places on the road. Nothing else I can say about it.”

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