Everything Nick Saban and Chris Klieman Said in their Final Sugar Bowl Week Press Conference

The coaches of Alabama and Kansas State fielded questions from reporters one final time ahead of Saturday's game.

NEW ORLEANS — Alabama head football coach Nick Saban is slated to meet with reporters for his final pregame press conference on Friday morning, with Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman scheduled to appear immediately following.

The Crimson Tide and the Wildcats will be facing each other in the 2022 Allstate Sugar Bowl on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN).

Keep refreshing the page for live updates throughout both coaches' press conferences. This story will be updated with a full transcript and video soon after its conclusion.

Live Updates

• Nick Saban is slated to speak at 8:30 a.m. CT. Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman will also speak at 8:50 a.m.

• Saban began his press conference by wishing everyone a 'Happy New Year'. He then expressed his gratitude to the Sugar Bowl and their hospitality this week.

• "I've been pleased with what our players have done in preparation for this game," Saban said.

• Saban said that he is pleased with both the attitude and preparation of his players.

• "Your circumstance doesn't really define who you are — it reveals who you are," Saban said about his players' approach to the Sugar Bowl despite not being in the CFP this season.

• "I think it speaks volumes of the character on your team who choose to play," Saban said about the Crimson Tide. Neither Alabama nor Kansas State had any players opt out of the Sugar Bowl.

• "The best way for players to create value for themselves is to play football."

• Saban said that he gave the players in the portal the opportunity to play in the Sugar Bowl, but none of them took the opportunity.

• "The transfer portal has created a real challenge for all of us in terms of managing rosters," Saban said.

• "I do think that it sends a very positive message," Saban said of leaders like Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. deciding not to opt out of the Sugar Bowl.

• Saban said that pound for pound, K-State running back Deuce Vaughn is one of the best players they will have faced.

• "I think roster management is difficult year-round," Saban said of the impact of Early Signing Day and the transfer portal.

• Saban thanked the media to conclude his press conference.

• Saban's press conference has ended. Klieman will be starting shortly after the two coaches have a photo opportunity with the Sugar Bowl trophy.

• Klieman opened his press conference remarking on how much purple he's seen when traveling around New Orleans.

• "I'm a big believer in football is football, and winning cultures are winning cultures," Klieman said.

• Klieman said he's never seen players that are more excited than his players are to play in the Sugar Bowl.

• Coming from NDSU to Kansas State, Klieman is a big fan of CFP expansion. At NDSU, Klieman says he team played an average of 15-16 games due to their playoff format.

• "We're ready to get this thing started," Klieman said.

• Klieman said that Alabama has "no apparent weaknesses."

• Klieman's press conference has concluded. Stay tuned for video and a full transcript from both coaches.

Transcript: Nick Saban - Sugar Bowl Preview

Opening Statement

COACH SABAN: First off, I would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year. Great time to have gratitude for the year we just had, and looking forward to the next year. And I would also like to thank all the people involved with the Sugar Bowl for the opportunity to play in a great, traditional bowl game and for the hospitality that they've offered our players.

I think games like this are about the players, and it certainly has been a great experience for our players to be a part of the Sugar Bowl in the city of New Orleans. So we appreciate that more than you know.

The players that we have here are sort of representative of our team and what our team is all about in terms of what we want to accomplish, what we want to do to help people be more successful in life, because of the character and attitude that they sort of develop as a college student to create value for their future.

I've been pleased with what our players have done in preparation for this game, as well as how they've represented the University of Alabama while here at this game. We have an opportunity to play a really, really good team.

Kansas State is probably playing as well as anybody in the country at the end of the season this year, winning the Big 12 title, as well as beating a playoff team to do it.

So this is going to be a tremendous challenge for our team, and something that I think if you're a great competitor, you always welcome the opportunity to play in big games against great teams. So preparation has been good and the attitude has been good for our players, so hopefully it will turn up on the field in the way we play.

Q. In your experience, what's the difference of teams that can close games and players that can make plays in big moments and those who don't?

COACH SABAN: I think that's kind of a tough question, because I think if you can stay focused on the moment — there was an old statement that I read once that Michael Jordan said: When I play at the end of a game, I never change. I just stay focused on what I have to do on that particular play and that particular moment, and I take advantage of the fact that other people change.

So saying all that to say this, some people have the ability to do that because they have the maturity as a competitor that allows them to stay focused on what they need to do in that moment. It's not the circumstance of the moment. It's how they respond and being able to stay focused in that moment to make plays.

Q. Just seeing the level of focus from you and the players, what has made this bowl game so enjoyable to prepare for?

COACH SABAN: Well, we've been in the playoffs so many times here in the last 10, 12 years. There's only been a few occasions where we have a circumstance where we haven't gotten in the playoffs. And I think it's more challenging when that's sort of a goal for what the players work for all year long and came up short to sort of recenter.

Your circumstance doesn't really define who you are. It kind of reveals who you are in terms of how do you respond to the challenge that we have and the circumstance that we're in.

So it's always a little more challenging, but I think that our players have had the right disposition and the right mindset about how they've approached it.

Q. You talked about being grateful, and gratitude for the year. You've been to the Sugar Bowl now a couple of times, and you talked about your players enjoying this moment. But for you personally, what's the satisfaction and the enjoyment that you get out of coming down here and enjoying this moment every single year?

COACH SABAN: Well, I think that the big thing for me is, not me personally in terms of how I enjoy it, but the fact that the players get a lot of positive self-gratification for having the opportunity. I think that's what bowl games are all about.

It's one of the great things about college football, is if you have a good season and you get rewarded by going to a first-class quality bowl game like the Sugar Bowl, that's a great experience for the players.

And I think my enjoyment comes from seeing them having the opportunity not only to play a great team, but also have some time to enjoy and have an experience that they have surrounding the bowl game.

Q. There's obviously been so much talk in the recent years in college football, seeing players opt out. You don't have any opt-outs, nor does Kansas State. How important is that thought and mentality for a team as an intangible? Where would you rank that?

COACH SABAN: Well, I think it speaks volumes of the character of the players on your team who choose to play, because they've been great leaders of the team. They've been great contributors. They've set a good example for their teammates. They care about their teammates.

They've been somebody that the players on the team can emulate by the example they set and how much they care to try to help them be successful for their benefit.

And I think it's a great example that the best way to create value for yourself as a player is to play football. A lot of people say, I'm getting ready for the NFL. What you're really saying is you're getting ready for the combine. A lot of things you do at the combine are irrelevant to what you do playing football.

And that's why some people get drafted in the sixth round, because maybe they didn't do such a good job at the combine, but there's some really significant things that they can do to play their position.

I use the example of Tom Brady, who didn't run fast at the combine, didn't jump high, didn't bench press a lot, didn't do all of the things that they measure at the combine, but he can play quarterback.

I think the way I try to approach it with our players is, the best thing you can do to create value for your future is to play really well against really good teams. And I think that's what our players have an opportunity to do. I'm very pleased that they chose to do this.

But I think we have a responsibility and an obligation to take out as much risk as possible in terms of how we ensure the players so they don't have to do it with a lot of concern.

Q. Do you think the 12-team playoff is the fix that the college game needs? And if so, why?

COACH SABAN: When you say fix, I don't know — what's broke? Let's talk about what's broke first, and that will determine whether a 12-team playoff fixes it. What's broke?

Q. A lot of players not playing.

COACH SABAN: Even though we didn't have any opt-outs, we have 10 guys that got in the transfer portal. I gave them all the opportunity to play in the game if they wanted to and they didn't. So I don't know if that's a good thing for player, not to have to stay committed to their team for the entire season.

So there's a lot of things in college football. I think that the transfer portal has created a real challenge for all of us in terms of how to manage rosters. Name, image, and likeness is something I think is great for the players, if we keep it in the concept of them being able to do that, and we start using it to get guys to come to certain schools based on how much money they can make.

I'm not sure that's the reason you go to college is to create value for your future. So that's going to trickle down into high schools, in terms of some guy is going to say I'm not going to play for my team in high school because I'm going to get this much money to go somewhere to go to college.

So I think those things are much greater issues that need at least some parameters. And I think that having the 12-team playoff — I said this when we went to a four-team playoff — it will minimize the importance of bowl games to some degree, and hopefully the bowl games will still be a part of the 12-team playoff to some degree.

I think from a fan perspective, there will be 20 teams people will be interested in towards the end of the season, because there will probably be that many teams that have an opportunity to get into the playoffs. And it seems from your standpoint, from a media standpoint — I don't mean this in a negative way. All the focus and all the emphasis is on the playoffs and who has the opportunity to win a national championship.

So how that gets implemented, I'm not sure. But I think from a fan perspective, that probably is a good thing. But I also think that fans relate to players, and if players don't have a commitment to a team, that's going to impact how fans relate to a team as well, I think.

So all these things are probably issues that need to be addressed in the future. I'm not sure what the solutions are, but I'm sure there's people in positions, whether it's conference commissioners or even the federal government, because some of these things have been created by laws and lawsuits. And there's a lot of good in them, but there's also some guidelines that we probably need to institute.

Q. Going back to the no opted out players, what message does it send to the younger players, even the recruiting class coming in, having players like [Will] Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young playing in this game?

COACH SABAN: I think it goes back to a simple question: Why did you come to Alabama? If you came to Alabama because you wanted to be the best you could be as a person, a student, and a player, which is what we try to promote in the program, then this is just another opportunity for you to have a chance to do that in a very competitive situation against a very good team.

But I do think it sends a very positive message to teammates when the leaders of the team — both guys are captains. One guy is the most inspirational player voted by his teammates. One is the most valuable player voted by his teammates.

That they choose to continue to be a part of the team and put the team first, I think it sends a significant message to all players on our team in terms of the kind of commitment that they have and the example that they set in a positive way for what you can accomplish and what you can do.

Q. You've seen many times that when it comes to recruiting, you've got certain parameters for size at each position and so forth. In light of that, when you watch tape of a running back like Deuce Vaughn, who's 5'6" and 175, do you find him fun to watch, even though film study is serious business?

COACH SABAN: I think pound for pound, he's probably one of the best players, greatest competitors, toughest guys.

So when we say we have parameters, that's all that it means. It doesn't mean that there's not an exception to every rule. You can say a cornerback needs to be 6-foot tall, but there are guys who are 5'10" and 5'9" who go to the Pro Bowl.

It's a parameter. It's not a killer. And there's a lot of things that you look at, whether it's what are the things you do well to play your position? What are the critical factors? What's the criteria? And the size, the speed part of it is just one part of that.

Character and intelligence and all those things are a big part of how you evaluate players. And there's no one that we play against all year long that has better competitive character than the guy you just mentioned.

Q. When they moved the early recruiting up, I'm sure they had good reasons for doing so. But it's become sort of the recruiting day now, the signing period. In terms of and in light of the transfer portal, how difficult has roster management become during that time of year?

COACH SABAN: Well, I think roster management is difficult year-round, because what's going to happen after this game? What's going to happen in the end of April? The players can basically change any of these windows.

How many do you know are going to do it or you think might do it? And how do you replace them? It's difficult year-round, not just now.

But when we started and said we're going to have an early signing period, many people said, including myself, that that would become the signing period or signing date, which it really kind of has. So there's only a few guys left out there that are going to make a decision in February.

So I don't think it's a bad thing. But we also had to move the whole recruiting calendar up because of that to have guys visiting in the summertime and more guys visit during the season.

So the normal time when people used to visit, December and January, is almost obsolete in terms of — we may have one player that's going to visit in January as of right now. I'm talking about high school players.

So it is what it is. You have to be able to adapt to all these things if you're going to continue to be successful. And that's what we've tried to do.

I would like to thank the media. I think you all do a fantastic job of giving our players a lot of positive self-gratification for the hard work that they do and reinforcing their positive performance.

And I know they appreciate it, but as a coach who always is interested in the players, I think what you do for them is outstanding, and we appreciate it. Thank you.

Transcript: Chris Klieman - Sugar Bowl Preview

Opening Statement

COACH KLIEMAN: Welcome and good morning to everyone. What a fast week it has been. We arrived on Monday, and it's hard to believe it's Friday already. But I want to thank the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Our players, coaches, support staff have just had a fantastic time, and the hospitality has been second to none. We can't thank you guys enough for all you've done for K-State.

I would like to thank the city of New Orleans for everything. It's been a great, great time here. Been able to see the city a little bit. I know our guys have had a great time with the different activities that you put together.

And then I want to thank Kansas State fan base. Boy, I see purple everywhere I go. I went a little bit away from the hotel last night with a bunch of family members to a dinner, and it was decked in purple. So it was a lot of fun to see.

With regard to our football team, it's pretty simple for us. It's discipline, commitment, toughness and to be selfless. Our four core values are why we're here, and that's pretty much how I can state it.

We've got a great group of seniors, a great group of leaders that believe in the power of ownership, of player ownership and the power of belief.

Not many people expected Kansas State to be in this position this year. And I knew we were on the right trajectory as a football program, but to make the leap that we've made this year, it's a credit to those kids, and it's a credit to their belief in one another, their belief in us as coaches, and them taking ownership in the program.

We had a really good season that was capped off with a phenomenal win over a College Football Playoff team in TCU. I think we're the only one that beat a CFP team in the Final Four with Kansas State. That's a credit to those players. They have great resolve. They have great toughness. And excited for them to have this opportunity.

I keep telling the guys, and they truly believe it. We didn't just fall into this. We've earned the right. We've earned the right as Big 12 Champions. We've earned the right to represent Kansas State, to represent our conference in the Sugar Bowl and excited.

We know the challenge at hand. We know we're going to play a terrific Alabama football team that doesn't really have any weaknesses. So we've got to play our best football. And I'm looking forward to our guys playing their best football come Saturday morning.

Q. Coach Klieman, before this, I was in Fargo, North Dakota, and I covered NDSU (North Dakota State University). And I know you were there from '14 to '18. So how do you think that transition being there at NDSU prepared you for a position like Kansas State and the success you endured there?

COACH KLIEMAN: You play football in January, you don't have a job there for starters. It's about a culture of championships. It was there before I arrived there, and it's continued since I left. And so it's about playing football and your best football in December and getting an opportunity to play in January.

So that obviously prepared a number of us staff members to come down here to Kansas State. I'm a big believer in football is football, and winning cultures are winning cultures, and they take time to formulate and develop. But you've got to have patience. You've got to have great resolve, and you've got to have the right kind of guys in your locker room.

Obviously, we've had that up north, and we've started that down south. It's always been a good culture here. Don't get me wrong. Coach [Bill] Snyder has had the greatest turnaround in college football history. We just did it a little bit different way, but as we continued to build on his legacy in what we did here. So I'm excited about where we're at and where we're at in the trajectory.

Q. Same kind of question, just about the shift in college football that we're seeing with a lot of guys leaving programs and not as much commitment and loyalty. What does it say that both of these teams in this bowl game, even though outside of the College Football Playoff, have no opt-outs. And how important is that to you?

COACH KLIEMAN: I look at Kansas State. I don't know what other programs are doing. I know it's out there. But you try to take care of your house, and you do that with honesty. You do that with trust. You do that with belief in them. And you do that with surrounding them with each other, not wanting to let each other down.

I'm a big believer in playing for the guy next to you. We have a number of kids that are going to have opportunities to play at the next level, but we haven't had a kid on our football team that's had an opportunity to play in the Sugar Bowl, and to play in a New Year's Six game.

That's really special. And the kids that you all know, that I all know are the difference-maker guys for us. Never seen those kids more excited about playing a football game.

They weren't going to let their teammates down, and it was never even a conversation that we even had to have. I never asked anybody, are you going to play in this game? You're at Kansas State playing for your brother, and you're going to play and they know that.

Q. Coach, if there were a 12-team playoff, you would be in it. Are you a fan of the playoff? What do you think it will do for college football?

COACH KLIEMAN: I came from a playoff system. At North Dakota State, we played 15, 16 games every year and never had a break. You were round to round to round, and then you finally got a couple of weeks before you played the national championship.

So I think it will create unbelievable excitement for college football. I know from the revenue stream, that's going to help out as well a lot of schools.

But I think 12 is a good number to start with. I bet it goes to 16. I don't know if it will go in my lifetime, but it will probably continue just because of the excitement that it's going to bring. I think it's great for college football.

Q. It's been almost a month since you guys played in that Big 12 championship. How are you guys kind of managing staying focused with all the excitement around this game? And are you ready to stop talking about it and go play the game?

COACH KLIEMAN: Without a doubt. We want our kids to be where their feet are and enjoy this. I mean, when we came down here on Monday, there was a lot of activities. And those kids deserve this, to enjoy it and go to some great, great restaurants and eat phenomenal food and get around the city and be in the Caesars Superdome. I mean, all neat things. We talk all the time, be where your feet are. Enjoy this.

Once we got to practice yesterday, I think the kids could sense that we were about 48 hours away. Today is a really good day for us. We get a chance to just lock our own guys in, absolutely. We're ready to get this thing started.

Q. Two years that you got here, both on and off the field, how impactful has Kade Warner been for this program?

COACH KLIEMAN: Kade is as good a leader as I've been around in this game for a long, long time. Kade makes everybody around him better, and that's the thing I'm most excited about when I think of Kade Warner as a terrific football player.

But he holds people accountable to the standard that we all expect, and he holds himself accountable to that standard. And he's a guy that's going to do it and show everybody, and then bring them along.

And that's a sign of what we call a servant leader. You make everyone around you better. And we're a better football team. We're a better football program in the last couple of years because of Kade Warner.

Q. Talk about the preparations week of how you've actually been preparing your team going forward with that big matchup on Saturday.

COACH KLIEMAN: We gave our guys Christmas off. Our last practice was Wednesday, then gave them four days off to get around, be home with family, then we reconvened on Monday. It was good. It was a normal week with a game on Saturday.

So for us, it's been our normal preparation, as far as what we would do on Monday to our padded days on Tuesday and Wednesday, back to more of a scripting day on Thursday.

So routine is really big for college football kids, and I think our guys appreciated the fact that we had a normal routine this week.

Q. K-State has never played Alabama in football. How excited is your team to play the Crimson Tide and possibly beat one of the best teams in college football in the last decade?

COACH KLIEMAN: Our guys know all about the tradition of excellence that Alabama football is. And they know the task at hand. They're excited that we get to play one of the best programs in the history of the game. And over the last few decades that Coach [Nick] Saban has been there, they've been the gold standard for college football.

So our guys know that. There's a lot of things you don't need to talk about, whether it was who we play in our conference on a week-to-week basis and the rivalries we have there, to what we're going to face here in the Sugar Bowl. And I know our kids are really excited about that.

And we've got to take care of K-State. I know that Alabama is going to be ready to play and have a good football team, good players. But it's more about us and making sure that we don't have silly errors and play a clean game.

Q. With this being some veteran players' last game, how does it feel that they've been able to now reach the point to where they're finishing their college career playing in the Sugar Bowl?

COACH KLIEMAN: I think it's the pinnacle for most of our players that are leaving. Whether or not they're going to go on and play at the next level, we have a lot of guys that are going to have that opportunity. Even some of the guys that I know are maybe going and continuing on with their master's degree, have a job, whatever it may be.

The journey that these kids have been on with us and our staff over the last four years, this is pretty rewarding. And we had a good season in '19, my first year here, as we started to implement some things. And then we got ravaged, like everybody else did, in the COVID year. We had to reset some things in January of 2021.

We had a phenomenal senior class in 2021 that were able to kickstart this thing going in the right direction. And then it just kind of continued on.

Once we won the bowl game last year, the [TaxAct] Texas Bowl in early January, our guys have been working a whole year for this. And those guys that knew this was their last go-around, so excited that they were able to, for starters, cap it off with a Big 12 championship.

That's our ultimate goal every year is to win the Big 12 championship. A lot of people doubted that those kids could do that, and they did that. So they're going to reap the rewards of playing in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Q. We had a chance to talk to Josh Hayes a little bit earlier this week, and he obviously has played in the national championship. You've coached the national championships. And he said that the preparation for this week almost feels a little bit bigger than that. Does it feel that big to you? What has that been like throughout the locker room?

COACH KLIEMAN: Well, it's great to have guys like Josh that have championship pedigree. And it's come full circle for me with Josh in the fact that I sat in his home in Lake Gibson, Florida, and recruited that kid to go to North Dakota State. The kid started as a true freshman in the national championship game, played really well.

And then five years later, I'm sitting in his home last January, visiting with the same kid, same parents, about coming to Kansas State and how he could have an impact here. So there's a guy that really appreciates being where your feet are, getting your opportunity to play in a game like this.

I'm excited for Josh, as well as everybody else, to have that great opportunity on Saturday.

Q. Coach, in your opening statement, you talked about how Alabama has no glaring weaknesses. One of their biggest strengths is obviously Bryce Young. When you watch him on film, what areas of his game are the most impressive to you?

COACH KLIEMAN: Their front seven on defense and their offensive line on offense. That's where the game is won. Everybody's got skill kids. We've got good skill kids. They've got good skill kids. Schematics and stuff are good.

But the game is won in the trenches. The game is won up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And their front seven is really, really talented. And their offensive line comes off the football physical.

I hope that's a strength for us as well. We believe it is. You win the Big 12, you better be good up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage. We've been exceptional up front. So it will be a big challenge for guys on the offensive and defensive lines.

Q. Will Howard strikes me as a guy who's maybe gone through more extreme lows and highs than most Kansas State players have during their careers. Now that you look back on his arc, how mentally do you think he handled his journey?

COACH KLIEMAN: Phenomenal. And Will Howard is ready for this stage. I can't wait to watch him cut it loose tomorrow. And one of the best things that happened to Will Howard was Adrian Martinez. Adrian's journey was difficult as well, and he ended up coming to K-State.

And both of those two quarterbacks have helped us win that championship, and they leaned on each other quite a bit. They've become really, really good friends, and excited to see both of those guys on this big stage.