Nick Saban Pleased with 'Positive Leadership' Among Players

It might be mid-August, but Saban is already pleased with the leadership that he's seen on display from his players both in practices as well as in the team's first scrimmage.

Last season, one of Nick Saban's biggest gripes with his Alabama football team was the sense of entitlement and lack of leadership.

Throughout 2021, Saban expressed his disappointment with his team on multiple occasions, including rants not just in press conferences but also on his weekly radio show, Hey Coach! It seemed that no matter how hard Saban tried with his 2021 to shift their attitude from 'the poor mes' to that of a role of leadership, the 2021 team dug its collective heels in and avoided the task at hand.

Certainly, there were players that answered Saban's call for leadership. Quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. are just two examples of leaders from last season, but with both players being sophomores it can be understandable if it was difficult for the young guns to lead the older, more experienced veterans on the team.

Anderson even admitted this past spring that leadership was a primary factor that last year's team was lacking. However, he also said something that signaled that the tides were turning heading into 2022.

“I think that’s something that we really lacked last year, just really good, strong leadership,” Anderson said back in early April. “I think the leadership group this year, so far, we’ve done a really good job of getting everybody to be bought in to the standard and everything that’s going on here."

Anderson's message in the spring served as what could only be called a sign of things to come. Throughout the spring and now through fall camp, Saban and his players have all echoed the same message: while 2021 might have not been the best season for Alabama football in terms of leadership, this year's team has learned from its mistakes and is not looking to repeat them.

The latest evidence of leadership progress came on Wednesday night during Saban's weekly press conference. When asked about the leadership of this year's team, Saban didn't shy away from the fact that he is pleased with what his players have demonstrated thus far in practice.

"I do think that we have some really positive leadership on this team," Saban said. "We have some really good leaders, but there're two parts of leadership: there's players who lead — and we have some really good players doing that — but there's also players that have to learn how to respond the leadership. That means they take ownership for doing what the leaders ask them to do, and that's something that everybody's got to make a decision and a commitment that they're willing to do to take ownership for doing that."

It's not often that Saban admits when his team has positive leadership, much less this early in fall camp. He was just as quick to mention that leadership comes in not just having players lead by example, but also comes in learning to follow said example. In both accounts, Saban seemed to express and emotion that he doesn't often display this early in season preparations: the subtle hint that he is pleased.

Saban went on, providing an example to prove his point.

"There's one thing to command things but there's another thing to take ownership for yourself so that you can buy into what people are asking you to do," Saban said. "You know, a really simple example I guess I would be considered a leader, but when I say 'Run to the next drill' and everybody continues to walk, am I being a bad leader or are they not responding to leadership? That's the question.

"Alright, so we have good leadership, but people have to learn to respond to it and take ownership for the standard, and the level of the leadership has an expectation for them to aspire to."

As is expected, Saban dropped another nugget of wisdom that people can apply not just to football, but to life in general. According to Saban, there are two types of leadership, with each being just as important as the last. The first type of leadership is the actual leaders — those that set the examples for others to follow. Young, Anderson, Will Ekiyor Jr. — all of those are players that would be examples of the first kind of leadership.

The second kind of leadership isn't touched on as much in everyday life, but is just as vital. That is the leadership of the follower. While one might not consider following a leader as an example of leadership, the act of following one's example and helping set the status quo for discipline and mentality is vitally important. Not only does it raise the team's cohesion as a whole, but it strengthens the leader's ability to lead effectively.

This 2022 team certainly has a long way to go in its preparations for the upcoming season, but the fact that Saban is happy with his team's leadership this early is a sign of good things to come for the Crimson Tide. That being said, don't be printing shirts with the number '19' on them just yet.

There will definitely be times in the coming weeks and months that Saban expresses his disappointment in his team. That is almost inevitability. Heck, if Saturday's second scrimmage doesn't go according to plan, we could hear Saban voice his frustration sooner rather than later. But with all of that being taken into consideration, the fact remains that since all the way back in the spring, leadership has been solid for the Crimson Tide.

And with leadership solidifying in the spring and a pleased Nick Saban in mid-August, only positives can come as a result.