Nick Saban Shares Viral Message About Leadership, Responsibility

The Alabama head coach spoke about leadership and missed opportunities from young players in the national championship game against Georgia.

Alabama head coach Nick Saban spent time speaking to a group of high school coaches as part of the Alabama Football Coaches Association in January, and a few of the things he shared started becoming public on social media Thursday. 

In the first viral video, Saban shared the importance of friendship and leadership when it comes to accountability. He said that more than ever before, players are apprehensive about becoming leaders because they're so worried about what others think of them. 

Without mentioning anyone by name, Saban referred to former Alabama and Las Vegas Raider wide receiver Henry Ruggs III fatal DUI incident last November.

"If there was a player in Las Vegas, who was drinking at 3:00 in the morning with his buddies and his girlfriend, and somebody would’ve taken his keys away, it probably would’ve pissed him off," Saban said in the video. "It probably would’ve made him mad. Probably wouldn’t have thought very much of you for doing that. But would he be better off now, or is he better off where he was going 156 miles per hour running into someone and killing them? And he’s in jail. And he doesn’t have a career anymore. And he’s a good kid, and he never had one problem on our team at Alabama. 

"So what kind of friend were you? What kind of leader were you when you allowed the guy to do it? But nobody wants to do that because they’re afraid of what somebody’s going to think of them."

Saban also wanted to leave the high school coaches with a message to take back to their own teams, and he used Alabama's injury situation in the national championship rematch against Georgia as an example. The Crimson Tide was without multiple starting defensive backs, receiver John Metchie and then lost leading receiver Jameson Williams to an injury in the first half. 

"“We had the kind of team where we had a really good quarterback and we wanted to have skill guys that they couldn’t guard,” Saban said. “So we had two that were really, really good — Metchie and Jamo [Williams]. And they both got hurt, so now we were playing with guys that didn’t typically have to play at those positions."

Once again, Saban did not call anyone out by name, but referenced three players that got significant playing time in the national championship that had not during the regular season and consequently did not do what they needed to in practice throughout the season. 

"And this is a story you should take back to your team so players understand this," Saban told the coaches. "They’re frustrated with their circumstance because they’re not playing as much as they want to. They’re outcome oriented. They want to worry about how many balls they catch, or how much playing time they get, or whatever it is. So they don’t focus everyday on being a complete player at their position, and they don’t work in practice and prepare for the games because they say to themselves, ‘Why should I do this? I’m not going to play anyway.’

"So we had three guys—they all had a significant role in the national championship game. And not one of them— not one—could take advantage of the opportunity they had because they never ground through it. They never made themselves the best player they could be. And when they got the opportunity, they couldn’t do it."

After Williams went down, the young receivers that saw more playing time were Agiye Hall, Traeshon Holden and Ja'Corey Brooks. Cameron Latu finished as the game's leading receiver for the Crimson Tide with five catches for 102 yards, and fellow tight end Jahleel Billingsley was targeted four times for zero catches with a couple drops. 

Hall was targeted eight times and finished with two catches for 52 yards. Holden and Brooks each had six catches with eight targets for Holden and nine targets for Brooks. Hall only registered four catches on the season with half coming in the championship game. Holden and Brooks both became more regular presences in the Alabama receiver rotation late in the season with Brooks most notably having the game-tying catch in the Iron Bowl and another touchdown in the CFP semifinal against Cincinnati. 

Late in the game, missing his two favorite targets, quarterback Bryce Young and the Alabama offense struggled to get things going offensively. Young was sacked four times, and there were numerous times where he put the ball right in a receivers' hands for it to be dropped. 

"It’s a lesson for everybody," Saban said. "What comes first? Playing time? Or making sure that you’re ready to play and create value for yourself when you get the opportunity?”