Nick Saban: "This is about the Players"

The Alabama football coach approves of the executive orders put into place by Tuscaloosa to combat the spread of COVID-19

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Following the first day of practice in full pads, Alabama football coach Nick Saban commented during a press conference via Zoom on both decisions made by Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox regarding COVID-19 as well as the importance of college football.

Earlier on Monday Maddox, in partnership with the University of Alabama, announced two executive orders that shut down bars in Tuscaloosa for two weeks as well as eliminating bar service at restaurants as well for the same period. The move was made in order to combat the spread of the coronavirus which has seen a spike in Tuscaloosa since the return of students.

Right out of the gate, Saban discussed the mayor's orders in his opening statement.

“I know you’re probably going to ask me about what the mayor did today and — look, this stuff is about people,” Saban said. “People are affected in a lot of ways. It’s not just about football. So for people to make the right choices and decisions to wear their mask, to do the things when they’re out in public they respect the rules, respect the virus, that’s important. When people don’t do that then I guess there’s consequences and those people that make those decisions certainly know more about it than me.

"I feel bad for the business owners and the people who are affected by this in a negative way, not the people who really don’t have the personal discipline to do things the way they’re supposed to do it.”

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The move by Maddox has met much resistance from the local Tuscaloosa community but has seen the approval by not only Saban but Alabama governor Kay Ivey as well.

While no players have been revealed to have tested positive with the virus since fall camp began, Saban emphasized that the team and his staff are doing everything that they can to reduce the spread of the virus.

"This all comes down to everyone's personal discipline to sort of manage their bubble," Saban said. "We don’t have a lot of issues when the players are here. We all wear a mask, practice social distancing, they stay separated in meetings, we keep ‘em arm’s-length apart on the field as much as possible. It’s ‘Okay, when you leave here what kind of decisions do you make in your own personal bubble?’ Because that probably is the biggest challenge for us and that comes to everybody’s personal discipline to make the kind of choices and decisions [so] that they won’t have issues because they think that this is everyone’s personal choice.”

Despite the current pandemic still being an ongoing issue in the United State for the foreseeable future, the SEC, ACC and Big 12 conferences continue to march forward towards a 2020 college football season. However, with cases spiking in small college towns across the country, the likelihood of a full season being played has begun seem like a skeptical undertaking.

Football, however, is vitally important to many communities across the country. While economics play a large part in providing income to small businesses and the hospitality industry, many communities use football as a means to bring the people together.

Saban ended his Monday press conference with discussing why football is so important to people across the country who want to see a season despite the risks associated with it.

"I don’t think we have 101,000 people coming to the games if it wasn’t important to them," Saban said. "A lot of people have a lot of pride in their institution all over the Southeastern Conference and all over the country. People love football in the southeast I think whether it’s high school football — that can be the social center of the community."

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Saban then proceeded to speak from personal experience.

"I know that sports tied our town together when I was growing up in Monongah, West Virginia," Saban said. "The last guy turned the lights out because everybody went to the game. Everybody to the football game on Friday night. Everybody went to the basketball games. They closed the pool room. They closed Nep’s where we used to play pinball and they played cards all night. So they closed all those places because everybody went to the game. So why is that so important to people? They love sports. 

"People identify with competition. A lot of the principles and values that make you a good player in sports, whether it’s pride in performance, personal discipline, your ability to sustain effort and toughness and persevere and overcome adversity. It’s been a part of our society since back in the Greek days. That’s why it’s important."

However, Saban reiterated that while football is important to many, public safety is just as if not more important.

"Now, is it more important than public safety?," Saban said. "No, I don’t think so. Is there a way that we can do that and keep people safe? I think a lot of people are trying to do that, and if we can do that I think we can play. If we can’t do that then I think someone will make the decision that maybe we shouldn’t play. But I don’t think that we should not try. I really appreciate the fact that we have a lot of people out there working hard."

With so much at stake regarding the local economy and other consequences of the coronavirus continuing to impact the Tuscaloosa area, it can sometimes be difficult to consider football an important subject during the global pandemic. Many have called into question the season, insisting that the entire reason that the season is still scheduled to take place is because of greed by programs and their coaches.

However, Saban emphasized that his desire to play the game is centered on his team.

"This is about the players," Saban said. "Everybody acts like we want to play for the money. We want to play for the players. I want to play for the players. We have a lot of guys on our team that can create a lot of value for themselves by playing this season. And we can create a lot of value and these guys have worked really hard to try to create and accomplish something as a team. All those things, to me, are important to the players. And I want to play for the players. I know it’s important to the fans. I love our fans. I love the way they support our team. They’re a part of our team.

"We want them to continue to be a part of our team in whatever way they can, but this is really about providing an opportunity to the players if we can do it in a safe way."