Nick Saban's Record Regarding Rule Changes Has Been Remarkably Consistent: All Things CW

Over the years, the Alabama coach has been regularly criticized for his public stances for what he hoped for college football, but it never deterred him from saying what he thought was best for the players.

The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh appears in five parts each week, with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is ...

Take 3

Over the past few days you've probably seen some of Nick Saban's comments about his concern over the state of college football and various rule changes being considered in an exclusive Sports Illustrated interview with Ross Dellenger.  

His questioning Alabama football potentially getting Auburn, LSU and Tennessee as the Crimson Tide's permanent three opponents in the Southeastern Conference's nine-game schedule format drew a lot of attention. 

His also weighing in on NIL, player safety and NCAA rules changes, did not, or at least not as much.  

Over the years, Saban has changed his mind on a few things due to the altering landscape in collegiate athletics, including expanding the College Football Playoff. It's not that he was ever against it, but the coach was concerned about player safety with the sport adding more potential games. 

What's changing is the reaction by everyone else to Saban's suggestions. 

Granted, some are claiming Saban is grousing over the potentially brutal scheduling trifecta, because they're going to complain over anything he says regardless. Moreover, scheduling inequity has been part of the SEC as long as anyone can remember (although it does seem kind of ridiculous that the two programs geographically closest wouldn't play each other in the proposed format).

Haters are going to hate.  That and with Oklahoma and Texas in the mix, every team is going have a pretty vicious-looking schedule.  

But overall, Saban's been very consistent about his concerns and what he speaks up about. Like when the two-team BCS morphed into the College Football Playoff, the first thing he said was it might crush the bowl structure.

It's especially true regarding player safety.  

Go back to 2014. Saban was among those who lobbied for players to get stipends, and an early signing date but not in late December when it would overlap the ongoing season. Think the NCAA would like to go back and rethink either of those changes? 

Saban was also asked for his opinion by the NCAA Football Rules Committee when it was considering of a 10-second defensive substitution proposal.

There was outrage, and it was led by coaches of hurry-up offenses, many of whom otherwise couldn't compete at a high level, and claimed that Saban was trying to ban no-huddle schemes. 

He wasn't. Here's what Saban said:  

"I personally think it is a player safety issue. We are the only game that the college game is longer than the pro game. An NBA game is longer than a college basketball game.

"In the NFL, the lowest team averages 59 plays, the highest team in the 70s—75, 72, I don't know what it is for sure. And in college, the lowest team is, like, 62 plays a game, and the highest team is 90. Not only are there more plays in college, there is a greater deviation in the plays."

[A quick note, last season Alabama averaged 70 plays per game against FBS opponents, which ranked 67th in the nation. Texas Tech was first at 89.2. Ole Miss led all SEC schools at 78.8.]

"So how do you prepare the player to play the different kind of games he's going to play in, and what does that do to him in practice, and what is the cumulative effect of that?

"In the NFL, all the official does is stand over the ball until the officials are ready to call the game. That's all they do.

"I'm saying all that to say this: The reason they came up with the 10-second rule, which I had nothing to do with, was the fact they used to stand over the ball for 10 to 12 seconds when we had a 25-second clock before they chopped the clock to start the 25-second clock. So they figured why not do the same thing with the 40-second clock. And when they actually studied the no-huddle teams, they only snap the ball an average of four times a game inside of 10 seconds. So you're not really affecting how they play.

"But what keeps you from ever being able to take a defensive player out—whether he's hurt, pre-existing condition, whatever it is—is the fact that they might snap the ball. So you can't do anything. You can call time out to get a guy out. If you tell a guy to get down, it's really against the rules, and they boo him out of the park.

"So for all of you out there who know what I'm thinking and the fact that I'm trying to create an advantage for the defense, I'm not trying to create an advantage for the defense. I don't think we even need an advantage. Why do we need an advantage? If you look at the statistics, we've been playing better than most.

"But it is an advantage to go fast, and I can understand exactly why coaches who go fast want to do it. It's an advantage. There's no question."

The 10-second proposal ended up being put in a drawer and forgotten. The ridiculous excuse given was that there was a lack of evidence that more plays led to more injuries and concussions.  

Saban was left doing the only thing he could, change Alabama's offense to benefit from the rules like everyone else, and the Crimson Tide went on to win more championships. 

Now, here we are again, and Saban saying almost the exact same things due to college football looking to shorten games games, allegedly in the name of player safety.

We've been here before.  

In 2006, when Saban was still with the Miami Dolphins, college football adopted rule changes to do the exact same thing. For one season it started the game clock on the spot after change of possession and when the ball was kicked on kickoffs, reducing the average game by about 15 minutes. 

However, everyone hated the changes and they were quickly repealed. 

This time, college football will prohibit consecutive timeouts, have no untimed downs at the end of the first and third quarter after a defensive penalty, and continue to run the clock after a first down. 

Saban's a bit of a traditionalist, yet he's pretty much fine with all that. However, if player safety is the real concern (and let's be honest, this is totally being driven by TV) then there's a much better way to meet that goal and bring the college game more in line with the pro version, by allowing defenses a chance to substitute. 

“When a team can snap the ball within seven seconds of the clock, is that really good for player safety?” he says. “I’m just asking the question.”

He's probably going to keep asking it until more people listen. 

See Also:

Take 1: March Madness May Give Alabama a Chance to Vanquish Its Biggest Ghost

Take 2: Lasting Impressions of Alabama Players at the NFL Combine