Ex-Alabama football star saw 'changes' in Nick Saban last season
NFL Draft favorite and former Alabama football star Dallas Turner said that he wasn't that surprised by the decision of head coach Nick Saban to retire from college football after watching him in action during this past season with the team.
Ex-Crimson Tide edge rusher Dallas Turner recalled how Saban changed from the beginning to the end of his playing career in remarks made at the NFL Combine.
"From how he was my freshman to my junior year, I kind of seen a lot of changes and stuff like that. I wasn't surprised," Turner said.
"But how it went about, I was kind of surprised. He probably would crack a lot more jokes and stuff like that. It started to be more player-led.
"It was always since he's been there, but you could tell the players really had a lot of say and he was a lot more open to a lot more ideas and what the players had to say and stuff. But it was all good, though."
Turner noted that Saban "was still the same Coach Saban on the field, of course, but you could tell the slight changes."
Saban announced his retirement from Alabama on Jan. 10, days after the Crimson Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan in the College Football Playoff Rose Bowl semifinal game.
He won an NCAA-record seven national championships, including six with Alabama, helping re-define the game in the 21st century and establishing a run of dominance unlike any program in the sport's history.
"A lot of people think that you can coach college football forever, but you really can't," Turner said.
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