Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide went 14-1 last season and only lost that one game in the National Championship Game against Clemson. But based on the way Nick Saban is talking about last season, you’d think the Crimson Tide had been a dumpster fire.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday during SEC Media Days, Saban made comments that should scare the heck out of opposing teams this coming season.
He began by saying there were “a lot of distractions at the end of the year” while mentioning he thinks players may have been more concerned with individual success than the team, per Saturday Down South.
Saban continued with that line of reasoning, saying, “I think the most important thing for us is to re-establish the standard that we’re used to … It has to be about the team.”
It’s worth pointing out, again, that ‘Bama went 14-1, and that Tua Tagovailoa was the Heisman Trophy runner-up despite playing on a bum leg for much of the final portion of the season.
Saban comes from the same school that forged Bill Belichick. Nothing is ever good enough. He’s been to four straight national title games, winning two of them, yet you’d think Alabama had missed a bowl game altogether the way Saban is talking.
The Crimson Tide will be playing with their hair on fire this year, because Saban is clearly on fire himself. He’s a legend for a reason, and somehow he’s conjured a way to put a chip on his team’s shoulder despite all the success the program has had in recent years.
That’s bad news for the rest of college football.