Bryce Young: Nick Saban praises Alabama quarterback after first scrimmage

Bryce Young and the Alabama football team held its first scrimmage in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The scrimmage was closed to the media, but Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban took to the podium afterwards to share his thoughts.

Saban isn’t one to hand out praise of individual players unless they are truly deserving. The Alabama head coach praised his sophomore quarterback just three weeks before the Tide take on Miami in the season opener.

“I was pleased with his performance,” Saban said when asked about Young. “I’m sure if you ask him, he’ll be the first one to say he’s looking forward to working to try to improve and improve the production overall in terms of our execution on offense, and that’s what’s gonna make us better.”

Saban noted that Young, who completed just 13 passes for 156 yards in limited playing time as a true freshman in 2020, will need the help of every Tide offensive player to thrive.

“At times today, I didn’t think you know maybe we did as good a job of that as we need to,” Saban said. “So all 11 guys, it’s the offensive line, it’s the receivers, it’s all 11 guys, so that he’ll have more opportunities. But I think when he had opportunities today, he did a really good job.”

Bryce Young making “ungodly” amounts through NIL

Alabama fans care most about a player’s production on the field, but last month, Saban made a point to mention his young quarterback’s success through NIL endorsements so far. While this is still a new, unprecedented realm for college athletes and coaches, Saban’s comments will only help the Crimson Tide on the recruiting trail.

“Our quarterback already has approached ungodly numbers,” Saban said of Bryce Young’s quick success when it comes to endorsements. “I’m not going to say what they are. He hasn’t been a starter. If I told you what he’s… it’s almost 7-figures. And it’s like the guy hasn’t even played yet. That’s because of our program.”

Young, going into his second year at the University of Alabama, was a phenom in his own right in high school. The Mater Dei alum finished with 13,250 passing yards, 152 passing touchdowns, 1,084 rushing yards and 26 more scores.

For now, it looks like the young Alabama signal-caller is thriving both on the field, and off of it.