Nick Saban cracks joke at Alabama media members

Following his team’s big second half and win over Tennessee, Alabama head coach Nick Saban made a joke postgame at the expense of Alabama’s media teams. Saban was annoyed by a previous question about why a player was not playing on Saturday, and closed his press appearance by congratulating everybody on their ability to do a “roll call.”

Nick Saban makes joke about media

The final question Saban took during his postgame press conference was about the status of wide receiver Agiye Hall, as he did not play against Tennessee.

“You know, what we do with our players on our team is really kind of our business,” answered Saban, slightly upset at the question. “And we’re encouraging guys to do the right thing whether it’s personally [or] academically. We have protocols that when guys miss so many things they don’t get to play in a game. That’s always been a rule around here.

“I’m not gonna disclose and I don’t think it’s anybody’s business when we’re trying to get players to do the right thing. And we use playing time and opportunities in football to try to get them to do the right thing personally and academically. So that’s basically all I’ve got to say about that.”

With the final question of his appearance answered, Saban took a parting shot at the media members in attendance by making fun of their insistence on knowing the status of every player on the team.

“But you guys are really good about taking roll, I will say that. If you need any help let me know and I’ll take roll for you.”

Frustrating day for Saban

Saban had already dealt with plenty of frustration before the press conference, as he hammered his team for mistakes they had made during the first half during his halftime interview as they left the field. The Crimson Tide led Tennessee 21-14 at the half, despite several key mistakes that were a cause for frustration for their coach.

“Well we busted two coverages for two touchdowns. We had them stopped and gave them an opportunity by roughing the kicker when it was third down and about 30. Turned the ball over on the nine-yard line — so we’ve done a lot of shooting ourselves in the foot which we need to get fixed, because these guys are capable of moving the ball and scoring points,” Saban told ESPN’s Katie George when asked about Alabama’s misalignment in coverage.

In the third quarter his issues continued as team caused Saban’s frustration to reach a boiling point after his team committed a delay of game penalty on the first play of a drive. With his team taking the field after a kickoff that resulted in a touchback, Alabama had difficulty getting their first snap off.

Saban was caught by the broadcast camera crew going off on his team from the sideline, extremely upset at another mistake made by Alabama. Coupled with their first half mistakes, Saban was increasingly upset at what he felt was Alabama shooting themselves in the foot.