Nick Saban explains the one thing that will 'get your butt chewed out' as an Alabama player

Nick Saban was a defensive back when he played at Kent State in the 1970s. So the longtime Alabama head coach understands as well as any of his players how tough playing in the secondary can be, especially considering that, at some point, you will get beat. On the “Hey Coach with Nick Saban” radio show this week, he was asked about the mindset of his defensive backs and how he coaches them not to get too down after a rough play.

Saban responded by laying out the simple fact that every defensive back eventually gets beat. So it’s really about how you respond to that inevitable failure.

“Well, I basically tell them all: ‘look guys, there’s nobody that’s ever played this position that hadn’t gotten beat. Everybody gets beat playing in the secondary. The best guys just get beat a lesser amount, aight. But the critical factor is … how are you going to play the next play? You can’t get affected at any position in any sport on what happened on the last play. Can’t do anything about the last play. All you can do is learn what you did and try to do it better on the next play.'”

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

Saban then moved in another direction, revealing an interesting pet peeve when it comes to his defensive backs.

“I won’t let our guys hand clap. Everybody knows what I mean by hand clap. Guy messes up and goes like ‘ah, I messed up'” Saban said as he clapped his hands together in faux disappointment. “You’re telling the other team you messed up. So how’s that helping you play better? I will not let our defensive backs hand clap. Did you see anybody hand clap today? No, no, no. If you want to get your butt chewed out, that’s a good way to do it. Hand clapping like you messed up. You’re telling the other team you messed up. How’s that helping you play better?”

Saban obviously gets pretty animated when he sees one of his players effectively admitting defeat by clapping their hands after a bad play.

“But the No. 1 thing defensive backs gotta be able to do — they gotta have resiliency, so they can play the next play,” Saban continued. “I don’t care if you missed a tackle. I don’t care if they give up a pass, aight. What can I do better on the next play? Because the multiples of bad plays are what make the good players and the bad players. And how consistently can you play. You will get beat at some point in time, and you gotta be able to play the next play.”

Saban’s message to the secondary after a bad play: Forget it, drive on. You can’t let one mistake spiral into several more.