Nick Saban gives thoughtful response on why Will Reichard's career stands out

It hasn’t quite been the year Will Reichard envisioned at Alabama after some key missed field goals, but he etched his name into the history books last week against LSU. He’s now the Crimson Tide’s all-time points leader, and Nick Saban had some high praise for his kicker on Wednesday.

Reichard now has 388 career points, making 56 field goals and 220 extra point attempts during his time in Tuscaloosa. His game against LSU put him over the edge has he made four field goals and an extra point to pass kicker Leigh Tiffin for the top spot. Although he’s missed four field goals this year, Saban said Reichard is still one of the all-time great kickers in program history.

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“I think Will’s been great,” Saban said. “I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I know a couple seasons ago, he was perfect for the whole year in terms of field goals and extra points. … He’s done a really good job for us this year. I know he missed a couple, but they were long ones, they were tough ones. He’s been very, very consistent.

“He’s very consistent in practice, he’s very consistent in his routine, he’s got the right mindset to not get sort of rattled in situations and he’s very, very competitive. I absolutely just love the guy as a specialist. Sometimes, your specialists are a little different. He’s just phenomenal.”

Nick Saban rants about players not being able to shake off ‘oh shit’ moments, staying focused

Nick Saban shared a fiery rant about how practices don’t always translate to game day, using the phrase “oh shit” to great effect. The rare curse from the Alabama head coach appeared to light a fire in his speech while answering a fairly routine question during his weekly press conference.

Saban was asked if it was possible to tell from the week’s practices how his team would perform on the field when it matters, prompting one of Saban’s more memorable outbursts this season.

“No, I can’t tell,” Saban said. “You hope that when guys practice well, and I believe in this, that they will play better in the game. But there’s so many things that happen in the game, aight? That you have to be able to maintain your individual momentum to be able to play the next play and execute when your best is needed.

“I mean, when an ‘oh shit’ moment comes up in the game, you gotta be able to play the next play. Just like you gotta do the same thing in life. We all have issues and things that happen in our life, some we create and some we don’t create [that] we still have to deal with. But you gotta have the right mindset to be able to sustain the right energy level and regain momentum when those things happen.”