WATCH: Nick Saban reveals true reason behind Alabama national championship loss
When Alabama lost the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship to Georgia 33-18, of course it was a tough pill for Nick Saban and company to swallow. Today, he gave a speech to the Alabama Football Coaches Association and spoke about a few of the reasons the Crimson Tide lost the game. They had several injuries to their starters and the backups were not prepared well enough to play at a high level during the national championship game.
The audio clip above of the speech is transcribed below. It’s yet another example of why Nick Saban is one of the best speakers in college football history. There’s a reason why many corporations hire him routinely to speak to their companies. He’s a very gifted public speaker.
Nick Saban talks about why the backups on his team need to practice in the right way to be ready
“This is a good example,” he said. “This is a lesson for everybody on our team. We lost the national championship game, alright, because we basically had three corners out. Both starters and the best backup. Alright. So, we’re playing with some guys that didn’t have a lot of experience and it eventually got us in the fourth quarter.
“Alright. And we had the kind of team that we had a really good quarterback and we wanted to have skill guys that they couldn’t guard. We had two that were really good–Metchie (John L. Metchie III) and Jamo (Jameson Williams). And they both got hurt. So now we were playing with guys that typically didn’t have to play at those positions.
“So the lesson to be learned, there were three guys and I’m not calling out any names that basically didn’t do the things they needed to do throughout the season. Because they were frustrated with their circumstances. This is a story you should take back to your team, so players understand this. So, they’re frustrated with their circumstances because they’re not playing as much as they want to. They’re outcome oriented. They want to worry about how many balls they catch and how much playing time they get or whatever it is. So they don’t focus every day on being a complete player at their position. And they don’t work in practice and prepare for the game, because they say to themselves, ‘Why should I do this, I’m not gonna play anyway. So there are three guys. They all had a significant role in the national championship game.”
Saban then raised his voiced a bit and you could really sense the anger in it. “And not one of them, not one could take advantage of the opportunity they had. Because they never ground through it. They never made themselves the best player they can be. And when they got the opportunity, they couldn’t do it. It’s a lesson for everybody. What comes first? Playing time or making sure that you’re ready to play and create value for yourself when you get the opportunity?” Saban asked.
The legendary Alabama head coach made some excellent points in his speech and it’s a wise lesson for college football players across the country to listen to. Even though the circumstances might not be what they would like, players need to create the right habits in practice each week in order to be ready for a big game in case injuries, suspensions, or something else that affects the roster happens. You can tell how angry it made Nick Saban and it was interesting to see him raise his voice like that and call out the three players, even if he didn’t mention them directly by name.
In the era of the transfer portal, many might say the speech is a bold move by Saban, because he’s essentially daring his five-star players to pack up and leave. Then, it’s easy to understand that if a few five-stars do pack up and leave, Alabama can get some new ones. Their recruiting classes have been insane over the past decade and top-tier talent continues to flock to the Crimson Tide like few other programs across America.
The longtime Alabama head coach has always noted that he remembers the losses much more vividly than the wins and it’s clear their last loss to Georgia still fresh in his mind.
It will be fascinating to see how Alabama’s players use his speech as motivation come this fall.