Nick Saban Quotes (299 Quotes)

When we get weather that's disruptive, which we've had now two years in a row, I think that's benefit number one.

Gus has a good understanding of the offense, he's very knowledgeable. And I think (he) can manage the game the best with a pretty young offensive team right now. . . . We weren't displeased with the job any of the quarterbacks did, but we felt that Gus would give us the best opportunity to be successful.

That issue has gone under the bridge, under the next bridge, over the next dam and is gone.

It's not really true to (the Bears) character and nature in the past to do that (during an exhibition game), ... But I thought our staff did an outstanding job with adapting in the game. That's probably why we had more success in the second and third quarters than we did in the beginning of the game.

We've got our coaches and they've done a great job for us. We're going to be loyal to them. Rick is a good friend. If there's anything we can do to help him in this business, we'll certainly do it.

We were very fortunate that we were able to sign a free agent who turned out to be even better than maybe we thought in his ability to snap and protect. From a business standpoint, it always makes sense to go with the younger guy.

I know he's going through due process. Ricky is as good a guy as anyone I've ever coached. I never had a problem with him. I have nothing but the highest regard for him. I hope things work out to have him on our team in the future.

I think the evaluation is he played behind two really good players that were both drafted, and to find out if he has the right stuff to be a consistent performer.

I haven't been pleased with the tackling on the perimeter of our defense for several weeks now. We are either going to get it out of the guys we have or we are going to get somebody who will do it, because that won't be tolerated.

This is an opportunity for each and every one of those guys to show what they can do.

If we just didn't do that kind of stuff, we wouldn't have to worry about it.

We've tried to make a plan on how we would operate if we do have an agreement, how it would that impact our ability to make improvements to the team. All we can do is manage the situation the best we can.

We certainly created some adversity for ourselves to overcome out there, ... but I was really pleased with how we responded time in and time out. Nobody's ever happy with penalties. Nobody's ever happy with turnovers. But I think it's most important to establish how you respond to that stuff when it happens in the game.

We didn't pick up Gus for his brains. He's on this team because of his arm. How he chooses to celebrate is his business. He can butt heads with a brick wall as far as I'm concerned, as long as his right arm remains healthy.

Ronnie can do a lot of different things. Part of the reason we liked him was the fact that he had versatility as a player, with his size and blocking ability.

Managing the game is the most important thing. Gus has done a pretty good job of that. Turnovers are not killing us. We won the turnover battle in the games that we won and we didn't in the one that we lost.

We're not making any changes at that position right now. This should not be an issue. We don't want it to be an issue. I know y'all are going to try to make it an issue.

What people do on the field is kind of your calling card in terms of the quality of work. When he was a defensive coordinator at Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, they did some pretty quality work. They had top-line defensive teams. He did it in different situations featuring different types of players. That will be helpful to us.

We had three guys miss the tackle, two that could have had him behind the line of scrimmage. It was a short-yardage situation. That's not what we need to do.

You know this is a time when nobody really ever really kind of tells the truth about what they plan to do. I certainly would never deceive you in anything that I told you, so rather than deceive you I would just rather not tell you certain things.

I think everybody makes mistakes. People do things that they regret.

We talk about playing hard and competing. But you also have to play smart . . . . We did a lot of good things out there, but they were negated by our errors.

We're still in the information-gathering stage. People like to ask strategic questions about what we're going to do.

I really don't have any idea or comment on what would happen if it got delayed.

We didn't have, maybe, the precision that we needed at times to get things executed, in terms of the protection, route-running and the decision-making at the quarterback position, so it is not really any one area.

I think there's a pretty good formula for guys who at some point in time were college coaches and then they go to the NFL and, in whatever capacity they serve, they develop even further. When they go back to college, they're even more prepared, and they succeed there.

We had some issues today.

We've spent more of our time trying to figure out how we would manage the cap if there isn't a collective bargaining agreement because we're all in new territory.

I think he played outstanding and I am so happy for Ricky for some positive self-gratification that he'll get from his performance today because he certainly deserves it.

Pollackis a real playmaker,and he always seems to come up with a big play at the right time for them,

We are going to get the quarterback ready that is going to play in the game and we are going to try and get the backup ready to be the backup. It is really insignificant to me, because there are players at every position that get limited amounts of reps to be backups and if something happens to the guy ahead of him, whether they are having trouble performing, they get injured or whatever, that guy has got to get you through the game.

I have total faith, trust and confidence in the guy, ... He's going to be a long-snapper for a long time in this league.

You put your hand in the dirt, you got a guy sitting right there, you have to block him. You don't block him, what does it make any difference whether you are playing right guard, right tackle, left guard or left tackle You have to move the guy. I think w

I felt very much appreciated on the field today, ... There were a lot of people with Saints jerseys that were very nice to me in welcoming me back. I don't want to minimize the fact there was some personal adulation based on the reception I received.

I don't think anybody goes out there not knowing what to do, ... I don't think anybody doesn't know they didn't do it right after it happens. I just think that you are talking about a lot of different multiples and adjustments that have to occur. They happen quickly in the game and I think the more repetition you get on things like that, the more confidence the players gain in their ability to adjust.

Ronnie Brown is still day-to-day. He was better today than he was yesterday.

Well, he just didn't look comfortable all the time in terms of making decisions ... and that's something that you'd always like to do with your players is make sure you're asking them to do things they're comfortable doing. You play to their strengths.

Understanding how important slotting is to top draft picks in terms of who got what . . . and how they fall into place, this is really a timing issue,

You don't control whether you can go up or down sometimes. It's not something that you can just do because you want to. What is available to you may have some impact on what you decide to do if you did have an opportunity to do it.

Philosophically, I don't there's a lot of difference in terms of what we like to do. His knowledge of the league and being able to define things internally in the organization, so you have everybody on the same page, are probably his greatest assets. That and recognition of what people can do - the strength of players, coaches and people in the organization - and putting them in position where they can have success doing it.

I think he got enough work in the preseason to be ready for the first game. We did the best we could under the circumstances. We'll continue to try to develop him in the beginning of the season.

We missed a couple of throws and had a couple of turnovers. . . We made some big plays on defense, which helped us. We just have to take advantage of the field position when we get it.

The last couple of days I've seen it in a lot of guys' eyes to the point where you really have a lot of compassion.

From an intangible standpoint, it's about things like effort, mental toughness, the ability to stay focused and execute, and be a little relentless in the way you try to go about your work, ... We're gladiators out there. We're modern-day gladiators and that mental toughness has got to permeate your team.

We tried to create a little bit of an identity as a team today. I'm proud of the effort that we put in and the way we persevered and overcame adversity. The big thing that this team did today was they had a little tenacity, a little perseverance. And I think that's something you definitely need in this league relative to the competitive balance and what you have to do to win games.

I don't have an answer for that.

If we can get it worked out, maybe he will have the opportunity to play. If he can't, we will have his services later.

We are not in the playoffs, but it was not all in vain. This group was a team for the last six weeks of the season, for sure.

We respect that, as long as it's taking into account the balance of how it's affecting the player.

I think he's going to need to play some. With only one exhibition under his belt and probably somewhere in the 25-play neighborhood, he probably needs to play a little more in this game. The plan in not playing him in the first game was with the idea that he would play in two games in his preparation for the season.