Alabama Coach Nick Saban’s Folly: Great Coaches Protect Their Players

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This is a game played by kids not long out of high school, and while some suit up for the chance to get rich, most play for sheer love of the sport. Because they dazzle us with acts of extraordinary athleticism and, yes, courage, we tend to forget that under their helmets and pads, these players are just as vulnerable and needing of support as any other college kids. Indeed, given the pressures placed upon them and the intensity of the spotlight, these young athletes need more support.

It’s understandable that all this may be lost on fans given the excitement of the moment. But for a coach to forget how much his players need his support in moments of defeat is just unforgivable.

For the Alabama players, Saturday’s game was a searing experience. It was so bad, their senior kicker received death threats. This was the time for an icon like Alabama coach Nick Saban to focus his postgame remarks on helping the players he supposedly loves. Saban should have had one goal in mind: Protect his players.

Instead, he gave passing reference to “taking responsibility” then piled on, reeling off a litany of mistakes that could have won the game.

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It doesn’t have to be this way. Coaches like Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, Ole Miss’s Hugh Freeze, Vanderbilt’s James Franklin, and LSU’s Les Miles make you want to love the sport because they love the sport. They are open and visible about their love for their players. In October, after heavily favored LSU lost to Ole Miss and his star quarterback had one of the worst nights of his career, Les Miles took all the blame, saying in classic Miles style, “I did a piss poor job preparing this football team to play in this game.”

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