Nick Saban explains why Alabama's had Heisman success in recent years

Alabama has had a rich history of success on the football field, especially under longtime head coach Nick Saban. While the Crimson Tide has won many games and championships under Saban’s direction, the program has also produced multiple Heisman Trophy winners.

While Mark Ingram won the award in 2009, Derrick Henry took home the honor in 2015 and DeVonta Smith won in 2020, Alabama now has yet another Heisman Trophy recipient in 2021 in quarterback Bryce Young, who took home the honor Saturday night during the ceremony in New York.

Young – who is the first Crimson Tide quarterback to win the award – gives Alabama four Heisman Trophy winners at three different positions, as Ingram and Henry were both running backs and Smith was a wide receiver.

While meeting with the media, Saban was asked how he and Alabama have managed to produce four different Heisman Trophy winners – and, more impressively, in three different positions.

“Well, we try to recruit the best players that we possibly can and try to create a rule tour that helps them develop personally, academically and athletically,” Saban said. “We’ve had a lot of great players, a lot of great players who weren’t in the Heisman Trophy consideration, but we’ve been fortunate to have several who have, and we’re very fortunate to have four that have won because I think this is a tremendous honor for any young man who’s a college football player.

“It’s a legacy that will be with you forever, and there’s only great players who had great dedication to the game, great work ethic and great performance that have the opportunity to win this award, and it’s something that’s very prestigious.”

Nick Saban reveals when he knew Bryce Young could win Heisman

After Alabama quarterback Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban met with the media and spoke highly of his quarterback – saying that Young was the most-deserving candidate for the award.

“Well, I think Bryce played extremely well for us all year long,” Saban said. “We’ve sort of had our ups and downs as a team. I don’t really think that his performance was ever contributed to that. He played extremely well on a consistent basis, and I think consistency in performance is what helps you sort of have the kind of season that he had relative to statistics or wins or however you want to look at it.

“But, phenomenal drive at Auburn and phenomenal performance against Georgia in the SEC championship game I think really sort of accentuated the kind of season that Bryce was capable of and the kind of season that he had.”