Nick Saban reveals his major concerns, message to players ahead of preseason camp

As the Alabama Crimson Tide enter fall camp and the campaign to defend their SEC title, head coach Nick Saban talked about what the most important keys are for the team heading into the 2022 season on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.

“Well I think from a big-picture standpoint it’s really our people ready for the challenge of the season. I think sometimes players don’t realize everyone else is starting practice this week too and they’re all getting ready to try to beat us, and we have to be ready for that challenge. So to have the right leadership on your team, to have the right competitive character, all those things are really important to developing into the kind of team you’re capable of being, by individuals reaching their full potential, by the togetherness and team chemistry that you’re able to establish. So I think from a big-picture standpoint, those things are really, really important,” Saban said.

Saban and the Tide’s dominance during his run surely has put a target on their back in the SEC historically, which is challenging enough. And with the recent changes to the transfer portal rules, Saban talked about the new challenges that come with that, especially when scouting other teams.

“I think maybe people don’t realize that even when we did summer scouting reports on other teams, it was much more difficult to figure out how all the changes on a roster is going to impact the success of a team. You have teams in our league that have 10-15 new players – not recruits, not people that you recruited and know what kind of players they are – but people that came from other conferences and other parts of the country that you really don’t know a whole lot about,” Saban said. “We have five guys on our team that all could make a significant impact, those that have been here have made an impact in a positive way. So how that’s going to impact our team and other teams is really probably a question mark that I’m sure a lot of coaches are wondering about.”

The amount of player movement in college football now definitely adds a new wrinkle to scouting, especially going into a new season. But Saban also was a beneficiary of the transfer portal, adding players like 5-star running back Jahmyr Gibbs and a pair of SEC 4-star skill players in Jermaine Burton and Eli Ricks.

“I’m excited about the guys that we have that are new to our program, new to our team, and I’m excited about the young players that we have to develop and which one of those guys will actually be able to contribute. You know, we’ve had a lot of freshmen play here and contribute to the success of the team. And our upper classmen really embrace these guys in a positive way and I think that’s a good thing for our program. Hopefully we’ll have some of those guys emerge,” Saban said.

In addition to their transfer portal acquisitions, Saban also bring in a 2022 recruiting class that was ranked in No. 2 in the country according to On3 Consensus. Saban lost his fair share of talent last season to the NFL, but developing and re-upping on talent has never seemed to be an issue for the Crimson Tide, especially considering that they’re bringing back who many consider the best players on both sides of the ball in the country in Heisman trophy winner quarterback Bryce Young and edge Will Anderson.

“But last year we had kind of a rebuilding year, so we should have nine starters back on offense, nine on defense, but six guys go out early for the draft, so now we have five back on offense and seven back on defense,” Saban said. “So that in and of itself creates a few more question marks, but it also creates opportunity for other players to be able to shine in the program and contribute in a positive way. Nobody knows for sure how all this stuff is going to sort of come to fruition, but that’s part of the excitement and challenge that we have to try to develop a team.”

If being last year’s SEC champion and National Championship runner up is a “rebuilding year” for the Crimson Tide, then they should be poised for yet another historic season.