Nick Saban: ‘Not to say that they’re taking years off my life, but I’m okay with that’

Alabama remained undefeated in conference play this weekend defeating Tennessee 34-20 to remain atop the SEC West division standings.

The Crimson Tide haven’t displayed the high level of dominance fans have become accustomed to seeing in years past, but the results they’ve been producing versus SEC opponents this season is hard to deny.

After the game, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban was asked about his team’s continued improvement throughout the season and ability to battle through adversity, which seems to have been a little bit more stressful than Saban is used to in years past at the helm.

“Oh I love it, it’s been great,” Saban said. “The challenges are great, I enjoy coaching this team, that’s not to say that they’re taking years off of my life, but I’m okay with that.”

The 71-year-old Saban hasn’t shown a sign of slowing down anytime throughout his coaching career that started in 1973, but this year’s Alabama has definitely been pushing the envelope regarding stressful moments.

Saturday marked the third of Alabama’s five SEC games where the Crimson Tide found themselves losing at halftime, but in each game they’ve rallied, and done so with a togetherness that Saban appreciates.

“But it’s fun, because they’ve got a good spirit about them, we’ve got good relationships on our team,” Saban explained. “I think the players legitimately care about each other, and they respond well to their coaches, so it’s really fun to coach them.”

Saturday marked Alabama’s biggest halftime deficit of the season, finding themselves down 20-7 to the Volunteers as they entered the locker room following the second quarter. But they’d put their foot on the gas and never looked back after the break, scoring 27 unanswered points that Saban attributed to answering the challenge presented to them following a sluggish start.

“I don’t think we sometimes show the maturity from a competitive standpoint to do everything on a consistent basis, which is what we keep trying to work toward. But I’ll tell you, eight weeks in a row and the grind that we’ve had the last four or five weeks with the games in our league,” Saban said. “I think psychologically we probably had a little bit of a tired team out there at the beginning of a game and I think the momentum of the game gave them the energy they needed to play the way they could, the way they’re capable of playing.”

Alabama’s second half of football on Saturday was some of their best work of the season, which they’ll look to carry into their next matchup versus LSU next weekend.

The Crimson Tide will seek redemption on yet another opponent that defeated them in last-second fashion last season when they face the Tigers on Saturday, and hopefully, they can do so without taking any more years off of Saban’s life.