Marty Smith: 2023 Nick Saban was greatest in-season coaching job ever

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has had plenty of masterful coaching jobs during his Hall of Fame career. ESPN’s Marty Smith believes the job Saban has done this year is as good as any of them.

Smith joined On3’s Andy Staples recently and shared how he has seen Alabama grow from a team that lost to Texas and struggled with USF early in the season, to one that is now in the College Football Playoff after winning the SEC Championship.

“It’s the greatest developmental coaching job in-season that I’ve seen,” Marty Smith said. “Because if you look at the evolution of the offensive line, the quarterback position, of the back-end defensively, it’s remarkable what they did.”

Alabama’s offensive line gelled as the season went along, and Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe settled in and ended up finishing in the top 10 in Heisman voting. The secondary also turned out to be one of the best in the country. Alabama has allowed only 189 passing yards per game on the year.

Marty Smith added that Nick Saban seems to really be enjoying this year and is clearly having fun coaching this team.

He pointed to a particular point in Saban’s career where the legendary coach seemed to start enjoying the process more.

“I would actually go back to the COVID season, because I think he realized during that COVID season, he witnessed in real time the sacrifices that his players and his staff and his support staff had to make, just to get to the damn football field every week,” Smith said. “And I think that was a major evolution for him, that I’m going to still demand the core principles of who we are at the University of Alabama. But I’m also going to champion and appreciate the family and the fellowship and the faith that these guys have in me, that we’re going to be able to be special, despite these extra obstacles. … It was hard. It was multiple COVID tests every single week, just to get to the field.”

Smith has one memory in particular that is stuck in his mind from that season. It’s a memory that helps to explain why Saban is having so much fun now.

“I remember talking to Najee Harris after the 2020 SEC Championship Game. And you look over and you see Nick Saban quite literally crying. He is fighting back with all of his might, not letting those tears drip,” Smith recalled. “And Najee Harris laughing and going, ‘Wait a minute, Saban actually has a heart?’ And I think he’s continued to carry that forward.”