Nick Saban compares he, Miss Terry's relationship with Terrion Arnold to raising children
If a team is supposed to be like family, Alabama is succeeding. On Monday, head coach Nick Saban discussed he and his wife’s special bond with defensive back Terrion Arnold.
“Her and Terrion are really kind of buddies,” Saban said with a smile. “I know she sort of texts with him and all that. I kind of get on him. It’s just kind of like raising your children. I’m the guy that’s always trying to get them to do right, and she’s the momma who’s always trying to make them happy. That’s the way it’s been for a long time.”
The redshirt sophomore has a special connection with Saban’s wife, Terry, commonly known as Miss Terry. She will text him motivational messages before games and congratulations after the dust is settled.
Arnold doesn’t take her kind acts for granted. It’s become a tradition for Arnold to hunt down Miss Terry after games and embrace her in a bear hug. The pair hugged following the Alabama’s win at Texas A&M and this past weekend at Kentucky.
“I would say she’s almost like a second mom,” Arnold said on Saturday. “When I came here, it wasn’t fake, and it hasn’t been fake since I’ve been here. She really cares about all of us, and she does a really, really good job of displaying it. Honestly, Coach Saban and her, they’re the type of people that would give you the shirt off their backs.
“People don’t really get a chance to have a close relationship with him because they think, ‘Ah, man. It’s Nick Saban.’ Us, on the other hand, like us in the secondary, that’s our Coach. Like ‘Coach me, Coach.’ And even the situation that happened in the Mississippi State game with him yelling is just a (testament) to why you come here.”
As Arnold mentioned, every father-son relationship comes with the occasional punishment. After Arnold failed to sync up a blitz against Mississippi State, he received an earful from Saban. Nonetheless, Arnold took it in stride.
For each ear-piercing shout Arnold receives in one ear, he receives an affirmation from Miss Terry in the other.
“She always sends me a text on Sunday just about motivating the guys and staying focused, Arnold said after Alabama’s 49-21 win over the Wildcats. “I’ll share a secret with y’all, I feel like she’s that little secret that we’ve got.
“Everybody needs a Miss Terry, man. Everybody needs a Miss Terry.”