Nick Saban describes the most special part about this Alabama team

At one point this season, the Alabama Crimson Tide were coming off a loss to Texas and a near disaster against USF. Now, Alabama is in the College Football Playoff. It’s a coaching job that many have called head coach Nick Saban‘s best in Tuscaloosa.

Now, ahead of the CFP, Saban shared what he feels is the most special about this year’s team.

“Well, this team has been fun because the relationships on the team are really good,” Nick Saban said. “The leadership on the team is really good. The buy-in that the players have has been really good. I think that you’re always trying to develop guys putting the team forward. Everybody can have more success if we all play together.”

Alabama ended up winning the SEC and going 12-1 overall. The CFP selection committee chose the Crimson Tide to jump over unbeaten Florida State and make the CFP in its final rankings. That put Alabama in the Rose Bowl against Michigan on New Year’s Day.

For Nick Saban, this success came down to having a team that was willing to buy into what they were trying to do.

“People buying into the principles and values that help them do that, having positive energy about trying to do that, being able to be responsible to do your job at a high level and a high standard is something that we sometimes as fans can take for granted, but that’s just something everybody wants to do,” Saban said.

“But it really is pretty special when you have a group that does that, and this group certainly did, and that made it a lot of fun to be around them, and the relationships on the team made it even more inspiring.”

Nick Saban shares his reaction to people thinking he was past his prime

In large part because of his age and those early season struggles, many people thought Nick Saban was past his prime. It’s a criticism that Saban heard loud and clear.

“Yeah, I’ve heard them before,” Saban said. “I think when you get my age, everybody is waiting for you to — you know, it kind of is what it is.”

A win in the Rose Bowl would catapult Alabama into the College Football Playoff National Championship Game and prove that Nick Saban is far from past his prime. When odds for the Rose Bowl were recently updated, Alabama came in as a 1.5-point underdog to Michigan.