Nick Saban explains why 2023 Alabama team was among his favorite to coach

Alabama might have fallen just short of reaching the national championship, but Nick Saban is still immensely proud of this year’s team. In fact, the Crimson Tide coach revealed following a 27-20 overtime loss to Michigan in the Rose Bowl that this group ranks among his favorites in 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa.

It might seem an odd statement considering the coach has won six national championships at Alabama, but Saban explained that he doesn’t measure success that way. Instead, he looks at the year from the lens of how much the team improved over the course of the season.

For this team, the week-by-week progress was clearly evident.

“I don’t look at it necessarily from winning or losing,” Saban explained. “You won the championship or you didn’t win the championship. As a coach, you’re always trying to get your team to improve and be the best that they can be. I think this team probably improved from the South Florida game and the Texas game early in the season as much as any team I’ve coached.

“That takes a lot of hard work. A lot of people being very committed to doing things they need to do to self-assess and improve their game. All these players bought in on this team and did it in first-class fashion. So that’s why I think, for me as a coach, it’s one of the teams that I’ll always remember most and be the most proud of.”

The Crimson Tide began the season ranked No. 4 in the AP poll but suffered a loss against Texas at home in Week 2. Alabama followed that up with a lackluster showing against South Florida the next week as it narrowly escaped with a 17-3 win.

Alabama made the decision to commit to Jalen Milroe after that game, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions for its season. The Crimson Tide still had several close calls after that, but managed to win out in the regular season to reach the SEC Championship. There they broke the 29-game winning streak for Georgia to punch their ticket to the CFP.

Although Alabama fell short Monday against Michigan, the Crimson Tide remained in the game down to the final minutes. They even held the lead late before allowing the game-tying touchdown with 1:34 remaining. A muffed punt forced the Wolverines to later take over from their own 1-yard line with 35 seconds to go, but Alabama was unable to force the safety as the game went to overtime.

Unfortunately, the Crimson Tide were unable to answer after Michigan struck first in the extra period, falling just short of the end zone at the 2-yard line. Even so, Nick Saban remains proud of the accomplishment of reaching the College Football Playoff this season given the way the year began for Alabama.

There’s a lot of years to choose from, but this remains one of his best.