Nick Saban offers thoughtful answer to public criticism of Alabama coaches

Alabama head coach Nick Saban might not get as much public criticism as some coaches do due to his prolonged success, but he’s also no blind to it. When asked on Monday about how he and Alabama coaches respond to criticism, Saban said that “it’s fine,” adding that they criticize themselves constantly.

“I think it’s fine, we criticize ourselves all the time,” Saban said when asked about coaches receiving criticism. “We try to close the gap on perfect in everything that we do. I think players try to close the gap on perfect in everything they do. Is it possible to be perfect all of the time? Probably not. That’s why you prepare, that’s why we practice.

“But when we don’t get the gap closed like we’d like to, we’re very critical of ourselves in terms of identifying what we need to do to fix it and trying to help players become better, whether it’s physical, psychological, whatever the challenge may be. We’re always trying to get it right and we’re always trying to be perfectionists in how we go about what we do. I don’t think we’ve ever accomplished that nor do I think we ever will.”

Saban on criticism towards Alabama coaches: ‘That’s just part of the game’

Alabama is now 9-1 on the season after dominating New Mexico State last weekend. Despite the success, fans still criticize coaches for play calling and other areas of the game. Saban understands criticism towards himself and other Alabama coaches. But he also said that there are many sides to an argument, adding that everyone can have their own opinion.

“There’s always going to be something you can be critical of,” Saban continued. “So there’s something I can be critical of, there’s something every coach can be critical of relative to his players. Every player can be critical of himself in something he could’ve done better. Getting criticized is kind of part of the game. I’m not sure anybody gets it wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. There’s obviously more than one way to skin a cat.

“So how you go about winning a game, whether it’s at the end of the game and you don’t throw it on third down to get a first down and give the other team the ball back with no timeouts and a minute left to go in the game. We could debate that forever as to what the best way to do that is. But we chose to do it a certain way and it worked. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion of what we should’ve done. But the thing that nobody has to deal with that has an opinion is the consequences. We have to deal with the consequences of the decisions and choices that we make. When they work they’re usually good ones. And when they don’t work they’re not good ones. That’s just part of the game.”

If Alabama win one of their final two games, it’ll face off against Georgia in the SEC Championship game. The Crimson Tide have two touch matchups coming up against Arkansas and Auburn. Alabama’s path to the College Football Playoff is still very much alive.