Nick Saban on creating expectations: 'It's hard to stay focused on what's in front of you'

Alabama was forced to hit the reset button on their 2023 season after suffering a loss to Texas at home last weekend.

Many were hoping this would be the season that the Crimson Tide regained their title as the kings of college football, but head coach Nick Saban isn’t too keen on his team, or the fanbase setting any more expectations for the rest of the season.

“You create expectations and the expectations make you become more outcome-oriented,” Saban said on Thursday. “So, rather than focusing on the little things in front of you, you’re more focused on the outcome than you are in the system that’s going to give you the outcome you want.

“… You’re not thinking about the outcome, you need to think about all the things that are going to give you your outcome. That happens to a lot of us because we’re in such an outcome-oriented world and there’s so many external things that effect our mindset that it’s hard to stay focused sometimes on what’s in front of you.”

Obviously, it’s easy to set expectations for Alabama. A perennial preseason top-five team and the program with the most College Football Playoff appearances in it’s decade-long history — anything less than the mountaintop isn’t good enough for most Crimson Tide fans.

Between 2015 and 2021, Saban’s squad missed the College Football Playoff once and won three CFP titles during that span. That’s also not to mention the countless first round draft picks and SEC Championships he’s brought to the program as well. The gold standard of college football has run through Tuscaloosa for nearly two decades, and the yearly expectations have never wavered no matter the situation or season.

Still, the loss to Texas burst the Crimson Tide’s bubble after expectations for another CFP run was clearly on the table. Ranked No. 3 before the loss — they’ve dropped seven spots in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, and will need a perfect record from this point forward if they want to reach their desire postseason spot.

Based on that perspective, Saban will coach his team to play one week at a time for the rest of the season. That starts this weekend in a unique setting — a neutral site matchup against the USF Bulls, who will be acting as the home team — and their newly patented ‘Go-Go-Go’ offense. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.