Nick Saban on what it means to have an Alabama quarterback win the Heisman Trophy

Having one of his Alabama players win the Heisman Trophy is a perfectly routine experience for Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban.

On Saturday night, Alabama’s calm and precise signal-caller, Bryce Young, became the first quarterback in Tide program history to win the coveted bronze statue. After he won the award, Saban spoke about how much it meant to him to watch one of his signal-callers bring home college football’s highest individual honor.

“Well, I’m really pleased with the last four guys that we’ve had. I know several of them have been finalists. I think it speaks volumes of what our coaching staff has been able to do with the quarterback position,” Saban said. “I also think philosophically we made a huge change probably somewhere seven or eight years ago to be a more wide-open spread type team, which makes you a more quarterback-oriented team, so all these young men have had tremendous success and it enhanced their development.

“I think that’s important to having a successful program is having quality people play the quarterback position, do a good job of helping them develop so they can have outstanding performances throughout the year, which certainly all these young men that you mentioned did, but Bryce certainly was fantastic for us this year.”

Simply put, Nick Saban couldn’t hide his excitement for his remarkably talented quarterback. “I’m so pleased and happy and proud that he was actually honored and recognized for that,” he said.

Bryce Young was dominant in 2021 for head coach Nick Saban

Coming out of high school, Young was one of the greatest prospects to come out of Southern California in the past 25 years and he’s been living up to that lofty billing.

While it was only his first full-year as the starting quarterback for the Tide, his unflappable demeanor and uncanny precision allowed him to dissect defenses with tremendous ease.

He completed 68 percent of his passes for 4,322 passing yards, while tossing in 43 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He’s already one of the greatest quarterbacks Nick Saban has already had, and he’s had a lot of great ones suit up for him in Tuscaloosa.

Young is just a sophomore and he’ll get at least one more year to play for Nick Saban, before he departs for the National Football League.