Nick Saban pays the ultimate compliment to Will Anderson

Will Anderson has emerged as one of the best defensive players in country this season for Alabama. The sophomore linebacker has 36 tackles with 11.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, and one pass defended this year. But Alabama head coach Nick Saban is impressed with Anderson for far more than his ability to produce on the field.

Saban raved about Anderson’s leadership qualities on Alabama’s defense earlier in the week.

“Will has been a really good player for us all year. And he’s not just a good player on gameday,” Saban said of Anderson. “This guy’s got some of the best character. One of the best people we’ve ever had on our team. He’s got really good leadership qualities. Hard worker, he sets a good example every day. Tries to do everything right and he doesn’t ever worry about the wrong stuff.

“He’s always in the moment, always trying to improve, play the next play. Takes coaching well, really is about as fine a person as we’ve ever had on our team. And it’s always fun as a coach when you have guys that are really good guys that are star players of the team. The one thing that he did do is he did step up from a leadership standpoint.”

Anderson’s emergence as a leader has been huge for Alabama

While Anderson is just a sophomore, he has still been able to emerge as a voice in the locker room for Alabama. This is one of many things that Saban has been impressed by.

“I’ve mentioned on this show before that some of our best leaders on our team are young players,” Saban said. “They’re apprehensive to step up until they sort of create enough credibility for themselves by their performance to sell somebody else who’s older than them and maybe played longer or more or whatever that maybe aren’t showing the kind of leadership qualities even though they may be trying to do things correctly. Now some of those guys are starting to emerge on our team and I think that’s very helpful. Will is one of them definitely.”

After Alabama lost to Texas A&M a couple weeks ago, Anderson was vocal about his message to the team.

“I mean…What I’ve said to you guys,” Anderson said after the loss. “We have to do a better job. Football has to be the most important thing. That’s the biggest thing when you come to Alabama, that’s the standard. Football is the most important thing and that’s what I expressed to the team and that’s what it has to be, and it’s going to be that.”