Nick Saban reacts to Malachi Moore meltdown vs. Vanderbilt: 'This was totally uncharacteristic of him'

In the time since Alabama’s loss to Vanderbilt over this past weekend, defensive back Malachi Moore has received plenty of backlash for his actions near the end of the contest.

The fifth-year player had multiple instances where frustrations boiled over, with one including Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia. Since, Moore has taken responsibility for his actions, apologizing to Pavia, and his former coach in Nick Saban joined The Pat McAfee Show on Friday to come to his defense, as well.

“First of all, Malachi Moore is a great young man. He’s going to be very successful in life,” Saban stated. “This was totally uncharacteristic of him, but I think this is an example of, when you get frustrated and you get emotional, you make bad choices and decisions and do things that you normally wouldn’t do, from a character standpoint, and I think that was obviously what happened.

“I know he’s very sorry for the way he represented himself, his family, his team, the university and all that. The thing about it is, you can’t take those things back.”

Part of why Moore’s outburst was so surprising to Saban and the rest of the college football world is because of the immense character he’s shown throughout his career. Regardless of what went down last weekend, Moore’s response and sincere apology has resonated with many.

“I want to apologize to my teammates, our coaches, the fans, our alumni and my family for the way I acted on Saturday,” Moore wrote, earlier this week. “I was completely out of line. I let the emotions of the game get the best of me and put myself before the team.”

“As a two-time captain and a fifth-year player, I understand the standard that we are expected to live up to at Alabama and I failed to do so by acting in a selfish and unacceptable manner. I came back this season to represent myself, this team and this University because it means something to me. I am blessed to be able to wear the ‘A’ on my chest, and I know all that comes with the responsibility of representing this program. I will do better to uphold the standard moving forward, and I will continue to work and improve while conducting myself in a first-class manner.”

At the end of the loss, Malachi Moore finished the game with 10 total tackles, but it wasn’t enough as the defense struggled, giving up 40 points to Vanderbilt. He’ll be looking to get back to the Crimson Tide’s winning ways this weekend against South Carolina.