Nick Saban: 2023 Alabama 'had something to prove,' legacy will be defined by finish

After an early-season loss to Texas, many wrote off Alabama as too young to compete for a national title this season, a long shot for the College Football Playoffs.

Two weeks from the season’s end, Alabama is considered a long shot no more. Win out and the Crimson Tide will have as compelling a playoff case as anyone as the SEC champion.

Coach Nick Saban knew his team had more in it back in September.

“I thought this team had something to prove,” Saban said on Wednesday on the Pat McAfee Show. “We had a lot of individuals on this team that had something to prove. We had a young team, so they were still trying to develop a reputation for themselves as players as well as how our team would develop.”

Alabama has done remarkably well since that Texas game, after finally figuring out its quarterback situation and going back to Jalen Milroe. Milroe has developed quite nicely.

In the last two weeks alone, Milroe has accounted for 10 total touchdowns, including seven rushing. Of course, he’s only able to do that thanks to the players executing around him.

It’s been a full-fledged team effort.

“And the team was important to these guys. They like each other, they get along well,” Saban said. “So teams in the past, a lot of our teams, had such high expectations going into the season from individual players who already had first-round grades to the team’s supposed to be No. 1 all year and win a championship. That took some of the fun out of it for the players, which is never good. You want to see your players happy when they win, excited when they do well, enjoying making plays and enjoying each other. I think that’s something that this team has been able to do.

“They’ve had fun. We’ve had fun coaching them and they’ve gotten better, and hopefully we can continue to do that.”

But make no mistake about it, Alabama is not content with where things are right now. There’s a lot of work to be done. “Almost” a playoff team doesn’t mean a whole lot.

Saban knows it.

“I think that your legacy as a team and how the team gets remembered is always going to come down to how you finish,” Saban said. “So how we finish this season will be huge in terms of the positive self-gratification that this team can get for what they’ve put into it, how they’ve developed, how they’ve improved, the work that they’ve done. That’s something I’m very hopeful that I can contribute to in a positive way for them.”