Nick Saban says those who play ‘winning football’ will get reps

No team has played more winning football than the Nick Saban-led Alabama teams over the past decade.

There are obviously a few different reasons for that. Saban is an elite recruiter so the Crimson Tide get some of the best talent in the country. Saban and his staff are excellent at player development so they can turn good players into great players. Saban has a well-disciplined program. The list goes on and on.

One that might get overlooked sometimes is that Saban is fairly unafraid to play the best players regardless of their age.

“We’re going to play the guys that give us the best chance to win,” Saban said after Saturday’s spring game. “I make all our decisions based on winning. Who can who can play the best — doesn’t make any difference if you’re a fifth year senior or freshman. If you’re the guy that can go out there and if you took all the players on our team, you think the players on our team don’t know who the best players are? They absolutely do. If you’re a coach and you don’t play the best players, you’re not gonna have the respect of your team because they knew who the best players are. They knew who they have confidence in. They know who they trust and respect that are going to go be able to be accountable to do their job. Can’t lose sight of that.”

Now, the upperclassman and veterans who have been in the program for longer have an advantage over the younger players. They know the standards and the systems and the plays.

But it never works out like that. Players can and have come in right away for the Crimson Tide and make an immediate impact. Jahmyr Gibbs is a prime example.

“I think the people that have been in the program obviously have an advantage to some degree because they know the system,” Saban said. “They’ve had a lot of reps in the system. But I also think everybody needs to ask themselves, whatever position you play, are you playing winning football at that position and can you play winning football at that position? I think that’s a better answer to the question. Who could do that the best? Those are evaluations that we have to make as coaches at every position.”

Over his 16 years at Alabama, Saban has a .878 winning percentage having won 194 of 227 games.

And he’s done it with all different players all over the field.

“It really has nothing to do with age,” Saban said. “It has everything to do with accountability and are you dependable to go out there and do your job, whether a good thing happens or a bad thing happens. You got to play the next play. We use all these things as learning experiences so guys do grow and develop the kind of maturity they need so that they can play in difficult circumstances and obviously guys with experience should be able to do that better. But they have to prove that they can do it just like the young guys do.”