Nick Saban snaps back on challenge of facing former assistants, familiar foes

During his time as the dominant coach at the college football level with Alabama, Nick Saban has produced a swath of future head coaches out of his staffs over the years. National champions Kirby Smart and Jimbo Fisher to name a few, as well as successful power-five coaches like Lane Kiffin and, now, Steve Sarkisian. And until 2021, none of his former assistants had ever beaten him as head coaches of other programs.

So it’s safe of say he’s never had much of a problem facing former assistants. However, reporters still asked Nick Saban at a recent press conference about the challenge of facing one of his former offensive coordinators in Sarkisian.

Here was his response, which you can watch in the video or read below.

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Nick Saban on facing former assistants

“We’ve played several teams who know us. But you act like we don’t know them,” Saban said, winking at his past success of beating up on former assistant coaches of his. Strong words from the Alabama coach, but fair given his track record. He continued, explaining why he won’t deviate from the game plan just because a former coach is on the other sideline.

“So just because somebody knows you when they play you, doesn’t mean they’re going to beat you. And just because you know them when you play them doesn’t mean you’re going to beat them, either. Just kinda comes down to how you execute. But, you know, you think we’re gonna go change a lot of things that we do, that our players know how to do, that they do well, that they have confidence in — I don’t think that’s the answer when it comes to getting execution and having confidence in how you have to adjust and what you need to do.”

Saban won’t change his playbook just because another coach may be familiar with it. As he stated, it’s all about execution.

Will Steve Sarkisian be the third Saban assistant to upset Alabama under his watch? We’ll find out this Saturday.