Nick Saban explains stance on opt-outs, shares why bowl games have bigger impact than NFL Combine

Nick Saban and Alabama took great pride in the fact that two of their top players will be on the field for Saturday’s Sugar Bowl. Both Bryce Young and Will Anderson will play against Kansas State even though they had a chance to opt out to prepare for the draft.

Saban said he’s proud that the Crimson Tide’s two best players chose to participate with their teammates. That said, he isn’t a fan of players opting out of bowl games for the draft, and he shared an interesting reason why.

“A lot of guys opt out of playing bowl games,” Saban said on the “Sugar Bowl Preview Show with Nick Saban” Thursday night. “They opt out of playing for their team, and I think that’s not a really good thing for college football, whether you get in the portal or whether you decide — you hear so many guys say, ‘I’m not going to play because I’m going to get ready for the NFL Draft.’

“Me, personally, and I think our players feel this way … how better to get ready for the NFL Draft than to play really well against a really good team? So, when you say you’re getting ready for the NFL Draft, you’re really saying you’re getting ready for the combine. But when you go to the combine, half the stuff you do at the combine’s irrelevant to playing football.”

Nick Saban: Tom Brady’s combine performance hurt his draft position

Saban used a high-profile example as the reason he doesn’t take much stock in the combine. Tom Brady is widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, if not the greatest. But the New England Patriots drafted him in the sixth round largely because of his performance at the combine.

That’s why Saban said game performance is more important to NFL success than the combine.

“I think Tom Brady probably is the best example of all that,” Saban said.” He couldn’t bench press very much, he couldn’t vertical jump very high, couldn’t run very fast. So everybody sort of killed him for all those things he couldn’t do at the combine. He got drafted in the sixth round. But the one thing he could do is play quarterback. But that doesn’t really get revealed at the combine.

“I think it’s a great example that these guys set that they chose to play for their team and it sets a great example and sends a message to a lot of other players that playing for your team is a really important thing and speaks volumes of your character and your commitment to your teammates.”

Saban: Bryce Young and Will Anderson ‘have been great role models’

Saban started his answer by noting the impact Young and Anderson had on the Crimson Tide this year. Both players were named captains and Young — one year after winning the Heisman Trophy — was named the team’s MVP. Saban said the fact that they’re playing in the Sugar Bowl speaks to the mark they’re leaving on the program.

He also said they epitomize this year’s Alabama team.

“Those are special people,” Saban said. “They’ve been really good players for us, but they’ve been great leaders, they’ve been great role models for the other players on the team. They’ve set a really good example. It’s really important to them to have an impact and effect on the other people on the team in a positive way.

“They both got elected captains by their teammates. Will was the most inspirational player, Bryce was the most valuable player, both voted on by their teammates. But when I say that this team that’s here is really what the Alabama team represents, I think those guys are a big part of it and because they’re the leaders of the team, they both wanted to participate.”