Nick Saban talks Trey Sanders, Alabama running backs room

As he usually is this time of year, Alabama football coach Nick Saban is dealing with new faces in the running backs room this spring. Saban loses last year’s leading rusher Brian Robinson Jr., and is now tasked with finding players to replace his 1,343 yards and 14 touchdowns.

One such candidate could be redshirt junior Trey Sanders, who finished second on the team last season with 314 yards rushing and two touchdowns. The Crimson Tide also added Georgia Tech transfer Jahmyr Gibbs, the No. 1 running back according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings.

In a recent spring practice press conference, Saban was asked how both players are fitting in with the team.

“Both those guys did really well,” the coach said. “I can’t read the stats here, but they both had some good runs. We wanted those guys all to carry the ball 10 or 12 times. I think Trey had 73 yards, Jahmyr had 54 or 55. Jamarion Miller got an opportunity too and he did a nice job. I do think we’re running the ball a little more consistently than at this time a year ago. Hopefully we can continue to build on that.”

Gibbs is coming off of a sophomore season at Georgia Tech in which he proved himself as both a runner and a pass catcher. In addition to 746 yards rushing, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound back also added 465 yards receiving and six total touchdowns. He was a four-star prospect and top 100 recruit in the 2020 class according to On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

A former five-star, Sanders has struggled with injuries throughout his early college career, and took a medical redshirt season as a freshman in 2019. This past season was his best in college, and there is hope that he can handle an even larger role in 2022. The third player that Nick Saban mentioned, Miller, is a four-star recruit and one of the top running backs in the 2022 class.

Last year, Alabama finished just 10th among SEC teams in rushing with 150.1 yards ground yards per game. They still ended up winning the conference championship game, but certainly need to improve if they hope to stay at the same level this season.

The Crimson Tide will host their annual spring game on April 16 in Tuscaloosa.