Terrion Arnold opens up on the 'full Nick Saban experience,' unique relationship with DBs

At Alabama, Nick Saban is known for his close work with the defensive backs. He played the position in college at Kent State and continues to coach those players even with a DBs coach on staff.

As a result, players such as Terrion Arnold get the “full Nick Saban experience” while in Tuscaloosa. It’s not what it used to be, though. Saban no longer throws interceptions to the defenders because he had shoulder surgery.

That hasn’t changed his watchful eye during workouts, though.

“As far as watching it, I mean, yesterday, going out our breaks: ‘Come on, 3. Get out the break. Get out the break, 3,'” Arnold told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3.

Because he works so closely with the defensive backs, Saban has a unique relationship with those players. That includes Kool-Aid McKinstry, who also serves as Alabama’s primary punt returner. During that portion of practice, Arnold said Saban and McKinstry tend to laugh more than usual.

McKinstry is the latest in a line of defenders to forge that type of relationship with the normally stoic Saban, and it’s led to some jokes.

“During punt, when we do that period, Kool-Aid is the punt returner,” Arnold said. “So they’ll be down there — I don’t know what they’ll be talking about, but they’ll just be down there laughing it up. … I tell Kool-Aid, ‘Go to your dad, man. You know Coach Saban’s your dad.’ We make those kinds of jokes with him because obviously, before we came, it was Pat Surtain. Before him, it was Minkah [Fitzpatrick].

“Just having that type of relationship with him, I feel like he kind of does look at himself like that. I don’t want to say like a ‘father,’ but like a ‘godfather,’ kind of.”

Although McKinstry has the close bond with Saban, his personality isn’t the most similar to the coach, according to Arnold. Instead, he said it’s freshman Caleb Downs. Arnold and McKinstry usually get Saban to open up a bit and show his fun side, and Malachi Moore is the ringleader of the defensive backs room.

But it’s Downs who reminds Arnold of Saban.

“The one who is like Coach Saban the most — as far as being a perfectionist, as far as not laughing, very, very serious — Caleb Downs,” Arnold said. “Now, the people who get Coach Saban going [and] bring out the personality in him? Me and Kool-Aid. … Coach Saban, the one who is most like him and similar to him would definitely be Caleb Downs. Kool-Aid and I, we bring the personality out of him.

“Malachi, he’s kind of like — Malachi’s the leader of the group. Malachi don’t get too high, he don’t get too low. He’s just chill. Like, almost like a chaperone. He’s just like, ‘What are these guys doing?’ Like, he’s just chill.”

It’s clear Saban and the defensive backs get along well, and that’s helped lead to NFL success at the position. Surtain and Fitzpatrick are two of the success stories to come out of Alabama at DB, and it sounds like more could be on the way.