Nick Saban analyzes how Clemson's College Football Playoff experience can benefit as a 12-seed

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is one of two active head coaches to have won a national title, with the other being Georgia’s Kirby Smart. Swinney had Clemson in the College Football Playoff every year from 2015-2020, and the Tigers won a pair of national titles during that time.

Swinney has proven to be one of the best big-game coaches in the country, and he knows as well as anyone how to navigate a CFP run. Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban joined The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and was asked if Swinney’s experience in the CFP can help the Tigers this year.

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“When you make the playoffs the first time it’s like a new experience. You’re not sure what the practice schedule should be, where we should go, how much time off should we have for Christmas?” Nick Saban said. “I mean you’ve got all these factors… because it’s different than the normal routine of a regular week game during the season.

“And then how to handle the players, how to motivate the players, how to make sure that you get them back to top performance because you have some time off and how you manage the time off. I think all those factors are a benefit when you have experience because you’ve created that horizon for yourself before, so you’ve experienced it and it’s going to be beneficial to your players.”

Saban is well aware of just how good of a coach Swinney is. Clemson and Alabama faced off four straight years in the CFP from 2015-2018, splitting the four matchups.

Saban believes Swinney has a strong grasp of what it takes to be successful in the playoff.

“The confidence that you have because you have been successful in those situations, I think, is important as well,” Nick Saban said.

Still, ultimately it comes down to executing and making the plays to win, according to Saban. Yes, it’s nice to have the experience Swinney has in the CFP. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t play well, take care of the football, etc.

“I still think that this competition now with the 12 teams that are in there and who you have to play, you’re not going to play any bad teams,” Saban said. “So you’re not going to be able to make a lot of mental errors, turn the ball over, not score in the red-zone. All the things that contribute to winning, that’s still going to be what in the end creates winning and losing, I think, in these playoffs.”