Nick Saban: 'Texas is built like an SEC team'

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is in attendance at the 2024 SEC Football Media Days in his new role for ESPN. Now that he is no longer leading a program, the legendary Crimson Tide head coach has the ability to give his honest opinion on the rest of the SEC, including newcomers Texas and Oklahoma.

While discussing the conference he once called home on CFB Live, Saban broke down the two new additions, the Longhorns and Sooners. When broaching the topic of Texas, the former Alabama head coach had some high praise for the Austin, Texas-based program.

“I think, first of all, Texas is built like an SEC team,” opened Saban. “They’ve got big folks on offense and defense; they can play in the trenches, which is different for most teams that don’t play in the SEC. The quality of upfront people that you have at Texas matches that. So that’s not gonna be a problem. I think the No. 1 thing is they’re going to play a more difficult schedule from top to bottom. They’re gonna play more tough teams. How do you respond to adversity? Because you’re gonna have some. Some people love it and see it as an opportunity to have a great victory.

“Other people get frustrated and anxious about it, and that does not help your performance. So, all these little factors are going to contribute to how well Texas can do. But I think they have a really good team and a really good shot. And I also think Arch Manning is going to help the backup quarterback situation if Quinn Ewers does have issues from an injury standpoint. Because he played fantastic in the spring game.”

Saban is all too familiar with Texas on multiple levels. The first national championship he brought home to Tuscaloosa was courtesy of a 37-21 victory over the Longhorns in the 2009 national championship game. However, this last season, Texas delivered the worst home loss for Alabama in the Nick Saban era. And, not to mention, the Longhorns are also led by one of his former coordinators who helped him bring home a national title in 2020: Steve Sarkisian.

What Saban sees in Texas is similar to that of the rest of the college football world. The Longhorns have the talent in-house to compete with anybody in the country. They also have a head coach and a quarterback tandem (Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning) that will give opposing defenses nightmares this year and for years to come. And the Longhorns’ own defense is nothing to shake a stick at. With all that mixed together in 2024, Saban sees a team that is not only built like an SEC team but has the potential to be the top team in the conference.