Nick Saban praises Commodores after Alabama upset: 'It's good for the SEC if Vanderbilt is good'

Vanderbilt had itself a week after pulling the all-time upset over No. 1 Alabama in Nashville. That earned them a lot of rare respect nationally, including some from Nick Saban now.

Saban applauded the Commodore’s win over ‘Bama while on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday. Despite it coming against his previous program, he thinks it’s great for the conference to have this version of Vanderbilt.

“It is awesome. I think it’s good for the SEC if Vanderbilt is good, has hope, and has a chance. I think they do,” said Saban. “They do have, you know, hope for, you know, hopefully having maybe a chance to have a winning season.”

Surprised by the compliments, McAfee noted what it took for Saban to have to say those things about Vandy. He didn’t disagree, though, based on what they achieved against Alabama.

“They deserve it. I mean, they beat Alabama, the No. 1 team in the country at the time,” Saban said.

However, they were easier for Saban to say now once he actually watched the game on film. He was just getting back from Berkeley by the time that it was ending live so he had to see it on tape. That evaluation went about as you’d expect for the former coach of the Crimson Tide.

“You know, I didn’t get to see it until I got home,” Saban said. “It was over about the same time that I got home and then I’m watching it on tape. So that was really hard.”

Saban dives deeper into recent ‘peaks and valleys in college football’

We’ve already seen several upsets across the sport as we reach the halfway point of the season with none being bigger than Vanderbilt over Alabama. That’s especially so after the Tide had won the week prior over Georgia.

With that, Saban knows it can happen to anyone at any time. If you’re not ready by any given game, everyone is capable of losing, including top teams like ‘Bama.

“I think that what you see is a lot of peaks and valleys in college football right now. A lot of guys, a lot of teams that have had big wins have significant letdowns, you know, the next week,” Saban noted to McAfee. “You know, I always talk about complacency. If you put a little complacency with a little arrogance because you had a big win, wherever it was, and you don’t focus on the right things the next week? You really don’t get the kind of results that you’d like to have because, when you’re not focused on the right stuff, your execution goes to pot in a hurry.”

As for that kind of arrogance per se, Saban said it had someone remind him of a quote that he had before. Nobody is entitled to anything on any day, which, in turn, makes it your job to be as great as you can be to go out and earn it yourself.

“You know, I gave this – somebody sent it to me after Alabama got beat. It was a speech that I gave at a press conference,” said Saban. “I did this thing – and I don’t even know if I can repeat it exactly right. It was about nothing, you know. What are you entitled to when you get up in the morning? Nothing. What should you expect from other people? Nothing. If you have ability and you don’t have discipline or focus, what do you get? Nothing. If you don’t prepare the right way and pay attention to detail, what do you get? Nothing. So, nothing is more important than trying to be the best you can be every day.”