Nick Saban: 'Texas was built like an SEC team', Oklahoma 'not as big and as physical up front'
Much has been made going into this season about how Texas and Oklahoma will adjust to the SEC. To Nick Saban, though, only one of them will definitely be able to handle it coming in.
Saban gave his takes on the Longhorns and the Sooners in the league during an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday from Dublin, Ireland.
Saban began with Texas who are led by his former assistant in Steve Sarkisian. With that, he says they’re immediately a match in the conference with what they have in the trenches.
“Well, I’ll say this about Texas. Texas was built like an SEC team,” said Saban. “Sark built Texas like an SEC team. They have big people up front. They’re physical.”
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After three seasons in two stints under Saban in Tuscaloosa, Sarkisian saw first-hand what life was like in the Southeastern Conference. Since then in Austin, he has been preparing and building his program like that, especially in preparation of this realignment. They now look as prepared for this as they have in years after going 12-2, winning the Big 12 Championship, and making the College Football Playoff in 2023.
However, that means Saban has his concerns about that same aspect for the Sooners. He likes what he has seen from them athletically but isn’t sure of how they’ll deal with the physicality on the lines. It’s much like the questions he also has about Oregon in their own transition this fall.
“You know, watching Oklahoma this offseason, they are one of the most athletic teams in the country but they are not as big and as physical up front,” Saban said. “I think – this may be a problem for Oregon too. Oregon is going to be extremely skillful but can they match up up front, even in the Big Ten?”
Brent Venables got to see the build of those teams from the opposite perspective. He often matched up with them, specifically Alabama, while as the defensive coordinator at Clemson. He has now taken that different blueprint to Norman and is developing the roster in his own way at OU. They’re also on a positive trajectory, although not of the same heights at Texas, after going 10-3 last season.
Texas and Oklahoma are historically on par with the best of the best in the SEC. How they fit into the day-to-day with them, though, especially the Sooners, is going to be something Saban, along with the rest of the sport, take note of in 2024.