The 'return' from COVID adds to Saban's lore
Nick Saban was on the sideline in Alabama’s win over Georgia on Saturday. It was a big lift for the Crimson Tide, (Unv. Alabama Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
In a college football season that has presented more than its share of unprecedented twists and turns, Saturday’s game between second-ranked Alabama and third-ranked Georgia threatened to top the list.
The game already featured the top matchup in the football season as the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs prepared for the third installment of a series that witnessed the two playing for the national championship in 2017 and the Southeastern Conference championship in 2018.
This year’s meeting generated plenty of pre-game chatter with the matchup of the nation’s top-rated offense (Alabama) and the conference’s top-rated defense (Georgia).
How about for added attention we take the biggest name in college football and sideline him with a case of coronavirus?
Alabama coach Nick Saban went home to quarantine on Wednesday after he tested positive for COVID-19. After negative tests on Thursday morning, Friday morning and Saturday morning, he was cleared by the Southeastern Conference to return to the field. But how would his players respond?
Apparently, there was no hangover from the obvious distraction as the Tide powered past the Bulldogs 41-24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday night.
“I’ve got a lot of gratitude for the way they sort of handled all the disruption of the week, with the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday deal,” Saban said after the game. “They really stayed focused. I was able to keep good communication with them. I think they responded with a lot of maturity, not to let this bother them. But, you know, the norm now is disruption, it’s the norm, it’s going to happen. We knew that when we went into the season and I’m really, really pleased with the way the players managed the disruption of this week.”
With most of the preparation already accomplished, Saban went home and communicated with staff and players via Zoom while appointing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as the interim head coach for Saturday’s game.
After testing negative for coronavirus on Thursday and Friday, it was obvious Wednesday’s test was a false positive, but the players seemed so focused on the Bulldogs, they had no idea their coach would arrive in time for Saturday’s game.
“It was pretty crazy,” Alabama quarterback Mac Jones admitted. “We were in our quarterback meeting and he just showed up. You look over and Coach Saban is walking in. From that perspective, we were fired up but at the end of the day, he told us (earlier in the week) we were ready and we’ve got to go make plays. Obviously, having him on the sidelines was great and brought some good energy, too.”
“When we saw him walk into our little meeting we had, the energy definitely went up and our confidence level just went through the roof,” Crimson Tide linebacker Dylan Moses added.
So the pre-game buzz about Sarkisian taking over and how Alabama might look different with a “new” head coach was just talk. Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he was never fooled by the pre-game chatter.
“First off, I’m glad he’s healthy because any time anybody thinks they have COVID that’s a concern, especially somebody his age,” Smart said. “You don’t wish that on anybody. I knew the whole time he was going to be able to coach because I knew he had had a negative test (on Thursday) and we thought it was a false positive. It was just a matter of getting enough tests (three) to be able to come back.”
Smart had nothing but praise for the Tide after his team’s whipping on Saturday.
“They’re really disciplined, they’re physical, they’re everything you want to be in a football team because of their physicality and the way they play,” he said. “We’re trying to do the same thing and we didn’t do it as well as they did it.”
Saban said the week’s drama was an eye-opening experience, even if it turned out to be a false alarm.
“I think everybody should have the proper respect because I’m going to tell you, when they tell you you’ve tested positive, that’s not a good feeling,” he said. “I have a tremendous amount of gratitude for the unbelievable number of people that texted and sent prayers. And I believe in things like that so I do think that all helped, so I’d like to thank all those people for their support and their help.
“It’s heartfelt and I really appreciate it. It was emotional for me to come back today. I think (the players) handled the disruption really, really well. I think they were ready to play this game whether I was there or not. I told them (on Wednesday) I haven’t made a block or a tackle or caught a pass for about 40 years now so whether I’m there or not, you guys ought to be able to go out there and take care of business. And I was really proud of the way they handled all that.”