ATLANTA – Whenever you get Alabama coach Nick Saban and Florida coach Jim McElwain at the same event, whether it’s SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. or Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, they’re going to get questions about working together from 2008-11 and winning two national championships.

Saban had an interesting anecdote Friday, revealing it almost didn’t happen.

“Pat Hill and I coached together at the Cleveland Browns, and Pat Hill was the head coach at Fresno State. … Pat had talked very highly about Jim,” Saban said. “So when the time came and we needed a coordinator, Jim was one of the guys highest on my list.

“When I interviewed him, I was very impressed with him as a person as well as a football coach. What I said at the luncheon, which was very true, I had a hard time talking him into coming to Alabama. If you were the offensive coordinator at Fresno State and you could be the offensive coordinator at Alabama, I would have thought that was pretty good, but I had to talk him into doing it. That’s how loyal he was and how humble he was, but he did a fabulous job for us.”

It even inspired a rare moment of Saban humor.

“About three days, which you don’t know anything about me, but my patience, three days is a long time for me.”

Sadly, Friday’s press conference wasn’t just Saban making jokes.

Nothing rattles the mature Jalen Hurts

It’s no secret that the Gators will look to pressure Alabama QB Jalen Hurts. Stats show that pressure directly affects the freshman’s passing, but McElwain knows better than to expect it to carry over into the ensuing plays.

“I love watching this guy,” McElwain said. “Nothing — nothing ever bothers him, you know what I’m saying? When you see that in a player like that, I think it speaks not only for him getting there and being part of that thing early — let’s not lose track of those guys that are graduating a little early and coming for spring practice. That is a huge advantage…

“But really, I think being the son of a coach, growing up around it, and understanding that whatever just happened, learn from it and move on. Don’t let it affect you. I’ve never seen him even, in any way, show the emotion of disappointment even when something goes not great. He’s going to be — he’s a great player now and going to be a great player in this conference for the years to come.”

Alabama coach Nick Saban saw that same maturity with how Hurts handled his first action of the season.

“There’s two things that you really can’t coach. You can’t coach experience, and you can’t coach maturity, but this guy has maturity beyond his years,” Saban said. “Maybe it’s because his dad was a coach or his coach or whatever, and the thing that I think has helped him persevere through the season and continue to improve through the season is he doesn’t get down when things don’t go well.

“The very first play that he played against Southern Cal, he fumbled the ball, and he came back and played fairly well. I would say most freshmen playing against Southern Cal, first time you’ve ever been in a college game, if that happened the first play, it would have some impact and effect on the next play and the next play and the next play, and it didn’t. I think that’s what’s helped him.

Both coaches praise embattled Gators coordinator

Florida offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier is not a very popular man in Gainesville these days. The Gators are ranked No. 114 out of 128 teams in total offense, and for the second year in a row, they frequently have to look to score points via alternative means. Nevertheless, Nussmeier was defended by both head coaches at Friday’s press conference, and they pointed to different reasons for Florida’s struggles.

“He’s done an outstanding job based on the hands we were dealt when we got here and figuring out those parts and those pieces and giving us opportunities to win ball games has been really good,” McElwain said of his play-caller. “Obviously, there’s things that need to be continually tweaked and looked at. You know what, the one thing I do know is our guys play their tails off, and that’s great to see.”

A one-year stint at Michigan separates Nussmeier’s time as Saban’s offensive coordinator (2012-13) and his current tenure at Florida. What’s been said publicly about Nussmeier’s leaving Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor has contradicted persistent chatter that the coordinator was asked to leave. Saban offered high praise for his former assistant on Friday.

“He did a great job for us. I mean, we had success with him as our coordinator,” the Alabama coach said. “He’s a hard worker. He’s very bright. He’s a good play caller. And I think that he did outstanding. I didn’t want him to leave when he left, and we were disappointed, but (Michigan) was a great opportunity for him.

“He’s, I think, doing a good job with the players that he has right now. When you have a lot of injuries and you don’t have any consistency in the people that are playing, it makes it more difficult to be able to play with consistency.”

Tim Tebow sees Ohio State as Alabama’s biggest potential challenger

While most of the talk at Friday’s media session centered around Saturday’s game, Tim Tebow was asked which team he thinks poses the biggest threat to Alabama’s repeat championship bid. The SEC Network analyst pointed to Urban Meyer’s squad.

Greg McElroy remains confident that McElwain will fix the Florida offense

As a former quarterback for McElwain (2008-10 at Alabama), Greg McElroy often sounds like a coach himself when breaking down the Gators in the booth or in the studio. I asked him Friday, bluntly, what’s gone wrong this year in Gainesville?

“It’s injuries, to a certain extent,” McElroy said. “The inability of the offensive line to really come together as a cohesive unit. It all starts up front, at the end of the day. And the offensive line, for Florida, has been subpar to where they need to be.

“You also look at the youth that they have a lot of different positions…a lot of young receivers that are breaking into it. A lot of youth, and you know, it’s tough to play in this league for the first time. Mac’s a great coach, and there’s no doubt about it, he’s going to get the personnel necessary, and he’ll have them ready to go. It’s going to be a tall order tomorrow, but I have no concerns about their offense as they move forward.”