For the first time in his 47 years of coaching, Nick Saban is missing his team’s game. Saban is in COVID quarantine after testing positive earlier this week. Unlike Georgia week earlier this season, Saban’s test was determined to not be a false positive.

Saban has remained as involved as he can be from quarantine. Once the officials are in control (90 minutes prior to Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff), Saban is officially cut off from all communication with Alabama coaches. Appearing on Saturday’s College GameDay, Saban identified where he will be missed most.

“I think they only thing they’re going to be missing is there are certain circumstances that come up during a game that sometimes you have to make a decision on as a head coach,” Saban said, “whether it’s to go for it on fourth down or personnel decisions, that you’re just not going to be there to make. But, I do think that we have some very capable assistants to be able to handle those situations.”

After the positive test result was announced, Saban named offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as Alabama’s acting head coach. Saban has expressed his confidence in Sarkisian, who has prior head coaching experience with Washington and USC.