Nick Saban is still working on the physicality of his Alabama team and trying to figure out which buttons to push and when to push them. He brought up a story from Pete Rose’s meeting with the Tide to drive that point home Saturday.

“I kind of like what Pete Rose said the other night,” said Saban. “He asked (former MLB manager Sparky Anderson) one time, what’s the key to handling players? (Anderson) said ‘Well, you’ve got to know when to kick them in the ass, you’ve got to know when to pat them on the ass, and you’ve got to know when not to say anything.'”

It’s an aspect of tough love Saban admitted the coaching staff is “trying to figure that out” in training camp. At the end of the day, he knows they’ve been kicking a bit more in training camp:

“So, we’re trying to figure that out. But I think I’ve been kicking them in the ass a little more than I’ve been patting them on the ass. But we’ll just keep on keeping on,” Saban said with a chuckle while wrapping up his press conference.

At the end of the day, Saban has shown he usually knows how to get the best out of his players over the course of a season. We’ll see if he’s able to balance out that tough love throughout training camp and whether or not Alabama can get back to the College Football Playoff after missing out a season ago.