Nick Saban has been involved in several intense matchups against Urban Meyer on the gridiron but Alabama’s coach has never faced off against the former Ohio State coach’s successor, Ryan Day.

Now that the two coaches are set to finally meet, each after leading their respective programs to undefeated regular seasons, conference championship titles and wins in the College Football Playoff semifinals, we’ll soon find out which one will best the other in their first meeting on the field.

During his Monday afternoon press conference, Saban was asked to share his thoughts on Day and the job he’s done at Ohio State.

“I think he’s an outstanding coach,” Saban said of Day. “I think they do a fantastic job with their team, the way their team competes, the way the team plays, the discipline, the togetherness that they have, the way they execute.

“Offensively, he does a good job of trying to manage and control the tempo of the game on offense.”

Perhaps the best compliment a coach can give another man in his profession is to note how well a team manages to execute a gameplan.

The way Saban views Ohio State, it’s evident that the Buckeyes execute at a very high level under Day’s guidance.

“They do a really good job of executing, which is all about coaching your players on what to do, how to do it, why it’s important that way. They do it extremely well,” Saban continued. “They present a lot of problems with the scheme they run. They do a good job executing it, which is probably the most important thing you see as a coach.

“They’ve certainly done that at Ohio State with his entire team, but I notice he’s probably a little more involved with the offense. They do an outstanding job.”