Nick Saban says he takes virus precautions seriously: 'Mom, I'm not giving you a hug today because I love you'
Alabama coach Nick Saban has outlined a series of messages for his players and the Crimson Tide community to do their part to stop the spread of the coronavirus. That includes no hugs for his 88-year-old mother.
Saban said that he visits with his mom on a park bench, but stays 10 feet away.
“I say, ‘Mom, I’m not giving you a hug today because I love you,'” he said in a meeting with reporters. “There’s a lot of changes we all have to make in our lifestyle and things that we do to try to stay safe. We certainly have respected those things.”
Saban said Alabama players and staff continue to distance themselves from one another during meetings, and everyone wears a mask. The coach said he doesn’t fear the issue because there is great medical care at Alabama.
“We’ve got great medical protocols to try to keep people safe and I feel very confident in trying to respect and do those things as well as possible,” Saban said.
The university earlier this week reported that 237 UA students tested positive for COVID-19 out of the 25,948 who completed testing either at one of the 13 GuideSafe testing sites statewide, through a mail-in test or by a personal physician.
“I say, ‘Mom, I’m not giving you a hug today because I love you.'”
Be like Nick Saban. pic.twitter.com/lNsc1Zc6nt
— Drew Carter (@Drewdle25) August 17, 2020