Alabama coach Nick Saban holds a special place for former star QB Tua Tagovailoa, and a lot of those feelings are tied to Tagovailoa’s personality and injury history.

When the quarterback got his first NFL start — and win — on Sunday, Saban was knee-deep in meetings and couldn’t watch it live, something he laments about all of the former Alabama players in the NFL. But in terms of Tagovailoa’s success, Saban was not surprised, and shared a lot of those thoughts in an interview with Sports Illustrated.

Saban shared that while Tagovailoa often performs well in practice, it was his personality that truly set him apart from even other great players.

“It is his personality,” Saban said. “It is a part of his culture to respect other people, to treat other people with respect. I don’t know that we’ve ever had a player that’s done it any better than Tua, but that’s just who he is. If you ask him, How are you doing today, he’ll say, Great, thanks for asking. Most guys like that, at 18 years old, they don’t say, Thanks for asking. It’s who he is.”

Making the move to NFL was made easier by being at Alabama and playing in the SEC largely because of the level of competition.

“I don’t think there’s any question about it — he played in a lot of big games here against very good competition in the SEC, as well as in playoff games,” Saban said. “I think it’s the best you can do to get prepared. There’s no question, if you’re going from high school to college, or college to the NFL, there’s a difference. And I think you have to adjust and adapt to those things.

“But I don’t think you could be in a better situation from a college standpoint, in terms of the competition here, the level of competition you play against, the number of guys you play against that you will play against again in the NFL, I do think it prepared him well.”

Tagovailoa has earned some positive marks although the game was largely won by defense and special teams units. But there’s also a question about Tagovailoa’s future in Miami, and whether he is truly a franchise quarterback, or if the organization would spend another high draft pick on a QB next year.

“It’s hard to answer hypothetical questions, but I have a lot of confidence in the guy,” Saban said. “I have a lot of confidence in his ability, his leadership. And if he’s fortunate enough to stay healthy, I think he’ll develop and have a really good career.”