“I said before, I believe in our team. I do believe in our team and we’re going to work hard to make our team better. And I hope our players respond the right way.

“And it’s not going to be for you. The fans, yes. Because if it was up to you, we’re six-foot under already. We’re dead and buried and gone. Gone.”

Admittedly, coaching a college football team is hard work. Coaching a college football team in the Southeastern Conference — where expectations are high and pressure is intense — is even harder. Coaching at Alabama — a place where conference and national championships are part of the discussion at every turn — is difficult on a scale that I can’t exactly quantify, and frankly not a job that was created for the average individual.

So it’s usually unwise to spend too much time second-guessing the men in those positions; these are difficult jobs in which high-stakes decisions occur under immense pressure.

Now … join me as we second-guess Nick Saban.

Question: Did Alabama make a mistake starting Cooper Bateman over Jake Coker against Ole Miss?

As the ESPN broadcast took to air in Tuscaloosa three weeks ago, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit announced in somewhat confused tones that they had just received word that Alabama had named Bateman — a sophomore who was generally considered the second-string guy to Coker — as the starter for the game. Bateman rewarded the coaching staff by completing 11-of-14 passes for 87 yards — 6.2 yards per completion — but threw a terrible interception to Trae Elston that set up Ole Miss’ first touchdown, and was summarily relieved after the Rebels grabbed a 17-3 lead following a fumbled kickoff.

Coker finished the game 21-of-45 for 201 yards and three touchdowns, nearly leading Alabama from behind twice … except he also threw two picks, and the Rebels held on for the win.

Although the Tide managed to make the College Football Playoff last year after another early-season loss in Oxford, it’s a gargantuan task to win every October and November game in addition to the SEC Championship just to have a chance to make the playoff. So the loss to Ole Miss at home bears scrutiny.

In light of last week’s domination of Georgia in Athens — in which Coker was an efficient 11-of-16 with one touchdown passing and one rushing — it is fair to ask whether replacing him in the team’s first big game was the right move. Did Alabama sacrifice the chance at an undefeated season in order to take a chance with a youngster?

The short answer: I’m actually not sure.

Look, we can rewrite history all we want, but the fact is neither Coker nor Bateman had exactly lit the world on fire going into the Ole Miss game — Coker had looked markedly better against Wisconsin (15-of-21 for 213 yards and a touchdown), but at no point did anybody watching that game say, “Man, this guy is putting on a clinic out there!” Bateman’s supposed strength — his ability as a runner — was supposed to give Alabama’s offense an added dimension against an Ole Miss defensive front Alabama simply could not block.

While we’re here, it’s also worth noting that a number of Bama fans had quietly grumbled (and are still grumbling) about how Coker could be all that great when Florida State had already basically begged him to transfer in 2013, and then he spent a year sitting behind Blake Sims. Everyone involved with his time at FSU — including UGA defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt — insists that the competition between Coker and Jameis Winston was “really close,” but come on. Come on. Really?

So, to be fair, no one believed Jake Coker could do it until we actually saw him do it last week in Athens. And seeing him come through, seeing Nick Saban make a point of going to him to shake his hand at the end of the game, seeing his toothy grin on CBS in the postgame, was enough to think maybe the light bulb has finally gone off.

(Maybe. Stay tuned.)