Nick Saban highlights importance of ‘support and positive energy’ in building a winning football program
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Filling the shoes left by Nick Saban at Alabama was always going to be an uphill battle for former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer.
And still, he’s done a pretty good job thus far. The Crimson Tide finished 9-4 in Year 1 and advanced to the College Football Playoff in Year 2, downing Oklahoma before falling to eventual national champion Indiana.
On Wednesday during the Regions Celebrity Pro-Am, Saban spoke with Paul Finebaum to discuss the Crimson Tide heading into DeBoer’s third year. He noted that while fan expectations should be high and passion is passion, he’d also like to see Tide fans rally around Coach DeBoer, insisting that a positive energy absolutely makes a difference in recruiting, development and overall success.
Here’s what he had to say:
“(Alabama fans) have a tremendous amount of passion and I respect that, and they have high expectations and I respect that, and I would never want to work someplace that didn’t have high expectations. But I also think there’s an element of support and positive energy that goes with having a successful program,” Saban told Paul Finebaum, via Mike Rodak. “That’s what we always had with the fans and that helped us tremendously in recruiting to get great players and it helped us develop them because the players were excited to play in front of that kind of energy and enthusiasm.”
Saban continued…
“I can’t speak for our fans, but I think if they want to be successful, they need to be supportive of the people that are there right now in every way that they can. Because all the negative noise out there is not gonna help us be successful and I want to see us be successful.”
Alabama opens its 2026 campaign at home against East Carolina on September 5.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
