Nick Saban reveals his message for Alabama in 2018, state of QB competition post-spring
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A big key to Nick Saban’s success at Alabama has been his ability to focus on the next task at hand, and perhaps more importantly, getting his players and his entire organization to do the same.
Taking that into consideration, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the message for his Alabama team coming off yet another National Championship is to improve each and every day this offseason.
During a recent sit-down interview with the SEC Network, Saban offered up these thoughts when discussing the message he’s drilling into his players’ heads this offseason.
“I think the challenge is to get everybody reconnected to what this team needs to do to be a successful team,” Saban said. “The constant message is always, it doesn’t matter how you did in the past, we aren’t really worrying about the future but what are you doing today to get to where you want to be. We are always talking about the standard. Trying to get people to understand what they are capable of.”
The Alabama coach also gave his thoughts on the program’s ongoing quarterback competition between Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa.
“There’s a lot of mutual respect that each one has for the other. They put the team first. They’ve been very, very supportive of one another, depending on who got to play. The other guy wants to see that guy do well,” Saban continued. “So, I think it’s a relationship that’s built out of respect and trust. They’ve been really good for each other, I think and I think the competition has made them both better.”
Saban then touched on each individual QB and what he needs to see from each of them, starting with Hurts.
“We keep working with Jalen because he’s such a great athlete, and he can make plays in so many ways, to be more consistent as a pocket passer,” he said. “I don’t think the play action and moving in the pocket is an issue for him and he does a great job of taking care of the ball. He’s got a lot of confidence in making the right call and decisions.”
And finally, Saban touched on Tua and what he needs to improve upon in order to gain the trust of his head coach.
“Tua is very instinctive as a passer but I think the other parts of the game is something he needs to grow and develop; but he was just a freshman, and he probably didn’t play as much as maybe I would have liked for him to play to be able to develop those skills but that’s going to be key for him,” Saban said.
Based on those comments, it doesn’t appear he’s any closer to naming a starter following the spring than he was heading into camp.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
