Nick Saban says modern CFB is ‘rat poison on steroids’ for player focus, intensity
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There’s no rest for the weary in modern college football. Head coaches used to be able to just coach their players throughout the season. These days, the constant recruiting cycle forces programs to operate with an all-gas, no-brakes approach to try and reach the mountain top.
During Saturday’s episode of College GameDay, Nick Saban told his fellow panelists that a former colleague on bye this week has spent his time “talking to agents” instead of coaching. He blasted then blasted the sport’s new environment with a familiar phrase.
“We have a lot of conditional commitments to teams now in college sports,” Saban stated. “What we’ve created is rat poison on steroids, in terms of guys’ ability to be able to stay focused… teams with maturity are gonna be the teams that can sustain their intensity better throughout the year.”
Saban added that the shift in priorities in college football has had negative consequences on player and team development.
“The circumstance that we’ve put these young players in, [we’ve impacted] their ability to sustain and maintain intensity,” Saban said. “If you don’t have intensity, you can’t maintain focus. You can’t really play with discipline. You don’t play smart… all these things lead to inconsistency in performance.”
Saban’s former SEC stomping grounds, LSU and Alabama, have each dealt with inconsistency throughout the year. They hope to perform closer to their peak level on Saturday. The Tigers are actively facing Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on ABC. The Crimson Tide kicks off against Texas A&M in Tuscaloosa at 3:30 p.m. E.T. (ABC).
