Nick Saban talks about approach to handling LSU’s hostile crowd
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Nick Saban went 12-5 against LSU as Alabama‘s head coach. Before a brief stint with the Miami Dolphins, though, he was at the helm of the Tigers’ program, leading it to a national championship in 2003.
Needless to say, Saban is very familiar with Tiger Stadium and its atmosphere. It’s something Clemson will have to contend with on Saturday during its first-ever trip to Baton Rouge.
But Saban noted during his weekly in-season appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday that there’s a danger in leaning too much on the fans in the stands versus making plays on the field. It’s a lesson his LSU teams had to learn the hard way early in his tenure.
“There was so much passion and so much energy and enthusiasm for games, I sometimes thought that the players just took it for granted that when they played at home. things would go the way they wanted them to go.” Saban said.
After a 13-10 loss to UAB in his first season, Saban set up a visual reminder in the locker room to help keep his teams focused.
“I actually put a sign up in the locker room that said, ‘It’s not the atmosphere in Tiger Stadium. It’s the Tigers in the stadium that make a difference,'” he said.
“So I wanted the players to know that they still had to impact the game and play high-quality football if they were going to have a chance to be successful, and that the crowd was not going to make any plays in the game, and that we needed to be responsible for making those plays.”
Saban will be watching if this season’s edition of LSU, led by Lane Kiffin, avoids making the same mistake the 2000 team did.
“I know when there’s this kind of hype for a game, like there is for this Clemson game, Lane’s first game, new era, all that kind of stuff, I hope that does not impact LSU’s team,” Saban said.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
