Nick Saban, Alabama Players Happy for Steve Sarkisian Landing Texas Job
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — During the 2022 season, Nick Saban will face off against a new former-assistant-turned-head-coach in Steve Sarkisian when Alabama travels to Austin to face Texas.
The Crimson Tide offensive coordinator was named the next leader of the Longhorns program over the weekend, but first he will continue in preparations for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against Ohio State on Jan. 11.
"Sark has done a marvelous job here," Saban said on Monday. "He's very well organized. He works very well with all the people in the organization, players and coaches alike. He's a good play caller on game day. He does a really good job of preparing the players game plan wise for each and every game, and he's just done a great job. He's been a real asset to our organization, and I think he'll be very successful as a head coach. And he's taken over a good program, so it's going to be challenging for anybody that plays them in the future."
As of now, Saban is 23-0 against his pupils and if he gets through the 2021 season unscathed, he'll take that un-blemished record against Sarkisian for the first of a home-and-home series ending in Bryant-Denny Stadium in 2023.
"Well, I think that's probably only a matter of time," Saban said of why no former assistants have been able to beat him. "We've had a lot of great coaches here and they've done a great job for us, and we're always happy to see them get opportunities. That's what I think they work hard for, whether you're an assistant, whether you're an assistant to become a coordinator or a coordinator to become a head coach."
Alabama wide out DeVonta Smith had no hard feelings when it was revealed to him and the rest of the team that Sarkisian was getting another crack at a head coaching position.
"We had a meeting," Smith said. "Coach Saban told us about it. Everyone is happy for Coach Sark. That's part of the business. But he's going to be here with us throughout this last game, and we're trying to finish things the right way."
Having an assistant wear two hats the week of the national title game is a familiar sight for the Crimson Tide. Georgia's Kirby Smart, Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt, and Maryland's Mike Locksley did it all before their respective national championship games in 2015, 2017, and 2018, respectively.
Lane Kiffin accepted the Florida Atlantic job, but left the team prior to Alabama losing to Clemson, 35-31, in the 2016 title contest.
The Crimson Tide has however won national championships in 2015 and 2017 while Smart and Pruitt had taken their new gigs, but lost in 2018 to, once again, the Tigers, 41-16, which was the last time Alabama made an appearance in the CFP title game.
Saban says it's up to the individual assistant as to if they let it become a distraction for the players during the week of the season's biggest game.
Sarkisian's final ride with the Crimson Tide will kick off against the Buckeyes at 7 p.m (CT) from inside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami next Monday on ESPN.
"Well, I think we've had several of these situations where we've had guys playing in the National Championship game and guys are getting head coaching jobs someplace else," Saban said. "I think it's up to each individual. I went through it when I became the head coach at Michigan State, and I was the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns with Bill Belichick and we had like five or six games left to play in the season and had a chance to get in the playoffs, which we did, and went two deep in the playoffs, won the first game, lost the second.
"But I think you just have to separate yourself and focus on -- look, if it wasn't for the players, if it wasn't for the players at the Cleveland Browns being the best defense, I probably would have never got the Michigan State job. So you kind of owe it to the players to give your best, to do your best to help them get prepared for the game so they can play well in the game. That's how I always felt. I think that's how Sark feels. Most of the guys in the past have been able to do that and been effective, and it's not been a distraction for us. We're going to try to help manage it every way that we can so that it's not a distraction for us this year."
