Nick Saban Defends Bryce Young and Will Anderson: 'They're not defined by one game'
INDIANAPOLIS — When handling a loss or a failure, different types of people handle failure in different types of ways. Some deal with loss by pointing fingers at others for their shortcomings or unfortunate happenstances, while others put the blame on themselves, regardless of whether they are at fault or not.
For Alabama football, its two sophomore stars performed the latter.
After the Crimson Tide's 33-18 loss at the hands of Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, quarterback Bryce Young and outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. placed the majority of the blame on themselves. For Young in particular, he placed all the blame on himself.
"I'm tremendously proud of how we played offensively, how people stepped up," Young said. "I'm tremendously proud of how everyone around me played. And it's on me to perform better. People stepped up in big moments when they were supposed to. And we had chances, had opportunities. And at the end of the day I didn't get the ball into the end zone. And that's on me.
"I love my guys. I'll forever love my guys. I wouldn't trade my guys for anything. And I'm – it's a little tough that I let them down today. But I love those guys and they stepped up. Adversity has been our thing all year. I've just gotta do better with it."
Anderson gave similar sentiments, absorbing responsibility and protecting his teammates.
Right as the player portion of the opening postgame press conference concluded, head coach Nick Saban, who was sitting in-between the sophomore duo, held out his arms to signal them to stay in place for just a moment longer.
"I'd like to say something," Saban said to the Zoom call's moderator. "Can I say something?"
"Absolutely," she responded.
Saban proceeded to defend both players, clearly sending a message more to them than the media that their efforts this season weren't for nothing.
"These two guys sitting up here, they're not defined by one game, they played great for us all year, they were great competitors, great leaders on this team and they contributed tremendously to the success of this team," Saban said. "And we would not be here without them. And both of them take responsibility for the loss, but both of them contributed in a lot of ways, in a positive way, to giving us a chance to win and a chance to be here to have an opportunity to win.
"So, I just want to thank them for that and let everybody know how proud I am of these two guys."
Both players thanked Saban and proceeded off of the stage. It was certainly an unusual moment, but a heartfelt one between a coach and his players.
Young finished the game completing 35-of-57 passes for 369 yards and a touchdown. However, Young's second of two interceptions was a pick-six late in the fourth quarter, a dagger that sealed the win and the title for the Bulldogs.
For a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, it was certainly not the successful performance that he dreamed of heading into the game. However, the loss — as Saban reiterated — was not due to the shortcomings of one man.
Anderson's historic season at Alabama came to a relatively quiet conclusion. Through the game's 60 minutes, the outside linebacker recorded just four tackles, with none being for a loss.
After the two players departed the Zoom, Saban spoke at-length regarding how proud he is of both Young and Anderson.
"They're great competitors," Saban said. "Great competitors always respond well to adversity. There's nobody that feels worse about losing this game than these two guys.
"So I know we look at things from our perspective, but internally, on a team, these players put a lot of hard work in. They made a lot of sacrifices to contribute to the team so the team has a chance to have success, to have an opportunity to be here."
Both Young and Anderson have at least one season left at Alabama, and next season's team is shaping up to be a solid one. One of the weaknesses for the 2021 team was its lack of experience, which was ironically one of its biggest strengths on the 2020 CFP title team.
With both players slated to return along with more experience around the program as a whole, the fall of 2022 will no doubt see a hungry Young and Anderson return for their third season in Tuscaloosa.
Saban noted that as bad as many people feel about tonight's loss, Young and Anderson likely feel worse than everyone else. However, he also was sure to point out that he anticipates both players overcoming the adversity from the loss to Georgia quite quickly.
"There's nobody that feels worse about that than them," Saban said. "And there's nobody that's going to want to do more to try to get better so that they have an opportunity to have success in the future.
"And I think that's what great character people do. And I think this team demonstrated great character all year long in their ability to overcome a lot of tough things. And these two young men are great competitors and they'll overcome it very well, I'm sure."
