Nick Saban 'Nobody Takes a Loss Harder Than the Players'

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The Alabama football program welcomed the Texas Longhorns into Tuscaloosa on Saturday night and was left with a soul-searching 34-24 loss.
As with any of Alabama head coach Nick Saban's just 28 losses over the course of his 17-year tenure in Tuscaloosa the tenor is tense around the Mal Moore Athletic facility as the Tide tries to bounce back.
What adjustments does the team make? Will they be driven by schematic shifts of personnel adjustments? When does Saban and his staff feel the time is right to give other players opportunities?
"I think everything is performance based. Like I said before, and I've said this to the team. If you want security at your position then you have to play well. That's what gets you security. If you're not playing well, then we're going to evaluate, can anybody else play that position more consistently, better, whatever?," said Saban on Wednesday.
"Everybody's trying, everybody's trying to give their best. People are sometimes critical of whatever. But nobody takes a loss harder than the players. Nobody takes a loss harder than the coaches because it's our blood, sweat and tears that we put into it. We wanna do it better and I think the players want to do it better, but we live in a result oriented world so we have to live with consequences of what we do."
What do those consequences look like for the 2023 Crimson Tide? Alabama dropped to No. 10 in the latest AP Poll and must likely run the table to have an opportunity at the College Football playoffs.
The road to redeeming the season starts on Saturday as the Tide travels to Tampa to take on the South Florida Bulls.
The Bulls provide a schematic simulation of the offense the Tennessee Volunteers run and allows the Tide to test themselves against a fast paced offense. Will the fans see changes along the offensive line? Will there be a different quarterback under center or other changes that have been theorized throughout the week?
"I don't know if I can truly answer your question as to when do you make those decision. I think it's truly got to be based on someone's performance and how it's affecting everybody else on the team," said Saban.
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Joe Gaither oversees videos and podcasts for Alabama Crimson Tide On SI/BamaCentral. He began his sports media career in radio in 2019, working for three years in Tuscaloosa covering the University of Alabama and other local high school sports. In 2023 he joined BamaCentral to cover a variety of Crimson Tide sports and recruiting, in addition to hosting the “Joe Gaither Show” podcast. His work has also appeared on the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt web sites.
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