Nick Saban Reveals Nickname He Called Mac Jones While at Alabama

Former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones won his third consecutive game on Thursday night with the San Francisco 49ers after subbing in for starter Brock Purdy following an injury.

The 15th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft hasn't had the best start to his career, as this is the third team he's been on. But he's truly broken out this season and his fiery personality over the past three weeks looks a bit familiar.

Legendary former Alabama head coach Nick Saban said on Friday that Jones wasn't afraid to talk back to the coaches and get upset with himself and teammates during practice. His emotions led to Saban giving him a nickname five years ago that stems from an International Tennis Hall-of-Famer, who won seven Grand Slam singles titles and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles.

"I used to call him John McEnroe," Saban said. "Mac was a tennis player in high school. When Mac threw a bad pass, he'd kick and fuss and cuss and all that, so I'd say, 'John, are you going to throw your racket now?'

"I said, 'You can't do that and play quarterback. You're affecting the whole team out here. You make one bad play, and you go bananas, you can't do that. You're going to have bad plays, you're going to play the next play, you can't get emotional about it and let it affect everyone around you with your negative body language.' It's not an individual sport. You can't throw your racket, cut that s—t out."

Saban explained that when a player of his shows disappointment during the game, it shows the opponent is in their head and that "he's whipping your butt." As previously stated, Jones' outbursts would come on the practice field and not on Saturdays.

"The year Mac Jones played quarterback for us in 2020 and we won the National Championship, he never did that once," Saban said. "He was a great leader, he was a team guy and executed everything to perfection."

Jones was a member of an offense that featured three more skill players who were first-round draft picks: Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, Doak Walker Award winner Najee Harris and All-SEC wide receiver and returner Jaylen Waddle. But fast forward to Thursday night, every single typical starting skill player, except for running back Christian McCaffrey, was out with an injury, and Jones still defeated the then-3-1 Los Angeles Rams.

"It does give me great joy," Saban said. "I'm very proud of all our guys that go on [to the NFL]. This is what they came here to do. This is why they work hard. They wanted to win at Alabama, but they also wanted to have a career for themselves and play in the NFL. When they do it and are successful, it makes me feel wonderful and very proud. Almost like a father who is proud of his son, which I've had the opportunity to be quite a bit as well.

"I'm so happy for Mac, but I think Mac was one of those guys that was in bad situations in New England, relative to coaching and all of that type of stuff. Who was the offensive coordinator, how he got developed when he came in the league — he hasn't had great circumstances. I think right now he is in a really good circumstance with [49ers head coach Kyle] Shanahan, their offense, the players he has around him, because he is a guy that will execute.

"He's really, really smart, so he's going to do exactly what you tell him to do. And he wants to know exactly what you want him to do. I'm not sure he always got told what was expected of him before going to the 49ers."

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