Nick Saban Shares Why He Struggles to Watch Non-Alabama College Football Games

Nick Saban is as dialed in as it gets when his Alabama football team is on the field, or during film study of upcoming opponents. Watching other games as a fan is very difficult for the legendary coach, though, he admitted during his weekly radio show on Thursday night.

Saban said that he can’t really prevent himself from breaking down a game as a coach, and joked that he’d rather see what’s available on Netflix.

“I really have a hard time enjoying the game, to be honest with you, when I watch it,” Saban said. “All the time that I spend, whether it’s watching a defensive team for our offensive preparation or the other team’s offense for the defense’s preparation. What you’re constantly looking for is what are the issues, what causes problems, what kind of adjustments do you have to make if we were playing against that? That’s all I do.

“I’ve got, like, 200 pages of formations that I go through on Sunday that are matched up with the film, so I write comments on every page about what kind of adjustments do we want to play? … So, when I watch a game on TV, I’m watching and I’m saying, ‘Well, how would we play that play? What would we do if they were in that formation and did that?’ I might as well go back to work. So it’s not really enjoyable, and then I find myself like at the end of the game saying, ‘Why didn’t they call timeout?’ … I’m like managing a game like we’re playing the game. So I’m like, ‘What can we watch on Netflix?’”

For most viewers, watching college football is an enjoyable experience, but it makes sense that Saban slips back into his work habits, when those are so ingrained into his routine. Hopefully Saban can enjoy the game a bit once he steps down from leading his dynastic Crimson Tide, but there is no indication that his retirement is in his immediate future.

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