What Saban Said on the Spring Update Show

Eli Gold hosted an Alabama Athletic Spring Update Show in place of what was supposed to be an A-Day broadcast. The voice of the Crimson Tide sat down with athletic director Greg Byrne, baseball coach Brad Bohannon and finished off with Alabama football coach Nick Saban.

Saban admitted that he has been following the social distancing guidelines and admitted that the Easter holiday was tough for him because he was separated from his family.

The coach said he's been staying busy throughout this time by going into the office each day until around noon. He said he is one of about three employees still going into the Mal Moore Athletic Complex, he holds a zoom meeting with his staff at 7:30 to organize the day. Saban and the coaches work on next year's opponents, plan what they will cover with their players later in the day and discuss the recruiting game-plan.

Saban said the players have been very focused during the meeting times despite meeting through their computer screens. He said the meetings consist of a welfare check on the players, an academic check and then they do organized installation of concepts. Saban said at the moment they are in between day four and day five of what would be the spring practice instillation.

Saban told Gold about how he first gained knowledge of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea. The head coach said the players they recruited out of IMG Academy told him of their methods. He called the pair very advanced in the field of sports performance and injury prevention. To the coach hiring the pair to replace longtime strength and conditioning coach was a no brainer.

Saban talked about the importance of creating a testing program for his players and staff members and that it will be important to have that if the students are welcomed back on campus.

Gold asked coach Saban about the NFL Draft and the coach said he was looking forward to observing the draft though he will miss being able celebrate with the players as they achieve their dreams.

Saban complimented NFL Draft prospect Jedrick Wills and mentioned he believes he's capable of transitioning to the left tackle position in the NFL. He said Wills will just have to have to take enough repetitions on the left side to get comfortable.

The accomplished Alabama coach mentioned how much he is looking forward to this season and seeing his players develop. He said that prior to the cancellation of spring practice the players were on track to doing things very well. The offseason program was going well, the academic activity was going strong and there were the fewest number of problems this season.

The coach wrapped up by saying that everyone needs to do their part to defeat the pandemic so that we can get back to normal life. He equated us all to one big team and we all need to focus on what we can control in order to handle our own responsibility.