Alabama HC Nick Saban finally shares insights on his team's offseason practice and accommodating new players: "We are still evolving"

Nick Saban's Alabama is one of the teams most fans look forward to in college football. For 16 years, the legendary coach has led the Tide to season after season of incredible football performance. And while at it, they have picked up every accolade there is to win in the game, including six national championships and eight SEC championships.

At the recent SEC Media Days, Saban shared insights into his team's preparation for the new college football season, among other things. Saban said:

“We've had a very good off-season with our team. Good off-season program. Good spring practice. Very good summer. The team is taking shape. We are still evolving as a team. Lots of new players, some experienced players to go with some of the good, young players that we have in the program."

"New coaches evolving into the system, and trying to get the young players on our team to be able to develop in the system and so far the players are very enthusiastic and very committed to developing the talent that we have on our team.”

Speaking further, Saban emphasized the importance of having a balanced approach to coaching student-athletes. As much as athletic excellence is important to Saban, academic performance is equally important. He said:

“We've had really good success in a lot of areas in our program but one that I'd like to mention is academics. You know, you're really going to college to prepare yourself for the day you can't play football. That's what we always tell our players."

"So we want our players to have the personal development that's going to help them create the right mindset to be successful in whatever they choose to do, and we also want them to develop a career off the field, which I think is very important to long-term success because NFL stands for Not for Long.”

---

Nick Saban on what he expects of his team going into the new season

Nick Saban also pointed out that he's not going to burden his team with expectations. It is more about the process for him because the process creates the outcome. According to him, the team will “stay focused on the process of what we need to do to play winning football at every position. And I'm not here to create expectations for our team."

Alabama has been tipped by college football experts to overthrow Georgia's two-year reign at the top of college football.

Winning is second nature to Saban and he has created a winning culture at the Tide. Alabama will kick off its season on September 2 against Middle Tennessee at Tuscaloosa.