Nick Saban exposes Alabama's "arrogance" after shocking loss against Vanderbilt

Nick Saban, the former coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, spoke about the team's 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt in Week 6 on Saturday's episode of "College GameDay." He talked about a team that entered the matchup after a 41-34 win over the then-No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs the previous week.

"I saw a little bit of complacency, almost even arrogance, after the Georgia win," Saban said. "That creates blatant disregard for doing what's right."

Nick Saban spent 17 seasons with the Alabama Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2023. He had tremendous success, leading the program to six national championships (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020).

Is there any truth to Nick Saban's statement about Alabama?

We cannot get into the minds of the players and coaches of the Alabama Crimson Tide, so it is impossible to confirm what Nick Saban said. However, based on the results, it is hard not to think it was a factor.

Coach Kalen DeBoer, who replaced Saban earlier this year, was asked if discipline in games was an issue for his Alabama squad.

"I mean, when you come out on the short end, everything gets amplified, right?" DeBoer said. "You look into everything on another level. In regard to that, since that was the question, you can point to every little thing that happened, and it being a lack of focus or discipline and having to do it better. And I think what it really comes down to is doing it better over and over.

"We gave ourselves little room for error with the way the game started, right? They go down and put a nice drive together. Then we have the ball bounce off the helmet, goes for an interception, for a touchdown and so we leave ourselves very little room for error.

"Knowing that the plan that they already had placed because it showed up on film in weeks prior to playing us is that they will play ball control offense. They'll let the clock run down, shorten the game. They get a lead even more so, and then you the whole taking them out of their game is going to be harder to do because we're playing from behind."

It is hard not to think Nick Saban is right about complacency when you look at the points allowed by Alabama in games against unranked opponents. In its previous three games against unranked opponents, the Crimson Tide allowed 0, 16 and 10 points. However, it allowed 40 against Vanderbilt, so complacency could have been a factor.