3-2-1: What we know about Saban's status following COVID-19 positive test
Nick Saban cracked a few jokes and provided some reassurance on his current condition Wednesday night as he spoke with reporters through a Zoom call less than an hour after Alabama announced that he and athletics director Greg Byrne tested positive for COVID-19.
“I knew that something really must be bad wrong — as much as I look forward to these Wednesday press conferences — for me not to be there with you today,” Saban said with a laugh. “But I was informed earlier this afternoon that I had a positive test for COVID-19 on a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test.
“At this point, I’m completely asymptomatic, feel fine. Our medical officials have told me as long as I remain asymptomatic, I will have a daily PCR testing per SEC protocol to confirm the initial positive. I found this out about one o’clock today. I came home. I informed our team by Zoom.”
According to the university’s release, Saban and Byrne are the only two members of the program who tested positive for the virus Wednesday. During his Zoom call with reporters, Saban said that Alabama hasn’t had any indication of a spike in positive cases for players.
Wednesday’s news comes days before No. 2 Alabama is set to take on No. 3 Georgia on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT inside of Bryant-Denny Stadium. As of Wednesday night, that game is still scheduled to take place as planned.
With that in mind, here are three observations, two questions and one prediction heading into the matchup.
THREE OBSERVATIONS
Sarkisian to “oversee operations”
With Saban in quarantine, offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian is set to take over his duties on the field. While it’s unclear exactly how far Sarkisian’s power will extend, the offensive coordinator does have previous head coaching experience at Southern California (2014-15) and Washington (2009-13)
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