TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Nick Saban’s home office Saturday afternoon.
After testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, the Alabama head coach was unable to lead his team onto the field during its 42-13 victory over Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Instead, Saban was confined in isolation at home, taking in the game in front of the television.
He admits, there might have been some moments of tension.
“I think I did yell at the TV a couple times today,” Saban said with a smile. “A couple times when we made some mistakes in coverage. A couple times when we missed some tackles. A couple times when Mac (Jones) didn’t throw the ball to the guy I thought he should have thrown it to."
The head coach then let out a rare laugh.
“I guess it was more than a couple,” he said.
This was certainly a different experience for Saban as it served as the first time in his 14 seasons with Alabama that he hasn’t been on the field with his team. The head coach said he “felt a little helpless” at times while stating it was a bit different to be able to hear his wife Terry cheer from downstairs.
Fortunately for Saban and Alabama, there weren’t too many stressful moments in the Tide’s blowout win. After going three-and-out on its first possession, Alabama rallied for three straight touchdown drives to take a commanding 21-3 lead in the second into the half.
Offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian took over Saban’s head-coaching duties while continuing to call the offense. The former head coach didn’t seem too stressed by his added responsibilities, coaching Alabama to 445 total yards while never running into any serious hiccups on the afternoon.
As interim head coach, Sarkisian was in charge of calling timeouts and making situational decisions such as going for it on fourth down or attempting two-point attempts after touchdowns. However, those calls are a bit easier to make in a 29-point win.
“I didn’t think there were a lot of those tough situations that came up," Saban said. "A couple of times that we made it on third down that we could have might have gone for it on fourth down. But those decisions didn’t really come up. I thought he was well-prepared for what he needed to do, and I think he did a really good job.”
All and all things went about as easy as they could for Saban during his time in isolation. However, that didn’t stop his players from having a little fun imagining what he was like watching them from afar.
“When we did mess up, I could see him hollering at the TV or something, probably throwing something around” defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis said. “Only he knows.”
Added receiver DeVonta Smith: “That’s pretty much what I figured what happened. He’d be yelling at the TV when stuff didn’t go right. He’d be out there like he was on the field.”
Along with missing out on the Iron Bowl, Saban said he also regrets having to be absent for Senior Day as Alabama honored 17 seniors before the game. While Saban wasn’t able to be in attendance, he did deliver a pre-recorded message over the video board before the ceremony.
“Both are equally difficult to deal with when you’re a coach and you have so much respect and admiration for this senior class and all that they’ve accomplished and all that they’ve done,” Saban said. “You know, this is one of the best classes of people that we’ve ever had. Great leadership, really good character. They’ve inspired and impacted a lot of other guys on our team in a really positive way.”
SEC rules state that individuals with a symptomatic infection must isolate at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms. In addition, at least 24 hours must have passed since the last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and symptom improvement has occurred.
Saban did not state when he first started experiencing symptoms, but the expectation is that he is on pace to coach No. 1 Alabama in its game against LSU next Saturday at 7 p.m. CT
Following Saturday’s game against Auburn, the head coach said he felt “great.” Of course, the numbers on the scoreboard had a bit to do with that.
“It’s just a great team win,” Saban said. “I can’t really explain it.”
