Nick Saban Good Quotations

We're modern-day gladiators, that mental toughness, if you will, is really important to have in a good team. It's got to permeate your team and there has to be a core group of guys that buy in and believe in that.

We're modern-day gladiators, and that mental toughness is really important to have (in) a good team. It's got to permeate your team, and there has to be a core group of guys that buy in and believe in that.

We felt like he did a good job in going in and playing significantly in the last game when Jason got hurt. There is nobody disappointed in his performance. That's where you have to be careful about stats. How many opportunities did he have that he didn't make? That would be a better assessment of what he has or hasn't done.

Would we rather have been in a situation where we didn't have to call timeout by having the best block team that we could on the field? Absolutely, but that wasn't the case, ... I felt that it was an important enough situation in the game, because our guys do a pretty good job inside of getting penetration, to get the right guys in there to do the best job of trying to get the kick blocked.

There is no doubt that quarterback is a critical position in every organization. That really has to be something that we look at to make a good assessment on how we move ahead at that position. We like all of the quarterbacks that we have here, but if we get an opportunity to improve the quality at that position, we most certainly will.

Nobody has a crystal ball. Nobody can make a prediction. But based on history, the guy is making good progress to come back. ... And as you see his progress being made, it doesn't become a leap of faith to determine whether the guy can come back.

If we can get all of the guys to play as well as they are capable of playing, we could have a good football team,

I don't feel like we have enough depth. Lance has certainly made a lot of improvement. He is a veteran player that's starting to feel more comfortable in the system. He did make a couple of good plays in this game.

I am so happy for Ricky. He has played a great role for this team all year. He has been unselfish and has been a really good team guy.

I can't sit here and say that our players aren't as good as their players. I feel terribly that we didn't get the result that we wanted.

He has continued to do a good job every time he's been out there, ... and I think that's something that's got to be taken into consideration.

He is a bright guy. He has a pretty good understanding of what we're doing. It's just going to take some time to get him into football shape.

We talk about playing hard and competing. But you also have to play smart . . . . We did a lot of good things out there, but they were negated by our errors.

Gus has a good understanding of the offense. He's very knowledgeable, and we felt he would give us the best opportunity to be successful and develop this offensive team.

Gus has a good understanding of the offense, he's very knowledgeable. And I think (he) can manage the game the best with a pretty young offensive team right now. . . . We weren't displeased with the job any of the quarterbacks did, but we felt that Gus would give us the best opportunity to be successful.

Gus has a good understanding of the offence. He's very knowledgeable, and we felt he would give us the best opportunity to be successful and develop this offensive team.

He's done a good job. He has minimized his mental mistakes. He's become a starter and he has played fast in the games and made some plays. We (will) keep working with him in hopes that he'll be able to execute on a consistent basis and continue to eliminate those mental errors that can get him in trouble.

He's played a great role for this team all year. He's been unselfish, he's been a really good team guy and he's been very helpful with a lot of other players in terms of what he's done. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it as an organization based on what he's done and how he's played and how he's overcome a lot. We're real proud of him.

He is one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and probably the best quarterback in the SEC. He makes good choices and decisions; they only have one turnover all year. ... He doesn't make a lot of bad plays.

I think the evaluation is he played behind two really good players that were both drafted, and to find out if he has the right stuff to be a consistent performer.

Lamar did a good job for us here. He worked hard. When you look at some of these circumstances, everybody has to have a role on the team. Some of the guys at that position are very good special teams contributors, and that certainly played a role in the backs that we've selected.

I think we have two really good receivers. We have Chris Chambers, who went to the Pro Bowl, and Marty Booker, one of the leaders in yards per catch. If we could find someone who would complement those guys, that would certainly be something that would be a secondary priority on offense if we had the opportunity to do it.

I think there's a pretty good formula for guys who at some point in time were college coaches and then they go to the NFL and, in whatever capacity they serve, they develop even further. When they go back to college, they're even more prepared, and they succeed there.

Playing physical and having the number of guys they have that are difficult to block, these guys are as good as anyone we have played.

Sure, I think that would put two good players together. We thought a lot about how we would implement that on offense and the fact that one of those players won't be here for some of the games in the beginning of the season would make it a little harder to develop at this point.

Managing the game is the most important thing. Gus has done a pretty good job of that. Turnovers are not killing us. We won the turnover battle in the games that we won and we didn't in the one that we lost.

The analogy that I like to use is it doesn't do a lot of good to buy a condo on the beach that the mortgage is so high on it you can't put any furniture in it. You have no couch or TV. And a part of this process is to be able to inspect that condo and make sure that it's worth what you think it might be worth.

There are good players at every spot. Including 16.

We had a great first drive. We looked like a good football team, but we've got to do that with consistency. We just have to take advantage of field position when we get it.

Both guys did some good things and we're going to continue to try to feature both those players.

Even though our offensive line did a really good job this year, it is an area of our team that we may be able to add something to that might enhance it even more, especially with the kind of running backs that we have. I don't think we have an older guy on our team who is not capable of continuing to play. I think the issue becomes, can they do it and sustain it for the season? Those are the tough decisions that we have to make, but we are going to have to do that with defensive players because we need to get younger.

Ed Perry has done a good job for this organization for a long, long time. I have a lot of respect for him as a player and as a person. But from a business standpoint, it always makes sense to go with the younger guy.

Ronnie did some very good things, from a blocking standpoint, and made a couple of nice runs,

Sage obviously did a good job when he was in there. That's something that will certainly be evaluated . . . in terms of who goes where.

Sam has worked hard and played very well for us. He has gotten better and better all year long and has especially played well in the second half of the season. He has been a good guy on our team.

You need to wait five years and then we will know whether this guy is a good player or not,

You really don't know what's going to be available. There's going to be quite a few players picked before we pick. We have to do a good job making sure we've evaluated all the players ahead and behind where we might pick.

There were too many penalties in the game. We talk about playing hard and competing, but you also have to play smart. That's something we need to do a better job of. We did a lot of good things out there, but they were negated by our errors.

For his first time he did a pretty good job.

It's not the kind of football I like to see from our team. We'll work hard to try to get it fixed. There is no excuse for it. We dropped balls, we didn't execute, we didn't play with the kind of urgency and intensity that good teams play with. Everybody needs to decide what kind of team we're going to have.

Donnie has done a good enough job, especially in the last game,

The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage much better in this game. When you run the ball for five yards per carry, that's a good job. And we had pretty decent protection for the quarterbacks.

It's important how you respond to good things and bad things. We should enjoy this for 24 hours, but this is one game in a long season.

It was a good opportunity for us to go out and practice in not so favorable conditions, and that may benefit us someday down the road.

I'm getting too old to run (or) jog. We have fun. It's probably good for the staff that we get together and do something like that.

I'm very confident in him, ... Him being able to manage this situation with the first team out there is going to be a good experience for him. If this circumstance ever pops up in the future, it will be something that will serve him well.

I'm assuming that he will be in a decent place from a physical-conditioning standpoint, and it will take a little while to get him back to where he was. But he was in pretty good condition when this started and I think he's worked hard, and I think it will come back quickly to him.

I know he's going through due process. Ricky is as good a guy as anyone I've ever coached. I never had a problem with him. I have nothing but the highest regard for him. I hope things work out to have him on our team in the future.

He's still hard to block. He does a great job of using his hands. He still plays with a lot of power. He still can rush and block people back to the quarterback. He's very instinctive on the field -- batting balls down and making a lot of plays. I think the guy is an astounding player and I think he's had a really good year doing what they expect him to do.

He sets a good example. He's a hard worker, a great person, a good guy. He tries to do everything that you want him to do. ... I think that his energy level and his example certainly affect other people.

He's just a good coach. He's going to help develop and implement what we do.

This is a great football game against a very good football team. A lot of character, a lot of heart out there today on both sides of the ball -- that's what makes it special, when you can persevere and come away with the win.

A.J. did a pretty good job when he was in there, ... I want to build on the identity, the attitude. We want our players to overcome adversity in the game.

A good defense starts with defending the middle of the field, and that starts with being able to stop the run.

The competency and the chemistry that you can create certainly helps make for a good team. Those are the situations that we would consider relative to Terrell Owens.