ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 01: Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 35-28 in the 2018 SEC Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 1, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)Saturday was a very good day for Nick Saban. The Alabama football coach was cleared to lead his team, after three straight days of negative COVID-19 tests following his Wednesday positive, and the Crimson Tide rolled to a big 41-24 win over Georgia.
After the game, Saban was pretty pumped. We got a peak at a brief moment of euphoria from the typically stone-faced head coach, as he danced with his players in the locker room. Naturally, the video went very viral after it was put up.
Alabama has since pulled the original tweet down, but it lives on thanks to the internet. It doesn’t sound like Saban minded showing off a bit of that joy, though. He discussed the celebration this week.
“I love seeing the players have fun and enjoy themselves when they feel a sense of accomplishment,” Saban said, according to AL.com. “Because we have a tremendous amount of respect for Georgia and the team they had and what it was going to take to have a chance to be successful against them, and they were just really excited and I was really happy to see them excited.”
Won’t let them ruin this moment. pic.twitter.com/ORk4aPmXpx
— Bryant-Denny Stadium (@BryantDenny_UA) October 18, 2020
Most would probably figure Nick Saban to be someone who treats every win the same, but he said exactly the opposite. He wants players to enjoy their accomplishments and have fun after big wins.
“We’ve won games around here where we go into the locker room and everybody just kind of — this is just what everybody expects,” Saban said. “And I hate that.
“I hate to see that. I think everybody should enjoy every win. They’re hard to come by. The expectation sometimes gets to be, well you’re Alabama and you’re supposed to beat this team and if you don’t beat them a certain way then that’s not good enough, and I don’t really think that’s fair to the players. These guys work hard. They put a lot into it. And I love to see them enjoy themselves when they have success. So I was very happy to see the players so happy.”
Cornerback Patrick Surtain cited the “24-hour rule” in discussing the Saban-led dance party, and says that the team is back to business now. For a few hours after the game, however, the legendary head coach was able to loosen up after what had to be one of the more difficult weeks of his Alabama tenure.
[AL.com]
