I think we’ve finally found a “softer” side (if that’s the right word) of Alabama head coach Nick Saban. After Clemson’s thrilling 35-31 victory over the Tide, Saban made quite an effort to find Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney in a sea of chaos after the final whistle blew. In fact, it took him all of two minutes to wrestle through the crowds to find him and congratulate him.
Nick Saban spent about 2 minutes tracking down Dabo Swinney for a postgame congrats
After the game, he called the younger Clemson coach a friend.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Saban added at the press conference after the game that Swinney is a friend to him, and said how much respect he has for the team Swinney put together.
“Well, Dabo is a friend.” Saban said on Monday. “He’s an Alabama person. He was at our university, went to our university, and I think he’s done a great job of managing, supporting the University of Alabama, Coach Stallings, some of the things that we’ve done together. So I have a lot of respect for him as a person. I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. He has a really good team, and I have a lot of respect for their team.
“As disappointed as we were, I always think the classy thing to do is always congratulate the other person for what they were able to accomplish, so I thought it was important to do that, especially for somebody that I consider a friend.”
Swinney played at the University of Alabama from 1990-92, then got his coaching career started as a graduate assistant with the program from 1993-95. He was an assistant for the Crimson Tide under head coaches Gene Stallings and Mike DuBose from 1996-2000. The Clemson head coach talked about his admiration for Saban the day before Monday’s game.
“With what Coach Saban has done, the amount of championships in the span of time with scholarships, it’s just incredible. I really have no words, because it’s really hard to do.”
Swinney added: “He has brought a system, and a philosophy, and it didn’t take him long to get it in place. But he’s changed college football. I mean, he really has been a pioneer and changed a lot of the way things are done in college football, in building infrastructure, which I think are great, because now you have young people that have lot more resources. They have a lot more people trying to help them be successful. Just incredible the run that they’ve had, no question.”
It’s pretty cool to see these two great head coaches have so much respect for one another, even after how everything played out on Monday night. One thing’s for sure — Swinney and Saban matchups have given us some unforgettable games.
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