Alabama's Nick Saban shares why he doesn't steal teams' signs: 'I don't want to know'
Nick Saban on Saturday will lead No. 3 Alabama in the Crimson Tide's ranked game vs. Steve Sarkisian and No. 10 Texas. It's a massive game with huge implications for both teams, which begs the question:
Would Saban resort to underhandedness, such as sign stealing, to get an advantage on his former offensive coordinator? Well, the Alabama coach answered exactly that question on Thursday during his weekly "Hey Coach" radio show, when ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe asked how his relationship with Sarkisian might affect his play calls.
Saban immediately answered, "I don't know," before delving further into how he operates as a football coach. Essentially, he is so consumed with what the Crimson Tide do — something he calls "The Process" — that he would never even think to steal other teams' signs. In fact, he wouldn't even want to know any team's signs:
"When the players go out and play, it's really not about the coaches anymore," Saban said. "It's about the players. That's why I never, ever try to steal signals. I don't want to know what the other guys are doing, don't even tell me."
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Saban went even further to prove his point and commitment to the Process. He mentioned how, during his time as defensive coordinator of the Browns from 1991-94, he refused direct knowledge of other teams' signs from Cleveland staffers.
"When I was a defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns we had a guy in the press box that always stole the signals of the other team. I told him I don't want to know," Saban said. "Don't tell me it's a run, don't tell me it's a pass, I don't even want to know. The players are going to play, we know what the situation is, and what we prepared them to play in this situation. So I don't even want to know because it just messes me up.
Continued Saban: "When the game starts, it's really all about the players and their ability to execute. As a coach, your job is done on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to get them ready to do that. … It's not about the coach or what I know or what he doesn't know or how he knows me. I don't really know what impact that has on the game."
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Here's the video of Saban's entire radio show on Thursday:
So, there you have it. Sarkisian and Texas have one less thing to worry about in their top-10 matchup with the Crimson Tide on Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Alabama's Nick Saban shares why he doesn't teams' signs
