The 2014 season ended unceremoniously for Alabama. But Nick Saban can explain.
The Crimson Tide head coach met with reporters Tuesday morning during SEC media days, and among the topics of discussion was Alabama’s College Football Playoff collapse, in which the Tide lost 42-35 to eventual champion Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
So how did the No. 1 overall seed and “best team in college football” lose to the Buckeyes? Saban has a theory.
“I just felt like in our experience last year, our chemistry from the SEC championship game to the playoff game was affected by something,” Saban said, via USA TODAY. “We had six guys in this situation this past year and 11 the year before. We’re trying to get ready for a game and all of a sudden a guy finds out he’s a first-round pick or a guy who thought he was a first-round pick finds out he isn’t and we’re trying to play a playoff game.”
Saban’s talking, of course, about the NFL draft, suggesting that his players learning they have bright NFL futures could have been a distraction as they prepared for the Sugar Bowl.
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Saban has somewhat of a point, as delaying the draft grading process until after the college football season would eliminate any conflict of interest or lack of motivation. (Alabama had seven players taken in the 2015 NFL draft.)
Overall, though, his comments just come off as an excuse for an underwhelming performance against Ohio State. It’s the head coach’s job to properly motivate and prepare his team while eliminating distractions, and he clearly wasn’t able to accomplish that goal back in January.
Thumbnail photo via Shanna Lockwood/USA TODAY Sports Images
