Alabama football head coach Nick Saban dropped a stern warning to his team, particularly to his starters, after their brutal loss to the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
“We can’t continue to tolerate guys that aren’t doing the things they need to do to be successful,” Saban said, per Tide Illustrated. “Nobody is entitled to a position. Everybody’s earned the position they’re in by showing they have the capability and ability to do it on a consistent basis. And that’s something you have to continue.”
To recall, the Volunteers shocked the whole college football world when they pulled the 52-49 upset on the Alabama Crimson Tide. Prior to their latest meeting, Tennessee hasn't beaten Alabama football for 15 straight games–with their last win coming way back in 2006.
It looked like that would remain the case when Alabama was up by seven, 49-42, with just three minutes remaining on the clock. But that was more than enough time for the Volunteers to stage a comeback, with Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt connecting for a touchdown to tie things up before Chase McGrath got the chance to kick the field goal as time expired.
Saban was critical of his team after the defeat and emphasized they played “too soft,” especially during crunch time when the Volunteers were making a comeback. On Monday while speaking to reporters, the Alabama football tactician was clearly still disappointed as he warned his players to keep working hard and learning from their mistakes.
Nick Saban also took note of the Crimson Tide's penalties per game, where they rank third-worst in the nation. They had 17 penalties against the Volunteers, which is just unacceptable in Alabama football standards.
With that said, Saban wants his players to be held more accountable. If that means changing the starters who aren't learning, then so be it.
“I think you create all these habits in practice. I think we’ve gotta make players more accountable in practice for doing things correctly, paying attention to detail and doing the little things right,” Saban explained.
“We need to get them to understand what they need to do not to allow these things to happen and understand the consequences of what happens when you do it, and I think if you continue to do it consistently, maybe we need to play somebody else.”
What will happen next to Alabama remains to be seen, but there could be changes soon if their woes continue.
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