The Alabama Crimson Tide are on a mission to reclaim college football glory in the coming season after missing the College Football Playoff in the last campaign. One can only imagine how intense the preparation is for Alabama football, especially under a legendary head coach like Nick Saban.

Baseball great Pete Rose also helped Alabama to get ready for the 2023 season when he visited the team earlier this week and shared a story about how Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson handled players, Saban revealed.

‘Well, you gotta know when to kick ‘em in the ass. You gotta know when to pat ‘em on the ass. And you gotta know when not to say anything,’ So we’re trying to figure that out,” Saban said (h/t Charlie Potter of BamaOnLine). “But I think I’ve been kicking them in the ass a little bit more than I’ve been patting them on the ass. So we’ll just keep on keeping on.”

Alabama football finished with an 11-2 record in 2022 and won the All-Star Sugar Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats, 45-20. For most other schools, that kind of campaign is a success. For Saban, that was not up to the standards he and the Crimson Tide have set through the years.

The Crimson Tide, now without star quarterback Bryce Young, who's now in the NFL, will open their schedule in the 2023 season with a matchup against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Tuscaloosa on Sep. 2. Their first real test will come a week after that when Alabama squares off against the Texas Longhorns at home.