Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban had hundreds of players across 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide, including 66 All-Americans and 44 NFL first-round draft picks. But the players he enjoyed coaching the most were the ones who were first to recognize their own shortcomings.
“I liked the guys that were always in my office because they were screwing up,” he told The Pivot this week. “I got closer to them.”
Choosing just one as his favorite to ever coach at Alabama wasn’t easy for the ESPN College GameDay analyst, but when asked by ESPN’s Ryan Clark, who played for Saban at LSU, Saban came up with five: wide receiver Julio Jones, linebacker Rolando McClain, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, running back Derrick Henry and linebacker Reuben Foster.
Jones and McClain were foundational cornerstones for Saban’s first Alabama national championship team in 2009. Jones caught 43 passes as a sophomore on that team, while McClain was the captain of a dominant defense at middle linebacker. Henry and Foster were teammates on UA’s 2015 national title team when Henry rushed for 2,219 yards and 28 touchdowns, while Foster anchored the defense with eight tackles for loss and nine pass breakups. Two years later, Tagovailoa came off the bench to lead a second-half comeback and win the 2017 national championship against Georgia.
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X @chasegoodbread.
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Saban reveals his five favorite Alabama football players to coach
