Alabama head coach Nick Saban leads his team on to the field in this Oct. 26, 2013, file photo.TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama football coach Nick Saban mentioned on multiple occasions last week that his players worked too hard in practice for fans not to stay the full 60 minutes each Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Saban had a specific focus on the student section, which was less than half full midway through the third quarter on Oct. 5 when the Crimson Tide pounded Georgia State 45-3. During Saturday’s 45-10 thumping of Tennessee, one sign in the student section read, “Saban, We’ll stay for 60 if you stay FOREVER.”
“That sounds like a good deal to me,” a smiling Saban said afterward when told of the message. “I love it here, and I’m too damn old to go someplace else and start all over, I can tell you that. The whole Alabama community has embraced us from the first day we’ve been here, and we appreciate that.
“I’m not really at a stage in my career where I’m looking for some other big challenge.”
Crimson Tide crowds have been sparse in recent fourth quarters as a result of night games that quickly turn into blowouts. Their only afternoon kickodd at home before Saturday was against Georgia State, and Alabama has won its five Bryant-Denny games over Colorado State, Ole Miss, Georgia State, Arkansas and Tennessee by a combined 198-19.