I can't stand Nick Saban as a coach, he gobbles up all of the 5 star croots, and time and time again finds himself at the top of the playoff picture. But man, this rant definitely made me gain some respect for him as a man, and as a person. I think as fans we really do rip these 19 year old kids for making dumb decisions, when "the world is their oyster." But they are 18-19! I did some terribly dumb things during that age, and yet, someone believed in me, and pushed me across the finish line while I was at Tech; and here I am years later, 2 kids, a great job, waking up to the best view every morning.
Sometimes we need to show a little grace and mercy to these kids. No matter how dumb the decision looks from the outside. I applaud Coach Fuente for having JUST enough of a leash for these kids, and giving them every opportunity to succeed until they've reached their limit on that same leash (I'm looking at you Mr. doUche [DE]).
As great of a coach as he is, I honestly wonder if we're wasting Nick Saban on football. Guy absolutely kills it when he talks about larger societal issues. pic.twitter.com/qsdxwera2n— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 26, 2019
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This needs to played more, and louder. These are still kids out there. He spends arguably more time with these kids between the ages of 18-21 than any other adult...respect his opinion.
Over the years he's spent at Alabama I've developed into an unabashed Saban fan. The man puts his money where his mouth is too. He and his wife are involved in developing and funding rehabilitation/education programs in the local prisons, and it's hard as hell to even know he is doing it because he doesn't spotlight it to make himself look good. So before anyone says "wHaT aBoUt tHe 19 yEaR oLdS tHaT dOn'T pLaY fOoTbAlL??," he cares about them too.
This is one of my all-time favorite coach rants because it's something I strongly, strongly agree with. We are so quick to turn to retributive justice that we ruin so many young men and women's lives before they even have a chance to correct their behavior. It hits home for me particularly hard seeing guys I grew up and played sports with having all their future opportunities stripped for selling weed at 16 or 17 years old, other dumb mistakes when their families needed the money. Many of these kids/young men start out playing 5 card poker with a 2 card hand.
Ayupp
All of this. Hit the nail on the head.
He does have a point, but it's a little self-serving, isn't it?
I don't know the context of what Saban is talking about, it's not like Nick Saban is running a halfway house. He's running a football program. Not sure what the kid at Michigan did, or if Saban let him play the next game.
If a kid steals crab legs, you just gonna let 'em play? Or do you suspend them a few games so the rest of the team doesn't steal crab legs?
The reason we have penalties for criminal behavior isn't because we dislike people, it's because we're trying to discourage criminal behavior.
So if he's saying "Let's be reasonable if a kid commits a crime", he's got a point. If he's saying "there should be no penalty for 18 year olds who commit crimes if they can play football for Alabama", you have to say that there shouldn't be penalties for other kids, either.
But he may be saying "There are criminal penalties, but let's not add to those by kicking guys out of college, or college football", and that makes a lot of sense for non-violent crimes.
I think he's advocating the middle ground. Correct the kid, punish them, and give them a path to prove they are better and have learned. Using Winston as our crab leg example, Florida state law will allow for punishment up to 60 days in jail and/or up to a $500 fine for theft less than $100.
That's not worth having him off the team, missing out on a career where he can create generational wealth, and become someone who can speak about how serious dumb decisions like this can be to youth. Have him learn, show his process, make the youth understand that these actions have consequences, but don't take away his life for this.
I do think a line needs to be drawn however. Certain crimes should be zero tolerance. I won't go into specifics as it will cause a spiral of a comment chain, but there is absolutely a difference between misdemeanors and felonies out there.
Tallahassee Police let him get away with rape, did you really expect them to do something about crab legs?
That's why we said we weren't going to go there, and why I said "non-violent crimes".
Clearly violent crimes are a different topic.
The crab leg thing I agree with him getting punished but still staying with the team. The rape I do not agree with and think, if proven in court of law, he should get locked up.
This is a good take. Except for Peter Warrick. He should have been suspended through 1/4/00. Period.
I think this is Nick's point - often times punishments don't discourage criminal behavior - so it may not behoove the individual (or the team) to just kick off a trouble maker. It may be a better strategy to rehabilitate them and teach them the right way rather than kicking them to the curb.
He's advocating for the carrot over the stick. I agree that its probably better to keep these kids within the program so that there are still reasonable boundaries instead of booting them out where there are no more bumpers on the alley and these kids may make the situation worse before it gets better.
inb4 the "they're not kids, they're adults" crowd comes
Sort of depends on the seriousness of the crime how you handle it.
I drew the line at "non-violent".
This doesn't just go for 18-21 year olds. This goes for all ages. There seems to be a double standard.
When I was in middle and high school, I stayed in trouble. At school, outside of school, etc. My teachers, parents, coaches, and other leadership figures always told me the same thing: "you're too smart to be getting in trouble all the time." They spent extra time trying to make sure I didn't really screw up. They couldn't care less about some of the kids I was getting into trouble with, though. All I got was "you shouldn't be hanging out with them." Why not use some of the time and effort used on me on them too?
Society has a problem with picking and choosing who they want to give chances to. Unless you have some ability that a lot of others don't have, you'll get left behind if you do the same shit many others are doing. I was lucky enough not to get left behind, but I wish some others hadn't gotten left behind too.
A big part of this is on the parents who are setting the expectations and the child's values, and often they just don't know any better. That you had coaches implies you were in organized sports, and that's another layer of folks who care.
There is very little substitute for an adult who cares.
Wasn't this from like two years ago and Clay Travis just resurfaced it for retweets?
Edit: confirmed, it was.
Good catch.
Would not surprise me one bit if he did this to take the attention away from the social media storm brewing over Hoffman and the other transfers, and to focus it back on Alabama and the SEC
Do we know what player Saban was referring to or what the offense was? Because VanDarius Cowan, Eddie Williams, DJ Pettway, Tyler Hayes, Brent Calloway might say his rant was a little insincere.
There were situations where he had to draw the line, like any other coach. It doesn't make his speech insincere. There's a difference between giving a kid a second chance and situations where the school dismisses the players or they do something severe. He had to make judgement calls on a case-by-case basis like many other coaches, but dismissing a few players doesn't mean that he doesn't prefer to give second chances and keep them on the team.
Also, didn't Pettway get a 2nd chance and was allowed to return to Bama?
That's why I'm curious what player, and what event he is talking about. Maybe Pettway did, but I don't believe the others did
I don't think he was the one who resurfaced it. It's from 2014, but ESPN posted it the other day, and then it spread around from there as most social media things are wont to do. Not the first time this video has recirculated.
Agree with Saban... however bottom line is that if Mushin Muhhamad was a walk on and couldn't catch, he would have been booted from the team. The compassion that the head coach has is directly proportional to your place on the depth chart.
Which is one reason why I give Fuente a ton of credit for booting Hill last year
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MikeO gets the reason I originally posted this thread. CJF gets a lot of flack on this board, for once I wanted him and Nick Satan to get some positive vibes.
"im nick saban, and i give second chances... to 4 and 5 star talents"
I never understood the hate towards Saban. He is an old school tough coach but he gets the most out of you
I dislike him as the fan of a team he beat but I don't think he is fake like Dabo.
Agree
Jealousy.