His fifth season in the National Football League will be spent with a different team, but Landon Collins does not forget who helped guide him to this point. A native of New Orleans, La., he seized a chance to learn from Nick Saban and made the choice to attend the University of Alabama in 2012 over Louisiana State University – to the disappointment of his mother.
In his eyes, the five-star made the right decision.
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Collins played safety for the Crimson Tide from 2012 to 2014 and was both a premiere athlete and fan favorite.
His career was filled with big hits, timely interceptions, pass breakups and the intensity he carries from his favorite player – the late Sean Taylor.
Collins totaled 188 tackles in three years with 13 breakups and five picks.
He led Alabama in tackles (102) in 2014 was named a unanimous All-American and first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection.
Collins was a member of two SEC Championship teams and a BCS National Championship team in 2012.
He would be selected in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft to the New York Giants and led the team in tackles in each of his first four seasons – including a career-high 125 tackles in 2016.
Despite the franchise not coming to terms with him on a long-term extension and him leaving in free agency, Collins takes his three trips to the Pro Bowl (2016-18) and first-team All-Pro (2016) selection to the Washington Redskins.
In an interview with ESPN’s NFL Live on Wednesday, Collins honored the coach that will be enshrined as the greatest to ever do it in college football.
High praise from @TheHumble_21 for the ?
(Via: NFL Live @ESPNNFL) #RollTide pic.twitter.com/L3b59dwrY0
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) July 24, 2019
“As a coach, he represents his players as a players’ coach,” Collins said of Saban. “I would say he makes sure all of his players are underneath him as a father. As a man, he tries to teach us how to be a man and a great player all at the same time.”
High praise to Saban from someone that not only took advantage of his opportunity, but has also become one the elite guys at his position in the NFL. Collins will anchor a Super Bowl caliber defense at some point soon.
It very well could be this fall with the monsters on the Redskins.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
