For the first time in over a decade, Alabama will be led out of the tunnel on Saturday by someone other than Nick Saban. After testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, per the SEC-mandated protocols, Saban will not be able to attend the game in any sort of fashion.
He will need to watch the game at home like everybody else.
And during his press conference Wednesday night, Saban shared what his planned viewing experience is going to be for the Iron Bowl.
Contrary to every other fan watching from home, Saban will not be having the CBS broadcast on. He’ll be watching from an angle no one else can get.
“We can actually pipe the game in, you can’t see much on TV,” Saban said. “So you’ll have the same feed that we take of the game, which is the film that we watch on Sunday. I’ll be able to see a little bit more of what’s happening kind of like if you’re in the press box type of thing. I can’t really have any communication during the game of at halftime, so we’ll do the best we can to try to analyze what’s happening and see if there’s any way that we can be some kind of use.”
With Saban out for the game offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian will be manning the head coaching duties for the Crimson Tide.
Although he won’t be able to yell from the sidelines Saban is acutely focused on trying to help any way he can leading up to the game.
“I’m gonna do everything I can to stay involved in the game,” Saban said. “I went through this three days before the Georgia game but was fortunate enough to test out and have a false positive so I didn’t miss that game even though I was mentally prepared for it.
“It’s not about me.
“It’s really about the players I want to be there for the players to try to help them be able to play the best, to inspire them in any way that you can as a coach and a teacher to get the best out of them so that they have the best opportunity to be successful.”
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
