Nick Saban gave some of the most powerful and intense speeches during his 17 years as Alabama’s head football coach.
He wanted his players to feel the magnitude of each game through his words, but there was a moment when he chose to not speak and let the players attack the opposition themselves. The Crimson Tide won a College Football Playoff National Championship in 2017, where it had to play Vanderbilt in week four in Nashville, Tenn.
A defensive lineman called out the Tide after the Commodores earned a victory over Kansas State.
He wanted to show Alabama how it is to play SEC football, but saying “Alabama, your are next” cooked his goose. The Tide trashed Vandy, 59-0, on the road to leave Commodore fans in tears in the music city.
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Damien Harris, a former Alabama running back, rushed for 151 yards and three touchdowns.
He talked to Chris Vannini of The Athletic on a podcast about how the Vanderbilt game was the lone matchup where Saban ‘never said a word’ before the action.
“This is the ONLY game Coach Saban never said a word”
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“I remember when homeboy from Vanderbilt, right before they played us, they beat Kansas State and he got on talking about Alabama, you are next,” Harris said. “I kid you not, the first meeting we had Coach Saban just played that and then we left, did not say a word. We just went out to practice. This is the only game ever where Coach Saban did not say a word before the game. And I swear you could hear a pin drop in that locker room, like nobody said a word. And it was not like everyone had these pissed off expressions on their face, like rabid dogs. I mean, everyone was like, everyone was looking around at each other like, ‘okay y’all know what we got to do? Aight, bet. And then, with about I don’t how much time left on the clock, Coach Saban was like ‘y’all ready to go? Everybody was like ‘yep’ and then we said our prayer and kicked the lining out of their ass.”
Alabama dominated Vanderbilt from start to finish in 2017, but now it has a chance to do it again in the fall.
The Tide travels to Nashville under Kalen DeBoer this season to face the Commodores.
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Stephen M. Smith is the senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
