Nick Saban went viral on Wednesday night for his all-time rant about ungrateful fans.
Saban was hosting his weekly call-in radio show “Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show presented by Alfa Insurance.” One caller asked Saban how he handled the “rat poison” from the media. The caller mentioned how everyone went to the game last weekend knowing Alabama would beat Arkansas, but there was disappointment that the margin of victory was not greater (Bama won 42-35).
Saban began his answer by talking about his advice for players on how to handle the hype from the media. Then things got really good when Saban started to talk about the fan expectations. The Bama coach was incredulous that fans would come to games expecting a win and only wondering about the margin of victory.
“When I came here, everyone was happy to win a game,” Saban said. “Now we’re not happy to win a game. We’re not happy to win at all. We think we should win games by whatever … and I don’t think that’s fair for the players. … to get criticized for what they work hard for to do so that you can be entertained … and they’re not perfect. They’re just college students!
“Give me a break! This is not professional football! These guys aren’t getting paid to play here! They’re representing you all! You should be proud and happy to support them and appreciate what they do and have some gratitude!” Saban continued.
The Alabama coach wasn’t done.
“And you know what else? Nobody wants to win worse than they do! Not me, not you, I don’t care what kind of fan you are. Nobody wants to win more than the players that play. Nobody!
“So for all you self-absorbed folks out there that can’t look past your own self to appreciate what other people are doing.”
That was amazing.
Saban has been Alabama’s coach since 2007. He went 7-6 in his first season and 12-2 in his second season. Then the Crimson Tide went 14-0 and won the national title in 2009, his third season. Since 2008, Bama has won at least 10 games in every season, been ranked No. 1 at one point during the season and has won six national championships. It’s hard to get much better than that, and some fans have obviously become too ungrateful.
More must-reads: