Former Alabama WR tells what would happen if low effort was shown on Saban coached teams

Former Alabama football wide receiver, Mike McCoy, like many former Crimson Tide players and fans, was disappointed in the effort that was on display against Florida State in a 31-17 loss on Saturday.

McCoy played at Alabama from 2006 to 2009 and was a member of Nick Saban’s first National Championship team in Tuscaloosa. The effort Tide players showed against the Seminoles prompted McCoy to look back on his time playing under Saban and how low effort was dealt with during that time.

“You got the good and the bad plays,” McCoy said on “Touchdown Alabama’s Timeout Podcast.” “All I’m gonna say, you better hope your a** ain’t on them damn bad plays. When Nick can get up there… You know you messed up before. Bro, it don’t matter if we won the game. We could have won by 45 points. It does not matter. He gonna find them bad plays. Bro, when I tell you, you get tight in the a** but soon as you know based on the formation, “I hope I ain’t on any of these plays. I hope I ain’t on it.” Like, man because it’s accountability. It’s embarrassment. Nobody wants to be that guy that cost the team anything.”

Saban was known as a hard-nosed coach who held his players accountable. But more importantly, his players held each other accountable.

“We couldn’t even look up at the scoreboard,” said McCoy. “That’s how disciplined and how tough it was. And essentially, bro, we were brainwashed. I’m just gonna go and throw it out there. We were literally brainwashed, but we did everything the right way. It wasn’t that the coach even had to say something. The players would have handled it. That’s the difference.”