Former Alabama coach Nick Saban doesn't like his team's chances in the SEC for the upcoming season. Actually, that's not entirely true.
But when asked his prediction for the SEC championship game, Saban went with Georgia and newcomer Texas. The Crimson Tide? Well, they weren't mentioned.
But that doesn't seem to upset the Crimson Tide. They appear to view it as more of a challenge than an insult.
"Something he taught me was not to pay attention to external factors, and since he works at the stadium now and not the facility, he's an external factor," offensive lineman Tyler Booker told ESPN, "so I'm not going to pay him no mind. He said, 'Don't listen to a guy who sits in his mother's basement and tweets all day, so I'm not going to listen to a guy who plays golf all day."
That's a pretty good line from a Saban recruit.
Now, the coach is Joe Cox, the former Georgia quarterback who will undoubtedly have some big shoes to fill.
"It's so quick to see Coach Saban take on another role other than being Coach Saban," defensive back Malachi Moore said, via ESPN, "but he has a job to do, and he's entitled to his own opinion. But yeah, we heard him."
Moore and the others are right — Saban is just performing his new job. Perhaps he's using it to motivate his former squad. Or maybe Saban thinks the Crimson Tide just won't be as good without him.
Or perhaps Saban felt he had to pick someone other than Alabama, or otherwise be accused of bias. Either way, he made his picks. It's up to Alabama to prove its old coach wrong.
