Nick Saban earned a reputation for being a tough dad to his players. Whenever Saban is on the field, everybody seems to be on their guard. The Quintessential poker-faced coach didn’t leave a chance to call the boys out, even in their slightest inconvenience. Although he did it mostly to chisel out the best out of each and every player in his team, sometimes it rubbed them the wrong way. Especially the NFL witnessed the most rugged version of Saban a few decades back. A number of players, including saltwort of the Miami Dolphins, complained about how the veteran head coach ripped them apart during his brief two-year tenure.

You can easily judge Saban’s NFL coaching skill by the length of his stint, but getting under the skin of the players has been a habit that reaches beyond. Alabama LB Que Robinson spilled a story to substantiate.

Alabama linebacker hilariously explored Nick Saban’s antique behavior with players

Robinson serves as a backup outside linebacker for Alabama and hails from Jackson-Olin High School in Birmingham. He had some incredible seasons for the Tide but was squeezed hard by the one and only legendary coach back once upon a time. Saban’s legacy in Alabama is an under-explored fairytale. It had more layers than you are aware of yet. But those six national championships and setting an unprecedented benchmark sometimes pushes him to be extra harsh on the players. Robinson landed on the wrong side in one of the games.

“I remember Co was cussing me one time about special teams. Oddly enough, run down a kickoff right and the scout team kind of messed up the look, but I just adjusted off of that, cuz that’s what I’d do in the game if they did that right, but I was really supposed to go inside and avoid inside so I came back. Coach ripping on me bro, he is ripping bro, he like, you’re supposed to be going down there running, you supposed to like…. just cussing me out, I’m like coach, if he goes down like that you want me to run into him, you just want me… he was like well no, I don’t want you to do it but all right, go ahead,” The prized Bama Linebacker spilled and burst out laughing during the latest episode of the New Wave podcast.

Robinson was quite successful at his job. In 2023, he, as a special teams unit guy, emerged as a big weapon for the Tide and a big reason why they are so remarkable in that aspect of the game. Saban also wasn’t in denial about what the prized linebacker possesses. In a post-game interview, the quintessential Alabama architect offered high praise on Robinson. “He’s been a core special teams guy for us. One of our better special teams’ players, probably, ever here, and when he had opportunities to play in the game, he did a good job,” Saban said.

The scene in the NFL was worse, nonetheless. He developed a rowdy yet stoic image that was mostly unappealable to most of the players.

Nick Saban has had a love-hate relationship with the NFL players

Nick Saban is a heck of a talent, but he is not everyone’s cup of tea for sure. The former Alabama head coach didn’t just set up a quote-unquote Alabama brand. He himself is a brand. He oozed uniqueness in everything, starting from his iconic Cowboy hat to certain aspects of behaviors and attitudes, everything is exclusive. Saban is disciplined, and he demands discipline from all of his acquaintances. For obvious reasons, not everyone is ready to follow his set of codes in their work or style.

Saban, in his remarks after leaving the Tide, referenced the changing dynamics of college football as one of the reasons for his departure. What has really changed? Well, NIL hasn’t helped. For a coach like Saban, who insists on developing players out of high school, the prospect of losing them to the transfer portal didn’t appeal after a while. The idea of a redshirt season for a freshman is that you learn from the sidelines and then earn a spot on the team. However, the current landscape is different. Players move to the portal if they don’t get playing time with a team. That’s what happened to Alabama. That also meant that you could no longer coach hard. Hurt egos? Let’s go to the portal. It was not always the case.

We have heard all the lores about how Saban transformed his players, ensuring first-round Draft status for some and Heisman trophies for others. The underlying layer was love, and sometimes, it was tough love. Remember that Jalen Milroe story where Saban went after his young prodigy because the former didn’t run after throwing an interception in a practice drill? Well, that wasn’t the only incident.

Jason Taylor once revealed most of the Dolphins players used to hate him.  ”I think I might be the only person in Miami that really does like Nick Saban, so I have to keep it down a little bit talking about him here. But I respected him. Defensively, I think football philosophy, I learned so much from him.” The standout defensive end divulged his feelings on coach Saban.

Saban’s headstrongness occasionally bore fruits.  He made the Cleveland Browns defensive unit one among the best in 1994 as a defensive coordinator. But no doubt, his style, and his tempo cost him a lot of relationships both in college and the NFL.