It seems that at least once a week, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has a rant to the media. Usually it’s about the team’s performance (which is pretty much always better than he acts like), or the media. He’s never satisfied, and while it can sometimes be a bit much, it’s why Alabama is always an elite college football program.
But on Wednesday, the six-time national title winner sounded off on… student attendance.
Alabama student section pic.twitter.com/11EwcVZhW5
— Tommy Deas (@tommydeas) September 29, 2018
Saban was very unhappy about the attendance in the Alabama student section for the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide’s 56-14 victory over LA-Lafayette on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Nick Saban goes on a heated rant on how he was "disappointed" to see the student section half-full during the Louisiana game. #RollTide pic.twitter.com/QM77uwbRRt
— Kyle Burger (@kyle_burger) October 3, 2018
“I can honestly say I was a little disappointed there weren’t more students at the last game. I think we’re trying to address that. I don’t think they’re entitled to anything, either. Me, personally, I think it ought to be first-come, first-serve. If they don’t want to come to the game, they don’t have to come. But I’m sure there’s enough people around here that would like to go to the games, and we’d like for them to come too because they support the players.”
“When I first came here, you used to play that tradition thing up there and everybody was cheering and excited and happy and there was great spirit. Now, they don’t even cheer. They introduce our players and nobody even cheers. So I don’t know, maybe there’s something else somebody else ought to talk about. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about it. Maybe I already talked about it more than I should.”
“There’s a part of it where other people need to support them too, and there’s got to be a spirit that makes it special to play here, because that’s what makes it special to be here. And if that’s not here, then does it continue to be special to be here or not? That’s the question everybody has to ask. I’m asking it right now.”
“So, I’m hopeful. We’ve always had great people travel on the road for us and had great spirit on the road. We have great fans. So, I appreciate that. But to see half the student section not full, I’ve never seen that since I’ve been here before.”
We’ll see if Alabama students respond to Saban’s message when the Crimson Tide host the Missouri Tigers next weekend. The Crimson Tide travel to Arkansas to play the Razorbacks this Saturday.
