Nick Saban reveals one thing he would change about college football

Alabama head coach Nick Saban joined "The Herd" on Thursday to discuss the latest developments in an ever-evolving college football landscape and his expectations for both his team and Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young this season.

Young, 21, is coming off an impressive 4,872-yard, 47-touchdown season that earned him AP College Football Player of the Year and SEC Offensive Player of the Year. Alabama went 13-2 with Young at the helm, losing in the CFP National Championship.

"This guy plays the position a little bit like a point guard in basketball," Saban said of Young. "His decision-making, his judgement, his ability to create plays — whether he extends the play or whether he makes a quick decision — it's almost like he can see everyone on the field, and he knows exactly what to do [and] when to do it. … Making quick decisions to distribute the ball and be accurate with the ball is really important.

"When I saw him do some of those things in high school, I said, ‘This guy is different.’"

Saban also shared his thoughts on Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC and revealed whether he thinks the move will disincentivize some teams from adding another big nonconference game to the schedule.

"I've always been an advocate of Power 5 schools playing Power 5 schools," Saban said. "I know that some people … disagree with that … but I also think that we need to be really concerned about fan interest. The more good games that we play, the more fan interest there is. I've always been an advocate of playing more SEC games and always trying to play somebody out of conference that's going to create some fan interest.

"One of the best seasons we ever had was the [COVID-19] year when we played 10 SEC games. … I enjoyed that. The competition was great. It was difficult. We had a good team and we had success. … We didn't play any games that season where people weren't interested."

Saban went on to share his philosophy on recruiting and why he continues to make it a priority at this stage in his career.

"I learned a long time ago [that] I couldn't coach bad players to play good, and when I found that out I said, ‘Well, if you’re gonna play in his game, you better get some good players,'" Saban said with a laugh.

The one thing he'd change today if he had the chance? The recruiting calendar.

"I think when we had the early signing day, a lot of people said, including myself, that this is going to become the signing day," Saban said. "When that started to occur, everybody wanted to move the recruiting calendar up. … When you have to make earlier decisions on guys … it makes it much more difficult. … I think the nature of football being a developmental game, that lends itself to maybe not giving opportunities to guys who develop later.

"If there was one thing [that] I could change, it probably would be [to] move the recruiting calendar back to what it used to be and have the signing date be in February. I just think we've accelerated the whole process … and I'm not sure that [is] always the best thing for everyone."

Alabama is aiming to become the first team since the 2017 Tide to begin the season ranked No. 1 and go on to win the national championship that same season.

This is the 15th year Saban and Alabama have been ranked as the No. 1 team in the country at some point.

Saban, 70, just signed an eight-year contract extension with the Crimson Tide worth at least $93.6 million, eclipsing the recent megadeal of Georgia head coach and SEC rival Kirby Smart (10 years, $110 million). The deal averages out to $11.7 million per year and will keep Saban in Tuscaloosa through the 2029 season.

Entering his 16th season at Alabama, Saban boasts a 178-25 record with the Tide.

In his 26 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Saban has compiled a 274-67-1 (.803) all-time record. His Alabama teams have won eight SEC championships, while Saban has 10 SEC titles to his name (2001 and 2003 at LSU).

Saban has led the Tide to six national titles (2009, 2011-12, 2015, 2017 and 2020). He also won a national championship as LSU's head coach in 2003.