Many have a hard time separating from work, and sometimes watching TV, or a sporting event, can be relaxing. But it doesn’t sound that way for Nick Saban.
“I really have a hard time enjoying the game, to be honest with you, when I watch it,” the legendary coach said during a weekly radio appearance.
The problem lies within the amount of study he has done in the game throughout his career. Perhaps it is seeing mistake-filled football that frustrates him or his need to solve every problem he sees on the field.
“All the time that I spend, whether it’s watching a defensive team for our offensive preparation or the other team’s offense for the defense’s preparation — what you’re constantly looking for is what are the issues, what causes problems, what kind of adjustments do you have to make if we were playing against that? That’s all I do,” Saban continued.
Nick Saban Getty Images“I find myself like at the end of the game saying, ‘Why didn’t they call timeout?’ … I’m like managing a game like we’re playing the game. So I’m like, ‘What can we watch on Netflix?'”
Tom Brady similarly said at the beginning of the season that he has seen “a lot of bad football” this season while watching others. Saban and Alabama are in a down year for the Crimson Tide at 8-2 and likely to miss the College Football Playoff.
Few share Saban and Brady’s football intelligence. And, it seems, their frustration watching mistakes.
