Crusty Alabama football coach Nick Saban showed his softer side after his team’s loss to Georgia in the national championship game on Monday. (Watch the video below.)
The Crimson Tide’s dejected quarterback Bryce Young and linebacker Will Anderson Jr. had just fielded questions from reporters when Saban motioned for the players to stick around. He asked if he could share a few words.
The moderator obliged and the coach responded with now-viral comments about his sophomore stars.
Even in disappointment, Saban appeared to already be coaching for next season. His attempt to reassure Young, this season’s Heisman Trophy winner, and Anderson provided a glimpse of why he’s won six national titles at Alabama.
“These two guys that are sitting up here, they’re not defined by one game,” Saban said. “These guys played great for us all year. They were great competitors, they were great leaders on this team and they contributed tremendously to the success of this team. And we would not be here without them.”
“And both of them take responsibility for the loss, but both of them contributed in a lot of ways, in a positive way, to giving us a chance to win and a chance to be here to have an opportunity to win,” the coach continued. “So, I just wanna thank them for that and let everybody know how proud I am of these two guys.”
At the end of Bryce Young and Will Anderson’s press conference, Nick Saban stops them from getting up to say: “These two guys that are sitting up here, they’re not defined by one game.”
He finishes by stating how proud he is of those two players.
What it’s all about ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/VTeiaeDzeB
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 11, 2022
Young and Anderson are not eligible for the NFL draft, so they’ll be back next season, when Saban’s team will make another run for the title.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.