Alabama Crimson Tide

Nick Saban's Legacy: Making Their A**es Quit

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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“How much does this game mean to you? …You go out there and dominate the guy you’re playing against and make his ass quit.” – Nick Saban, 2008 before Alabama-LSU game

Books have already been written about how dominant Nick Saban is as an intercollegiate American tackle football coach.

About the recruiting dominance.

About the tireless preparation.

About the scores of quality-control experts and analysts leaving no stone unturned at the Mal Moore Football Building.

About the defensive strangulation Crimson Tide teams stamp as trademarks on opposing offenses.

But really, the essence of a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team can be boiled down to a simple, slightly-NSFW credo that was caught on film before the 2008 LSU game.

Making their asses quit.

Much like some other very decidedly NSFW definitions, you simply know when you’ve made their asses quit when you see it. Sometimes it is very visual – pulling your quarterback to “get the backup experience” when you’re down 45 points. Sometimes it is less discernable – perhaps not running absolute full tilt when Bo Scarbrough is barreling down the sideline toward the goal line.

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But make NO MISTAKE about it: the goal EVERY GAME for Alabama football players is to do exactly what Saban espoused in that quote. Dominate the guy in front of you and make his ass quit.

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Because when they don’t want any more of you physically, you own their hearts and minds. There have been times this season when I would wager $1 that Johnathan Allen could get his offensive lineman to dance the Watusi instead of facing the prospect of another humiliating play that could show up on SportsCenter.

Humilation Is The Object

Humiliation is the object, dear reader. Because when they don’t want to face one more second of humiliation, well, they’ll do whatever it takes to get to 0:00 on the scoreboard and back on the team bus before things go from worse to permanently scarring.

On the balance of the 2016 season to date, we have seen numerous examples of making their asses quit. Southern Cal waved the white flag not long after Jalen Hurts got his picture taken quite a lot in their end zone. Poor Bret Bielema was practically blowing kisses to Saban in an effort to make the bad man stop in the second half of the Arkansas beatdown. The Crimson Tide made an entire STADIUM quit by beating down Tennessee so badly that Mills Lane was at a 9-count. And Texas A&M was searching for a hidden trap door off their sidelines and straight to The Fail Room to avoid further discomfort late last Saturday.

That is Saban’s modus operandi, plain and simple. Wins are the inevitable byproduct of “The Process”, indeed. And the on-field definition of “The Process” shows itself time and time and time again.

Making. Their. Asses. Quit.

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