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Arguably two of the best coaches of this era in college sports spent 20 minutes of satellite radio airtime Thursday talking shop.
Nick Saban appeared on Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SiriusXM show “Basketball and Beyond with Coach K” and the 2020 Crimson Tide football season dominated the conversation.
Krzyzewski, a five-time national champion and former United States national team coach, clearly had ample respect for Saban’s seventh championship run. The questions reflected the admiration Krzyzewski had for Saban’s success and his path to breaking Bear Bryant’s record for title teams.
“You almost scored every time you had the dang ball,” Krzyzewski said setting up his first question. “Was that the best offense you’ve had since you’ve been to Alabama?”
Saban, who might not have been as receptive to such a question from another source, said the group was “very, very dynamic” without assigning a ranking.
Krzyzewski then asked about how Saban builds leadership with such a massive organization compared to Duke basketball.
“Yours is like a business,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s like running a corporation.”
It went on from there.
“You look really fresh and happy on the sidelines,” Krzyzewski said. “I tell my wife ‘How the hell does that happen? That guy is getting older just like me and he looks better now …’ Is it just being with that unit? What else are you doing, man to stay that fresh?”
Saban said he “lives in a constant state of tension” during the season and went on to discuss aspects of his now-famous “process.”
Krzyzewski also wanted to know about the three biggest stars from the Alabama season -- Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones.
Noting Harris’ footwork, the Duke coach said he “should go on Dancing with the Stars.” Krzyzewski was taken by Jones’ poise on the field and accuracy with his passing.
And with the Heisman winner, Smith, Krzyzewski was fascinated with his skill-to-body mass ratio.
“How do you recruit … he had to be the skinny receiver right?” Krzyzewski asked.
“He was 159 pounds in high school,” Saban responded.
Krzyzewski was intrigued.
“So what do you see,” Krzyzewski said, “like what did you guys see in him at that level and how he produced because he obviously won the Heisman Trophy and hands down he was the top player in the country?”
Saban responded by repeating Smith’s weight as a high school recruit.
“We typically look at size and speed as a part of the criteria for recruiting a guy at every position,” he said. “And we were obviously concerned, not only did he weigh 159 pounds, but he was also very slight of build. But we had him in camp and the guy had tremendous hands. He was fast. He could come out of a break. All the other factors were really high end and on top of that, he was a great person. … I said this is just the kind of guy we want in our program. If we’re going to take a chance on a guy being able to gain a little weight, getting a little bigger and stronger, this is the kind of guy we want to do it with.”
Smith was the No. 62 overall recruit in the 247Sports composite and joined the star-studded 2017 signing class that also included Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.
Krzyzewski went on to call Saban “the greatest coach in the history of the game of football” and wanted to know more about how he kept that continuity alive with coaches and players coming and going.
Saban responded by talking about the culture that remains a constant, using a Julio Jones story as an example. The Atlanta Falcons star was out on the practice field watching current players during 7-on-7 one recent summer when a receiver lost his cool after dropping a pass.
“That’s not what we do here,” Saban said Jones told him he said a decade after playing his final game in Tuscaloosa.
They concluded by trading compliments. Saban told Krzyzewski that he’s always looked to him as an example for how to run a program and handle certain situations.
The Duke coach thanked him with a laugh.
“Thank you for being kind,” Krzyzewski said with a laugh, “especially during this season. This has been a challenging year in every way.
Duke has a 6-5 record and is unranked for the first time since 2016 after reaching No. 6 early in the season.
“Basketball and Beyond with Coach K” airs Thursdays at 5 p.m. CT on SiriusXM channel 84.
Nick Saban appeared on Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s SiriusXM show “Basketball and Beyond with Coach K” and the 2020 Crimson Tide football season dominated the conversation.
Krzyzewski, a five-time national champion and former United States national team coach, clearly had ample respect for Saban’s seventh championship run. The questions reflected the admiration Krzyzewski had for Saban’s success and his path to breaking Bear Bryant’s record for title teams.
“You almost scored every time you had the dang ball,” Krzyzewski said setting up his first question. “Was that the best offense you’ve had since you’ve been to Alabama?”
Saban, who might not have been as receptive to such a question from another source, said the group was “very, very dynamic” without assigning a ranking.
Krzyzewski then asked about how Saban builds leadership with such a massive organization compared to Duke basketball.
“Yours is like a business,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s like running a corporation.”
It went on from there.
“You look really fresh and happy on the sidelines,” Krzyzewski said. “I tell my wife ‘How the hell does that happen? That guy is getting older just like me and he looks better now …’ Is it just being with that unit? What else are you doing, man to stay that fresh?”
Saban said he “lives in a constant state of tension” during the season and went on to discuss aspects of his now-famous “process.”
Krzyzewski also wanted to know about the three biggest stars from the Alabama season -- Najee Harris, DeVonta Smith and Mac Jones.
Noting Harris’ footwork, the Duke coach said he “should go on Dancing with the Stars.” Krzyzewski was taken by Jones’ poise on the field and accuracy with his passing.
And with the Heisman winner, Smith, Krzyzewski was fascinated with his skill-to-body mass ratio.
“How do you recruit … he had to be the skinny receiver right?” Krzyzewski asked.
“He was 159 pounds in high school,” Saban responded.
Krzyzewski was intrigued.
“So what do you see,” Krzyzewski said, “like what did you guys see in him at that level and how he produced because he obviously won the Heisman Trophy and hands down he was the top player in the country?”
Saban responded by repeating Smith’s weight as a high school recruit.
“We typically look at size and speed as a part of the criteria for recruiting a guy at every position,” he said. “And we were obviously concerned, not only did he weigh 159 pounds, but he was also very slight of build. But we had him in camp and the guy had tremendous hands. He was fast. He could come out of a break. All the other factors were really high end and on top of that, he was a great person. … I said this is just the kind of guy we want in our program. If we’re going to take a chance on a guy being able to gain a little weight, getting a little bigger and stronger, this is the kind of guy we want to do it with.”
Smith was the No. 62 overall recruit in the 247Sports composite and joined the star-studded 2017 signing class that also included Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs.
Krzyzewski went on to call Saban “the greatest coach in the history of the game of football” and wanted to know more about how he kept that continuity alive with coaches and players coming and going.
Saban responded by talking about the culture that remains a constant, using a Julio Jones story as an example. The Atlanta Falcons star was out on the practice field watching current players during 7-on-7 one recent summer when a receiver lost his cool after dropping a pass.
“That’s not what we do here,” Saban said Jones told him he said a decade after playing his final game in Tuscaloosa.
They concluded by trading compliments. Saban told Krzyzewski that he’s always looked to him as an example for how to run a program and handle certain situations.
The Duke coach thanked him with a laugh.
“Thank you for being kind,” Krzyzewski said with a laugh, “especially during this season. This has been a challenging year in every way.
Duke has a 6-5 record and is unranked for the first time since 2016 after reaching No. 6 early in the season.
“Basketball and Beyond with Coach K” airs Thursdays at 5 p.m. CT on SiriusXM channel 84.