Alabama Football Gameweek 02 Saturday ESPN GameDay
Kirk Herbstreit (right) gets a laugh out of Lee Corso (Big Al) on the ESPN College GameDay set in College Station, Texas last September.
(Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — Nick Saban and Kirk Herbstreit go way back.
The veteran ESPN analyst was a quarterback in the early 1990s when Saban was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns. A decade before that, he was a young coach in Columbus.
"The fact that he was an assistant coach at Ohio State, I think he always, for whatever reason, befriended me," Herbstreit said in an interview with AL.com, "even when he was at Michigan State."
They remained friends over the years as Herbstreit's fame grew on ESPN's College GameDay and Saban won a few national titles. The two talk mostly about football, but Herbstreit said he gets to see the side of Saban that's rarely spotlighted.
"I've just always had a very candid, real relationship with him," Herbstreit said. "Gosh, it's been a long time now. He and I talk about other stuff besides football and a lot time in any relationship, that's where you can draw closer to a person."
So what's Saban like?
"He's has a great personality," Herbstreit said. "He's a very deep thinker when it comes to things outside of just football — when it comes to life. I talk to him about things like the challenges of being a dad and being on the road and being away from my kids."
Herbstreit also helps Saban with his occasional broadcasting cameos that he's done in recent years.
In terms of the football, Herbstreit said the Xs and Os haven't changed with Saban over the years. But there's certainly been an evolution to his approach to the bigger picture. He sees Saban trusting his staff more these days.
"I think he appreciates, the way we all do, today's generation of kids I think he's had to adjust to bringing in almost life coaches where people come in and talk about the mind," Herbstreit said.
The culture has changed quite a bit since his playing days.
"I think in the 70s and 80s and 90s, it was like 'You have a problem kid? Get in there and lift some weights. You'll be fine,'" Herbstreit said. "And now I think he's proactive with the mindset of his football team. I think that's the biggest area that I've seen him change."
Herbstreit also watched Saban deal with the success. He had winning programs at Michigan State and got his first title at LSU, but the three championships in four years at Alabama creates a whole different beast.
"I think people do not understand how taxing and how difficult it is to maintain 12 or 13 or 14 wins a year or be on the verge of getting it," Herbstreit said. "Once you win it like they did in '09, it's just something that happens to you innately where it's easy to lose your edge, it's easy to lose your fastball."
Herbstreit saw a few slip ups, the way Alabama closed last season for instance.
"But, for the most part, his teams are very, very consistent in their mindset and mental approach.," he said. "That's not by accident."