Even by his own cranky standards, Nick Saban was exceptionally annoyed. On April 22 of this year, Saban, sporting a jacket as blue as the sky over Bryant-Denny Stadium, stomped, sulked and seethed. Four quarterbacks took turns running the Alabama offense during the Tide’s A-Day spring practice, and all four quarterbacks floundered to one degree or another.
“The biggest thing we’re working on with the quarterbacks is, fundamentally, what they have to do to be able to process what the defense is doing,” Saban spat after the day was done. “Have a plan in your mind: 'This is where I’m reading, this is where I’m going, this is the progression that I want to go through,' and trust in that and believe in that and not start drifting around in the pocket.