Just the thought of Diego Pavia running a kneel-down play in warmups irks Nick Saban.
The former Alabama coach, during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, explained his reaction to the incident after McAfee said Saban was “pissed” about it.
“I love Diego, but that would have been a catastrophic player-coach relationship moment before the game,” Saban said.
Earlier this month, prior to Alabama’s win over Vanderbilt and during the pregame warmups, the quarterback took snaps in the victory formation where he took a knee.
“I never wanted our players to ever do anything,” Saban said. “I didn’t even let them talk to the other team. I never wanted them to do anything that was going to affect the other team’s motivation to beat us.
“Don’t ever say anything. Don’t ever give anyone a reason. They got enough reason to beat us. Don’t give them anymore.”
Ty Simpson threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns, leading No. 10 Alabama to a 30-14 victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt in that game.
Simpson overcame an early interception to complete 23-of-30 passes, finding Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams for touchdowns. Jam Miller ran for 136 yards and a touchdown for the Crimson Tide (4-1, 2-0 SEC).
Pavia threw for 183 yards and ran for 58 for Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1), but threw an interception and lost a fumble. Sedrick Alexander had a 65-yard touchdown run.
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