Alabama’s Hunting Season: Why Nick Saban’s Call to “Sneak Up” is His Best Post-Retirement Take
Nick Saban isn’t a coach anymore, but he’s still a master psychologist.
While the college football world debates who is the true favorite in the SEC, the legendary former Alabama coach is offering a counterintuitive take on his old program: mediocrity in the preseason polls might be the best thing for them.
It’s a surprising sentiment from the man who built the sport’s greatest dynasty, but his reasoning is characteristically sharp. He argues that the Alabama Crimson Tide, now under Kalen DeBoer, benefit from being overlooked . With the Tide ranked outside the top ten for the first time since 2008, Saban’s sneaky good insight suggests this underdog status could be the fuel they need to reclaim the mountaintop .
The Burden of Expectations
For nearly two decades, Alabama was the sport’s ultimate target. From 2008 onward, the team rarely entered a season without a top-five ranking and the weight of a national championship-or-bust expectation . Saban admits he “always hated it when we got picked high” because it complicated the “Process” . It fed complacency and made the team a target .
“I think sometimes when we didn’t, it was a motivating factor for the players,” Saban said recently, referencing the team’s lower preseason ranking . As he built the dynasty, Saban weaponized outside disrespect—calling praise “rat poison” to guard against complacency .
Now retired, he’s advising his successor to embrace that same mindset. “Hopefully we can sneak up on some people this year, fly under the radar a little bit and surprise some people and not be the target for everyone like we have been in the past,” Saban said .
A Different Alabama?
The 2026 preseason narrative suggests the hunter has become the hunted—or perhaps, just another animal in the pack. Alabama is picked sixth in the SEC and 11th nationally, behind several conference rivals .
Much of the conversation—driven by analysts like Paul Finebaum—questions whether DeBoer can maintain the standard . In this context, Saban sees opportunity. He notes that DeBoer “took over a very difficult situation,” and that lower expectations “might be beneficial” .
Michael Casagrande of AL.com suggests we should stop treating DeBoer as “the Terminator that he followed,” noting his more friendly personality is better suited to building a program that “sneak-up-on-you” .
Saban’s take is more than just wordplay; it’s a strategic analysis. A lack of preseason hype can foster internal hunger and focus in the locker room .
Conclusion
For a program that defined dominance, the idea of “sneaking up” on people would have once seemed absurd. But Saban understands that this specific Alabama team—young, rebuilding, and playing under immense pressure—needs a different psychological approach .
If DeBoer can harness that underdog energy, Saban’s “sneaky good” take might prove prophetic . The head coach may be gone, but the psychological warfare of college football still runs through Nick Saban.
