What happens when Saban can't sleep... and other stuff!Posted by Ian R. Rapoport -- Birmingham News August 21, 2008 8:10 PMWant to know what happens when Nick Saban can't sleep? I didn't necessarily either, but the Alabama coach was discussing how he decided to move nose tackle Lorenzo Washington to end and then he stopped. "You want to know the truth?" he asked. Why not, right? Before I get to my notes, I figured you'd want to know, too.Saban!"I couldn't sleep one night, my wife got mad at me, so I just got up, sat in my chair, got a piece of paper out and listed all of our best players," Saban said. "I said, 'Who's our best players?' Same thing at linebacker. And just said, 'This is how it's got to be. (Cory) Reamer's got to go play Sam, (Don'ta) Hightower's got to play Will, Lorenzo should be an end, let these two nose guards battle it out, and let's go play.' "Saban used to just lay there when he couldn't figure something out, but now he gets up, and does something so he can go back to sleep. I asked, Is that how decisions get made?"Lots of them," Saban said. "Pattern matches when you're a secondary coach, a lot of them have been on the ceiling of the bedroom, figuring out this guy does this, that guy does that, that's how we should match that pattern. That was a long time ago, when I was a secondary coach and defensive coordinator. But it doesn't bother Terry any. She's used to it."As long as they are the right answers, right?"Well, I've figured some good, some bad," he said, laughing. "You can tell through the years."Good stuff, right? Here are some notes: *****One recent night, when Alabama coach Nick Saban could not sleep, and his wife Terry got mad at him for staying awake. So he got out of bed and made a list of his team's best players."Some of those best decisions get made (that way)," he said. "It doesn't bother Terry. She's used to it."In the moment Saban called "an alert," he made three important decisions about his defense:Former nose tackle Lorenzo Washington needed to become an end, Cory Reamer needed to move to outside linebacker, and freshman Don'ta Hightower needed to move to inside linebacker. Josh Chapman and Terrence Cody would continue to battle at nose tackle."I said, 'That's how it's got to be," Saban said. " 'Let those two nose guards battle it out and let's go play.' "
I put Terry to bed for him.