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Nick Saban Throws Shade at Blake Barnett

+22 HS
Cooper's picture
September 30, 2016 at 12:34pm
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Blake Barnett, who was beaten out at starting quarterback by Jalen Hurts, decided to transfer from the Alabama football program. As Nick Saban is wont to do when nervous, he went on a passive aggressive tirade directed at his now former quarterback. From NBC Sports

It’s one of those things where I think the culture has changed a little bit,” Saban said. “I think there’s a certain pride people have in competition. There’s certain things that I was taught growing up about not quitting and seeing things through. I think if I would have come home and told my dad that I was going to quit the team, I think he would have kicked me out of the house. I don’t think I’d have a place to stay.

A couple points: first, seeing the writing on the wall when you are beaten out by a true freshman is not being scared of competition, it's realizing that if you want to further your football career it'll likely have to be at a place in which you could play. Making decisions that better your career does not mean you are lazy or a quitter. That's a lazy assumption about Blake, and it's a lazy and tired assumption about a generation. Also, you quit on the Miami Dolphins and allegedly ignored a convulsing player in the the locker room.

So it always looks better someplace else. So you think, instead of facing your fears and really overcoming adversity and making yourself better through the competition, you go someplace else thinking it will be better there. But until you face your fears, you’re always going to have some of those issues or problems.

Sure, Barnett could go through some competition and end up being Todd Boeckman: he's a great teammate, everyone loves him, but in the end he was on the bench and didn't have a future in football. But is Barnett really a bad person if he doesn't want to take that path? He was a top 25 recruit a couple of years ago. Maybe he won't be a part of such a great football culture that has been established at Alabama and he probably won't win a national championship, but knocking a kid for looking out for his future seems to be a case of sour grapes. Who's to say he won't face his fears by enduring the adversity he will go through transferring to a new school? Not every quarterback is cut from the same cloth as Dolodale 12 Gauge Jones.

Lessons to be learned: Wish the kid well, keep the complaining in-house, and avoid sensational arguments regarding your competitive prowess over younger generations.

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