Michigan football might be the No. 1 team in the country entering the College Football Playoff semifinal, but with Jim Harbaugh having lost the past two semifinals and going up against the most decorated head coach in the country, a lot of people think that Alabama will continue to do what it does in the postseason — win.
But Nick Saban isn’t resting on his laurels, it seems.
After a full year of people questioning Michigan’s bona fides due to the schedule, the Wolverines made good on the promise of a special season by beating Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State, and Iowa in the last four games. Looking at both sides of the ball, Saban says that this is a different type of team than the ones he’s seen in the SEC all year, noting on the Pat McAfee show what makes the maize and blue unique.
“They’re a really good team,” Saban said. “Very aggressive on defense. Offensively, they use a lot of personnel groups, they run the ball very effectively. The quarterback is a very efficient player. They’ve got some really good skill guys. No. 18 (Colston Loveland), the tight end, kind of a mismatch, a little like Georgia’s guy (Brock Bowers).
“So they present a lot of challenges based on formations, motions, movements — those sorts of things. They do a good job on defense. They stunt and you’ve got to be ready for where these guys are going to be coming from all the time. Preparation, I think, is the key, because it’s going to be a little bit different than anybody we’ve played against all year.”
Saban made an unconventional hire to prepare for the Rose Bowl this past week, having brought aboard former Michigan linebackers coach George Helow to help with the Crimson Tide’s preparation.
He says that he hasn’t yet delved too deep into Michigan, having just started the process while being out on the road recruiting. But he hopes to learn more about the Wolverines in the coming days.
“We’re really just learning and watching,” Saban said. “This is a planning day today so we’ve used all day today to try to zero in. When you’re on the road recruiting, with the technology you have now, you can watch this stuff when you’re in the plane and all that type of thing. We’ve done quite a bit of that but this is the first time we’ve been together as a staff planning it all. We’ll use the next three days doing that while we’re practicing fundamentals.”
Watch the entire interaction below.