The college football community reacts to the news of Alabama football coach Nick Saban testing positive for the coronavirus.
Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne have tested positive for the coronavirus. Saban is isolating in his home while offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian oversees team activities ahead of the Tide’s game vs. No. 3 Georgia on Saturday night.
After telling the team of his diagnosis on a Zoom meeting at 2 p.m., Saban also said he is asymptomatic, but he will not be on the sideline for the biggest college football game of the year.
This is the second bombshell news report from the SEC on Wednesday after Florida-LSU was postponed earlier due to a COVID outbreak hitting 21 Florida football players and two assistant coaches, leaving the Gators with less than 50 scholarship players available.
College football community reacts to Nick Saban’s COVID diagnosis
The news of Tom Rinaldi reporting Saban’s positive test happened during The Paul Finebaum Show which led to this reaction from the “Mouth of the South.”
Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19.
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) October 14, 2020
(via @finebaum) pic.twitter.com/Vl0FVZJm2H
Saban’s daughter Kristen tweeted (with permission from dad) that he’s symptom-free and coaching practice via Zoom.
https://twitter.com/KristenSabanS/status/1316508223311052802
The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel notes the last game for Sarkisian as a head coach was in 2015 at USC and now he’ll likely be the acting head coach when Alabama takes on No. 3 Georgia.
Sark's last game as a head coach was at USC in 2015. His next one could be vs. No. 3 Georgia on Saturday if Saban's test wasn't a false positive. https://t.co/xZLI7tw25W
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 14, 2020
Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger brings up the point that Saban, 68, and Les Miles, 66, are among the oldest head coaches in the sport and both isolating due to positive COVID tests.
The fourth and fifth-oldest coaches in the FBS, Nick Saban (68) and Les Miles (66), have tested positive for COVID-19 and are, at the same time, in isolation.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) October 14, 2020
ESPN’s David Pollack was clearly surprised to hear of Saban’s diagnosis.
https://twitter.com/davidpollack47/status/1316497909538578437
So too was Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde.
Holy moly. The SEC is a COVID Forest fire. https://t.co/82IZOmFG7J
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) October 14, 2020
An important reminder from The Athletic’s Chris Vanini who tweets Saban has been vocal about the importance of wearing a mask and taking this seriously and he still tested positive.
Alabama football has been testing daily, Saban has always worn a mask and taken this seriously, and he still got it. A reminder of how challenging this virus is and the long fight still ahead.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 14, 2020
Testing can prevent outbreaks from spreading, but it can’t stop the virus.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney wishes Saban well and said he’ll likely give his adversary a call to check in.
Dabo Swinney on the Nick Saban news: "Best wishes and thoughts for coach Saban. Hopefully he's going to do well. I'll probably call him later to make sure he's doing good. Certainly hate to hear that."
— Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) October 14, 2020
ESPN’s Jay Bilas is among the several people wishing the best for a quick and full recovery.
All the best to Alabama coach Nick Saban and AD Greg Byrne for a speedy recovery. https://t.co/dx0bblpA17
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) October 14, 2020
Athlon Sports’ Bryan Fischer sarcastically commenting on another wild day in college football where Saban tested positive and LSU-Florida was postponed due to more than 20 players at Florida testing positive and more in quarantine in recent days.
Just another boring day in college athletics.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 14, 2020
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