30 best Alabama football players to play for Nick Saban

Best Alabama football players under Nick Saban: 10. Mark Ingram

Mark Ingram was just dominant on another level when he was on the field. He joined the Crimson Tide in 2008. As a freshman, he had 728 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Saban was playing around with his playing time. Glen Coffee was the clear starter, but Ingram was too talented not to play. They brought a “lightning and thunder” approach to the Alabama backfield, however, both could break gigantic plays.

Coffee left Alabama that first season, and Ingram became one of the best running backs in the country right away. He was so good in his sophomore year, he won the Heisman Trophy. In the hallowed history of the Alabama Crimson Tide, nobody had won the Heisman Trophy before Ingram. He left little doubt that season. He ran for more than 1,600 yards, added 334 yards receiving, and he scored 20 total touchdowns. He did just about everything for the Crimson Tide.

This was an important milestone for Alabama. They had all the team accolades, but the main difference between the Saban era and the Bear Bryant era is that Saban knew that stars needed to be stars. He knew when he had the utmost talent he needed to let them shine. That’s what he did with Ingram. He had this supreme talent that could steal games at a moment’s notice. He wasn’t trying to out coach everyone at all times. Sometimes, the best coaching job he could do is get the ball to his star and get out of the way. Ingram was also the youngest player at the time to win the Heisman Trophy.

Coming off the Heisman win, Ingram was great in the BCS Title Game against Texas, rushing for 116 yards and two touchdowns. His junior season was impacted by offseason knee surgery, although he rushed for 151 yards in the first quarter he returned to play against Duke. Ingram finished his junior year with about half of the carries he had during his Heisman winning sophomore year, which explains the serious drop in overall production. He was still of the utmost importance to this brand, winning the first Heisman is very important to the legacy of Alabama.