Nick Saban no longer coaches the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Tua Tagovailoa is no longer their quarterback, but the two will always be joined at the hip. On a recent episode of the "Pat McAfee Show," the former head coach expressed his displeasure with the Miami Dolphins quarterback.
Tagovailoa made waves last week after throwing his teammates under the proverbial bus. Then Mike McDaniel had to address the situation, and the quarterback was reportedly making the rounds of apologizing within the building. Saban said he was both shocked and proud of his former product.
"I'm proud of the way Tua handled that situation but I was really shocked that he did what he did..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 17, 2025
You don't say that about your teammates but I was really proud of the way he took accountability for a mistake" ~ Coach Saban #PMSlive pic.twitter.com/zPpMSkyknw
Nick Saban doesn't hold back when talking about recent comments made by Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa
McAfee set Saban up with a "Hey, are you proud of the way you handled that" lead-in, referring to Tagovailoa apologizing to his teammates. Saban's first comments were, "I am proud of the way he handled it," but that wasn't what Saban wanted to stress.
The former Alabama coach said that he has always coached his players not to throw other teammates under the bus.
"You never criticize another player, and in my entire coaching career, you never heard me criticize another player. Everyone needs to take responsibility for what they can control.
...When you start worrying about what you can't control, it will start to affect what you can."
Saban said that while he is proud of the way he took ownership of what he said, there isn't a time to throw other players under the bus.
Saban said what every fan, media member, and former player has said. You don't talk about your teammates publicly. Tagovailoa broke that rule, and while his teammates are likely going to let this pass over without any issues, the quarterback can't afford to open his mouth and let this happen again.
The Dolphins have a lot of problems internally, and Tagovailoa made it worse last week when he said that players were late or not showing up to team meetings. Those meetings turned out to be film sessions. McDaniel addressed the issue after the relentless media questions.
The only thing that Tagovailoa can do right now is concentrate on what he can control, and that is leading his team. The quarterback has not progressed into the leader that many believed he would become, and that, too, is part of the overall problem.