Nick Saban has coached 66 All-Americans and 44 first-round NFL picks at Alabama, but one freshman moment with Derrick Henry still makes him laugh. b651
The story came up on _The Pivot Podcast_ with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, and Saban called it “the one Derrick Henry story I love to tell”. cc4c
“They just tossed me the ball”
It was Henry’s freshman year in Tuscaloosa. Alabama was running a team pass-protection drill. Henry, the 5-star out of Yulee, Florida who ran for 4,261 yards and 55 touchdowns in high school, missed his assignment. He didn’t pick up the right blitzing linebacker. 89ed53f2
The offensive coordinator let him have it. Saban said he felt bad for the kid and walked over to “rub his neck a little bit”. That’s when Henry looked him dead in the eye and said: f189
_“Coach, I don’t know anything about any of this s—. All they did in high school was turn around and toss me the ball and tell me to run with it. That’s all I know about football. So can you all have a little patience?”_ f189
Saban told the same version on _The Pat McAfee Show_: _“Coach, you’re going to have to understand something. I never learned how to do any of this stuff in high school, they just turned around and tossed me the ball and told me to run with it. So, I don’t understand any of this stuff that you’re talking about. But I’ll work at it and I’ll get it.”_ 53f2
From raw to Heisman
That honesty is exactly why Saban liked Henry. “I liked the guys that were always in my office because they were screwing up,” Saban said. “I got closer to them”. Henry owned it, then went to work. b651
In high school, Henry never had to block or catch. Schools even wanted him to play defense. But at Alabama, he had to learn pass protection, blitz pickups, and the rest of the running back job description. 53f2bc3c
He did. By his junior year in 2015, Henry was a different player: 395 carries, 2,219 yards, 28 touchdowns. He won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell, the Doak Walker, and led Alabama to a College Football Playoff National Championship. 959df1890bd6
Saban even pointed to a moment against Wisconsin in 2015 as proof. Henry had 147 yards and 3 TDs, but also delivered a punishing block that wiped out a blitzing linebacker. From “I don’t know pass pro” to stonewalling defenders — that’s the growth Saban loves to highlight. bc3c
### Why it’s his favorite
For Saban, the story isn’t just funny. It’s about development. “There’s so many college guys that I thought ‘this guy’s never going to make it,’ like when they’re freshmen, and then they would learn and grow and turn out to be really good players,” he said. “Like, Derrick Henry, right?” 0bd6
Henry went on to become Alabama’s first Heisman-winning RB, and now ranks 18th all-time in NFL rushing yards with over 11,500. In 2024 with the Baltimore Ravens he ran for 1,921 yards. 959d0bd6
Saban also named Henry one of his five favorite players to coach at Alabama, alongside Julio Jones, Rolando McClain, Tua Tagovailoa, and Reuben Foster. b651
The punchline now? The same kid who once asked for patience in pass protection became the guy defenses still can’t tackle. As Saban joked when asked how to stop Henry: good luck with that. 53f2
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