In 2008, Nick Saban delivered one of his most memorable and famous pregame speeches. Alabama was going into Baton Rouge to play LSU for the first time since Saban left the Tigers for the NFL, and he riled up his players in the locker room before they ran out onto the field.
“How much does this game mean to you?” Saban said, his voice rising. “Because if it means something to you, you can’t stand still. You understand? You play fast. You play strong. You go out there and dominate the guy you’re playing against and make his ass quit. That’s our trademark. That’s our M.O. as a team. That’s what people know us as.”
The “make his ass quit” bit became part of the identity of future national championship-winning Crimson Tide teams, including the ones Steve Sarkisian was a…
