Alabama coach Nick Saban goes off on reporters who already have ‘all the answers’

Alabama coach Nick Saban asked some pretty deep-sounding questions at the end of his 15-minute media session following practice on Wednesday, such as:

Why do we play?

Why do we compete?

Why do we have practice?

Actually, those questions were all rhetorical and part of a minute-plus rant apparently directed at reporters who cover the Crimson Tide on a regular basis. It started with the final question of the day, during which a media member may have seemed to assume that third-year linebacker Christian Miller is transitioning from backup to a more prominent role on the defense this season.

“I don’t know. You guys make all these predictions about everything, about guys that are going to be great players that have been here for two years, who’s going to win all the games. I don’t even know why we play,” Saban said. “Why do we even play? Why do we have practice? Why do we compete? Why do we coach guys how they need to improve? I mean, you guys got all the answers to how guys are going to be, what they’re going to do.

“Sometimes I wonder, why do we play? Why do we even have practice? Because you guys have got all these conclusions already drawn about who’s what, how good they are, what they can do. So, why would you ask me? That’s what’s puzzling to me. Why would you ask me? I read stuff [about our team] all the time [and my reaction is], like, ‘That’s nice to know. Where’d that come from?’ And then you ask me?”

Then Saban proceeded to answer the original question, eliciting a burst of laughter from the group of reporters.

“But Christian Miller has done a nice job,” said Saban, who also couldn’t help but chuckle. “He’s had a really good camp. He’s doing a good job. He had a lot of production points in the scrimmage so we’re really happy with the progress.”

He finished by saying, “And thanks for asking.”

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii