Tide draft possibility Turner saw changes in Saban

• Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 28, 2024, 03:56 PM ET Close Jenna Laine covers the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for ESPN. She started covering the Bucs for ESPN in 2016, but she has covered the team because 2009. Follow Jenna on Twitter: @JennaLaineESPN.

INDIANAPOLIS– Former Alabama edge rush Dallas Turner said Nick Saban’s retirement “type of hurt a great deal of individuals’s hearts,” however it didn’t catch him off guard completely and stated “when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go.”

“A lot of people believe that you can coach college football permanently, but you actually can’t,” Turner stated at the NFL searching integrate Thursday.Turner stated for the draft just after Alabama’s loss to Michigan at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Saban announced his retirement Jan 10. Editor’s Picks 1 Related Saban coached at Alabama from 2007 to 2023, winning 6 of

his 7 national championships with the Crimson Tide. He likewise had head-coaching jobs at Michigan State, LSU and the NFL’s Miami Dolphins before going to Alabama. “From how he was my freshman to my junior year, I sort of seen a great deal of modifications and stuff like that

,”Turner said.”I wasn’t surprised. But how it went about, I was kind of stunned. He most likely would crack a lot more jokes and stuff like that. It started to be more player-led. It was always given that he’s been there, but you might tell the players truly had a lot of say and he was a lot more open up to a lot more concepts and what the players needed to say and stuff. However it was all great however.” He was still the very same Coach Saban on the field, naturally, however you might tell the slight changes. “Turner credited Saban for teaching him the value of self-discipline, assisting him not just as a professional athlete but likewise off the field.”I feel like he opened up a lot of chances, touched a lot of hearts and touched a great deal of minds,”stated Turner, who also wanted to clarify about some questionable hits on quarterbacks from his college career.Hits on LSU’s Jayden Daniels(2023), Texas’Quinn Ewers(2022)and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart led to charges. Ewers missed out on three games with a sprained clavicle after he was driven into the ground by Turner, and Dart’s head was knocked into the turf by Turner after he was dragged down by his face mask. “I am simply playing football,”Turner said. “That is simply how I play. I do not mean to be filthy or absolutely nothing like that on my hits. I just play in between the whistles. I simply play 100%. “