Nick Saban is back.
A little more than a week after testing positive for COVID-19, the Alabama football coach is back with the team and will coach Saturday’s game at LSU. Saban announced his return on his Thursday night radio show, a day before the Crimson Tide is set to fly to Louisiana.
“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Saban said. “I’m good.”
“I think my time is up so I’m ready to get back into the swing of things even though I’ve been there for every possible thing. It’s just been a little different but now I can get back in person and do all the things we need to do without an issue or a problem.”
He said the medical staff made the decision based on “CDC timetables and all that.”
“But I’m clear tomorrow to travel with the team,” he said from his home via video call.
Saban also revealed some more details about his treatment for the coronavirus. He said he “had one of those IV deals” the same day he tested positive last Wednesday.
“The plasma treatment, whatever it’s called,” Saban said. “And it really worked wonders. I woke up the next day and I really only had slight symptoms of a head cold, maybe a little cough, so I felt like I had a cold. But that’s about it. I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t have a fever but whatever was in this plasma deal, it knocked it all out in one day. So from Thursday on, I felt great and 100%.
“And I would certainly recommend that treatment to anyone who can get it.”
Saban on multiple occasions this week said he was feeling well and expected to be on the sideline for the 7 p.m. CT Saturday kickoff in Baton Rouge. He said Wednesday evening that he’d be back “shortly” and “in the very near future.”
The 69-year-old coach missed the first game in decades on the job when Alabama beat Auburn 42-13. Watching from home, Saban deputized offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian as the de facto head coach, though the win still went on Saban’s career record.
The news of Saban’s positive test came the day before Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, in a morning news release. Unlike the October coronavirus scare, this positive test would not be challenged since Saban was showing symptoms. He said he was feeling well outside of a runny nose as he continued his normal game-week routine from home instead of the football facility.
SEC protocols required him to isolate at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms. He needed to go 24 hours without a fever to exit the isolation and return to the team.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
