A recent arrest in Alabama’s football program has Nick Saban showing the sharp contrast between him and the university’s basketball head coach, Nate Oats.
Four-star recruit Tony Mitchell was arrested last week in Florida, and arrest records show he was driving a vehicle going 141 miles per hour. Upon stopping Mitchell, police found $7,040 cash, 226 grams of marijuana, four prescription pills and a loaded gun.
“There’s no such thing in being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Saban said on Monday as he addressed the arrest with reporters. “You’ve got to be responsible for who you’re with, who you’re around and what you do, who you associate with and the situations you put yourself in.”
He told reporters that Mitchell has been suspended from the team as more information is gathered.
Saban’s statement directly contradicts the approach Oats took after reports emerged that star Crimson Tide forward Brandon Miller was at the scene of the fatal shooting of Jamea Jonae Harris.
Oats initially brushed off Miller’s involvement as him being in the “wrong spot at the wrong time” before court testimony revealed Miller transported the murder weapon used in the killing to the crime scene.
Miller has denied any knowledge that a crime would take place with the firearm and has not been charged in connection with the murder.
Whether Saban’s statement was meant as a subtle criticism of the basketball program or not is unclear. What’s much more obvious is the two coaches have some big differences in how much they’re willing to tolerate.
