Tennessee didn't have a lot of luck against Nick Saban-coached teams over the years. Whether it was early 2000s LSU or the two decades he spent at Alabama, Saban seemed to always have Tennessee's number.
The Vols didn't beat Saban's Crimson Tide until 2022, when they beat Alabama in a thriller at Neyland Stadium. But a decision in 2001 is what Saban considers the "dumbest decision" of his coaching career, yet it still resulted in a win over the Volunteers.
Saban shared on Saturday's College Gameday episode that he made the dumbest decision against Tennessee in the 2001 SEC Championship. The LSU Tigers were down 17-3 and went for it on fourth down in the second quarter, but the Vols stopped them in a decision that seemed to give Tennessee all the momentum.
"We were playing in the SEC Championship game against Tennessee back in 2001, and we went for it on fourth-and-one on our own twenty-nine-yard line and got stuffed by John Henderson and didn't make it," Saban shared. "We were behind seventeen to three. We won the game thirty-one to twenty."
"I thought it was the dumbest decision that I ever made, but players came up to me in the locker room after the game and said, 'Coach, when you went for it on fourth down, we thought you thought we could win, and we played our ass off after that.'"
Saban made it clear that he was coaching to win, and that's something coaches need to do more of, rather than coaching not to lose. While it worked out for him and LSU in 2001, it doesn't always work out that way for everyone else.
Things worked out well for Saban, and the Vols aren't doing so bad either right now under Josh Heupel. It is a message Heupel should definitely keep in mind, with another ten-win season on the line, if the Vols beat Vanderbilt and win their bowl game.