Saban kept his usual Wednesday press conference rather short this week.
The last time the Crimson Tide wasn’t opening a season inside an NFL stadium was in 2011 when UA welcomed Kent State, Nick Saban’s alma mater, to Tuscaloosa. Every season since, Alabama has played a Power 5 opponent in places like Atlanta or Dallas, but with the Crimson Tide shifting its scheduling philosophy to home-and-home series, this year is different.
“We always played neutral-site games in the past because of scheduling issues,” Saban said. “It was a great experience for fans for a long time, and we always were able to get a really good opponent to play.