Nick Saban is indisputably the best coach in college football history. His teams play for the national title more often than not. And so it's naturally assumed that Alabama is the best-coached team in college football year in, year out.
But does the best-coached team in college football also lead the nation in penalties?
That's where the No. 6 Crimson Tide find themselves following Saturday's 52-49 loss to Tennessee, a game in which Alabama committed 17 accepted penalties for 130 yards.
The 17 flags set a Saban-era Alabama record, and a record that happened to be barely one month old. Alabama was flagged 15 times for 100 yards in their 20-19 win at No. 20 Texas on Sept. 10, which was a (short-lived) record at the time.
Alabama was also penalized 10 times for 101 yards in their Oct. 1 win at Arkansas, and has yet to commit fewer than six penalties in a game this season.
The Tide's 66 accepted penalties are the most in FBS through seven games. (Though, it must be noted, Alabama is a mere 129th in penalties per game; their 9.4 flags per game average is outpaced by Syracuse's 9.5 and Houston's 9.8. So there is that.)
The excessive penalties also dovetail with overall undisciplined play, seen most obviously in the secondary as the Tide allowed Tennessee's Hendon Hooker to connect on 21-of-30 passes for 385 yards with five touchdowns (plus one interception) in Saturday's loss.
Nick Saban addressed it all with reporters on Monday.
“I think you’ve gotta do it in practice,” Saban said. “I think you create all these habits in practice. I think we’ve gotta make players more accountable in practice for doing things correctly, paying attention to detail and doing the little things right."
Bill Parcells famously absolved himself of responsibility for getting his players to curtail penalties, saying "I don't coach penalties." Saban does not share that view.
"We can’t go hang ‘em up for doing this. They’re our players. We need to get them to understand what they need to do not to allow these things to happen and understand the consequences of what happens when you do it," he said.
That said, Saban also indicated that if players have demonstrated an inability to do the little things right, the staff will be obligated to change its personnel.
“But we can’t continue to tolerate guys that aren’t doing the things they need to do to be successful,” Saban said. “Nobody is entitled to a position. Everybody’s earned the position that they’re in by showing they have the capability and ability to do it on a consistent basis.
“And that’s something that you have to continue. And the grind of the season – being the middle of the season, being a little bit hurt, tired or whatever – you can’t lose your focus on doing the things you need to do to continue to improve and get better because other people are looking at your flaws, too.”