Nick Saban got a lot of things right when it came to Derrick Henry, except for the way he remembers the recruitment of the running back.
Saban joined “The Pat McAfee Show” for an appearance last week and talked about Henry. The former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach was talking about Henry, who starred at running back for Alabama from 2013-2015. Saban said that other schools wanted Henry to play a different position and not running back.
“The amazing thing about this, and I don’t wanna throw anybody under the bus here so I won’t mention any names, but you can go back and see who all was recruiting him. But nobody, except us, said ‘you could play running back.’ Can you believe that?” Saban said.
“They’re talking about the guy being an outside ‘backer. They’re talking about being this and that … because he’s tall, he’s long, he doesn’t fit the real sort of running back style that people look for. I said, ‘hell, this guy’s hard to tackle. He’s fast, he’s got a great stiff arm. I said, ‘why can’t he play running back? I don’t care if he looks a little different than some of these other guys.'”
Though it’s great that Saban wanted Henry at running back, he was hardly alone. Those who follow recruiting may recall that Henry had originally committed to Georgia, which was going to use him at running back.
“The Georgia coaches did a great job telling me how they would use me. They don’t have many running backs, so I feel I can go there and make an impact right away,” Henry had said at the time.
Here's what Henry told @HaysCarlyon in 2011 in the Jacksonville paper. "I really like Coach Richt," Henry said. "The Georgia coaches did a great job telling me how they would use me. They don't have many running backs, so I feel I can go there and make an impact right away."
— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) September 13, 2025
Henry rushed for 12,124 yards and 153 touchdowns during his four-year career at Yulee High School in Alabama. He later said there was never any question about his position, so Saban has it wrong.
"The amazing thing is nobody except us said Derrick Henry could play RB..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 12, 2025
I told him we're recruiting you as a RB and you can do whatever you wanna do" ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/6ybIOOV0Jv
Henry rushed for 3,591 yards and 42 rushing touchdowns during his college career. The five-time Pro Bowler has rushed for 11,615 yards during his NFL career.
