Saban explains decision to suspend Taylor

A day after indefinitely suspending senior offensive lineman Alphonse Taylor, Alabama head coach Nick Saban sat down and explained his decision to SportCenter anchor Sara Walsh as a part of ESPN’s annual “car wash” Tuesday.

Taylor was arrested Sunday for driving under the influence and was later reported to have left the scene of an accident.

“I think that everyone of these circumstances and situations is a little bit different,” Saban said. “But I think when you have a DUI, what makes it significantly different is you have put other people in danger by the choice you made and the decision that you made.

“That, to me, is a little more serious in terms of what we need to do. I would like to look at what we’re doing with Alphonse Taylor not as a punishment, but as a treatment of what we need to do to help him be a better player, be a better person and to make better choices and decisions in the future, and I think that’ll help him the most.”

Taylor started 15 games for the for the Crimson Tide last season. He was named to the preseason All-SEC second team by the media Friday. However, the 6-foot-5, 345-pound lineman spent the spring practicing with Alabama’s second team and was criticized by Saban, who said he would continue to work with the second team until he got in shape.

Saban alluded Taylor would miss time this season due to the suspension, but stated he feels comfortable with the Tide’s options across the line.

“I think we have better depth on the offensive line than we’ve had in several years now,” Saban said. “We have some capable players. They’ll all get an opportunity to compete, and we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Saban also explained the differences between how he handled Taylor’s arrest compared to the May arrests of offensive lineman Cam Robinson and defensive back Laurence “Hootie” Jones.

The two Tide players were arrested in their hometown of Monroe, La., on drugs and weapons charges. However, the Ouachita Parish District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute the players due to “insufficient evidence” in the case.

“I think those circumstances are completely different, and I think the statement that I made about when you choose to do this (DUI) and you put other people at risk, that makes it in a different category for me,” Saban said. “That’s why this situation is being treated differently, but we treat every situation differently with the players based on their history, what they’ve done and the facts.

“I would hope that people think that as coaches, we don’t make these decisions based on winning games, which I think we sometimes get criticized for. We make these decisions based on what’s best for the players and their futures and what we need to do to help them so they have a chance to be successful in life.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Saban explains decision to suspend Taylor."