Nick Saban Will Coach Against Georgia After Multiple Consecutive Negative COVID Tests

The college football world received a gigantic piece of news earlier this week when Alabama coach Nick Saban tested positive for COVID-19. Saban was asymptomatic, but the test meant he would be unable to coach the second-ranked Crimson Tide on the sideline on Saturday evening, when the team played host to No. 3 Georgia.

However, because Saban did not show any symptoms, the door was open for him to coach the team in some capacity if subsequent negative tests went his way. And on Saturday afternoon, we learned that that is, indeed, the case, as the team announced that Saban repeatedly tested negative, making him eligible to coach the game and raising the belief that his test showing he had the virus was a false positive.

https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1317501267669864448

The statement laid out the protocols for testing that Saban received, which included getting checked every day at 7 a.m. per SEC protocols, along with additional, separate testing checked by a second lab to confirm the findings.

https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1317502009440931841

Obviously the good news here is that Saban is healthy, because as a soon-to-be 69-year-old man, the risk he carries with this virus is a little higher. As such, he has the all clear to coach his team this evening, with the festivities kicking off in Tuscaloosa at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.