Xavier McKinney on similarities/differences between Brian Daboll & Nick Saban
Giants safety Xavier McKinney's history with coach Brian Daboll dates all the way back to his freshman year at Alabama.
When McKinney was beginning his collegiate career in 2017, Daboll was manning the Crimson Tide sideline as offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach under head coach Nick Saban.
McKinney recently joined NFL Network's 'Good Morning Football' to discuss several topics, including the similarities and differences between his current head coach and his formal college coach.
"I would say his jokes. He makes a lot more jokes than Saban did," McKinney told the 'Good Morning Football' crew about how Daboll differs from the Alabama coach. "Something similar, I would say regardless of if we're doing well or if we're doing not so well, he's always going to stay even-keeled. He always pushes us, no matter what the situation is.
"Obviously last year we had our highs, but it was always the same standard. He never changed it one time. Every time he came into the building, it was always the same. So we knew what he expected from us, and we knew how he was going to coach and we knew how he was going to be as a person, just in and out of the building, no matter what. I think that's what makes him great, and that's what makes us push and be even better."
Daboll spent only one season with McKinney in Tuscaloosa, but he made it count. The Crimson Tide won the College Football Playoff National Championship over Georgia that season as Daboll coached quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa.
While together at Alabama for just the 2017 campaign, the connection between Daboll and Saban goes back nearly two decades earlier. As the head coach of Michigan State, Saban hired Daboll as a graduate assistant for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. It was only Daboll's second job in coaching, as he served as a volunteer assistant at William & Mary in 1997.
In his first year under Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, McKinney started nine games and recorded 45 tackles (29 solo), one sack, two tackles for loss, one forced fumble and five passes defensed.
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