Alabama Football: Will Nick Saban Get His Wish on NFL Draft Grades?

Alabama head coach Nick Saban stepped to the podium in the main ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Alabama, earlier this month with talking points in hand.

He had mentioned earlier in the day the NFL draft calendar and frustration with players getting their draft grades back around Christmas and now was on the dais on the biggest stage of the offseason.

Around halfway through his 30-minute allotment, it happened.

Saban, a man who's never at a loss for words when he feels strongly on an issue, delivered the quote that turned out to be one of the defining moments of SEC media days.

"I just felt like, in our experience last year, our team chemistry from the SEC Championship Game to the playoff game was affected by something," Saban said.

Would players really be focusing more on protecting their bodies and their future earnings at the expense of a national semifinal or major bowl?

"We had six guys in this situation this past year and 11 the year before," Saban said. "So we're trying to get ready for a game, and all of a sudden, a guy finds out he's a first-round draft pick or a guy that thought he was a first-round draft pick finds out he's not a first-round draft pick, and we're trying to get ready to play a playoff game."

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Excuse? Maybe. Whining? A little bit. Constructive complaining? Absolutely.

It can be viewed as, and likely is, all three.

That was the point.

On the final day of SEC media days, while walking between media rooms, LSU head coach Les Miles joined Saban in voicing his displeasure with the NFL draft calendar.

"What you would like to do is have time with each player, be able to describe his situation," Miles said, according to Ken Rogers of the Dothan Eagle. "And if you have 10 guys—oh my gosh, in the middle of bowl practice—it’s impossible. So back [the deadline] up. Why make [the decision] in a hurry?"

Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports

Had Saban not been labeled as a whiner and viewed as making excuses, would we really be talking about this? I've been asked about it on nearly every radio guest hit I've done since he took the podium nearly a week-and-a-half ago.

Because his program has lost two straight major bowls and come up short in big situations over the last two seasons, he gets viewed as a whiner, and the ridiculous timing of the NFL draft calendar stays in the news cycle.

The former draws headlines, but the latter is what's important to Saban.

"We've moved the draft back. We have not moved the date that a player has to declare back," Saban said at media days. "We used to play bowl games on January 1. Now the championship game is on January 11th or 12th, and the 15th is still the day that people have to declare for the draft. So I think a week, 10 days would be beneficial."

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Whether you think he's a whiner or not, he made a really good point. Will Saban get his wish?

"Eventually, he will," said Bleacher Report National NFL Lead Writer Mike Freeman. "The NFL is sensitive to the appearance of how the league treats the players. So if it looks like the league is being cruel, it will change the system so it doesn't look like 'The Company' from Alien. The league will change nothing just because coaches complain. The NFL couldn't care less about Saban's complaints. My guess is this is on the NFL's radar mainly because they don't want to appear cruel to the players."

Perception equals reality as far as the NFL is concerned, and Saban's "whining" is raising awareness of the real issue, which could cause enough pressure to usher in change in the NFL's draft calendar.

Whiner? Sure, call Saban a whiner if you want.

A more appropriate term might be "evil genius."

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.