University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban has tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced Wednesday.
"This morning we received notification that Coach Saban has tested positive for COVID-19," a statement released by team physician Dr. Jimmy Robinson and head athletic trainer Jeff Allen said. "He has very mild symptoms, so this test will not be categorized as a potential false positive. He will follow all appropriate guidelines and isolating at home."
Saban will not coach Saturday's Iron Bowl game against #22 Auburn.
Coach Saban could return for the team's final regular season game against Arkansas.
Alabama, currently 7-0, sits at #1 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Saban said he has had a runny nose, but no major symptoms. He had previously received a false positive ahead of the game with Georgia but didn’t have any symptoms that time.
He was cleared to coach in the game after subsequent tests leading up to the game came back negative.
This time appears different.
“It was a PCR test which was different than the false positive that I had before,” Saban said on the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference. “I don’t really have any cardinal signs of the virus right now. I don’t have a fever, no loss of taste or smell, no fatigue, no muscle aches.
“I informed the team this morning at 10 on a zoom call. I’m the only person in the whole organization who tested positive this round.”
Saban will still run meetings and monitor practice via zoom at home like he did ahead of the Georgia game. Sarkisian will still call offensive plays during the game, but Saban said other details were still to be ironed out.
“Last time I did this for three days, I absolutely did everything from home that I did in the office,” Saban said. “I just did it on zoom.”
Saban said he has no idea how he got the virus, and it wasn’t immediately clear if anybody else within the program will be affected because of close contact. Saban believes that’s unlikely “based on how we manage things internally in the building.”
“I’m around nobody. I mean, I go home and I go to the office,” Saban said. “I have no idea. Now, there are some people in and out of our house on occasion, but I have no idea how this happened. We really practice social tracing, social distancing, all the things that we need to do to be safe.
“We’re always six feet apart in meetings. We have staff meetings in large rooms. Everyone is required and we all wear masks. Players all wear masks in meetings.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.