Nick Saban, the head coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide, might just work harder than anyone in the college football game. His attention to detail is incredible and his knowledge and coaching skill is largely the reason why the Crimson Tide have won two straight national titles and three of the last four. The Tide is number one in the nation again this season and they are the odds on favorite to win the crystal football again. Nick Saban is also the only man coaching major college football who is right way more than he is wrong.

This time, he’s right.

Last week, while on a radio show in Tuscaloosa, Saban called out the Tide fans and chided them for leaving the games early. Here’s what he had to say:

“My sense of it is, I always say the fans are a part of the team. Everybody else should have the same sort of commitment. You don’t have to do the work all week, you don’t have to practice, you don’t have to come in at 7 in the morning and leave at 11 at night, you don’t have to do any of that stuff.

“All you have to do is come to the game, drink beer, do whatever you want, party in the parking lot. I’ve never been at a tailgate in my life. All I’m asking is that you just come and have fun and stay for the whole game.”

At first, there was the argument that fans can do whatever they want to. They don’t have to stay at the game until the bitter end whether the Tide is playing LSU or Ham Steak State. They paid for the ticket, after all, so they can choose to stay or go. Also, the students and other fans have schoolwork or jobs to do that may force them to leave early.

Then, there’s this: I agree with Saban. The fans are a part of the team. They can (and sometimes do) have a direct result on the game. I can’t imagine anyone who isn’t a player for the Tide wanting to play in Bryant-Denney Stadium. That’s part of the home field advantage. So, that is the job of the fan, to display their pride and colors brightly. And players respond to that, either positively or negatively.

But fans leaving games early is not only a failure to do their job, it is also irritating. If you had an ounce of pride, you’d stay to the bitter end of the game, no matter the result. We, as fans, have become complacent in our fandom. We expect to win and, when we do, then the celebration of such is ho-hum. We have placed the support for the team and escape from the daily grind that sports presents behind beating traffic and getting back to life sooner. Stop and smell the freshly cut grass of the field and stay until the end of the game. Real life can wait.

I always believe that paying $47 for snacks at a movie is just part of the experience, so I’m usually decently happy to pay it, as long as the watching of the movie is good. For the games that I’ve been to, the experience is paying $18 for a turkey leg, getting my eardrums blown out on third down, singing the fight song and, yes, fighting traffic after the game.

So, thank you, Nick Saban, for making sure that fans get the most out of their game day. Thanks for keeping us in check and forcing us to measure how much pride we actually have in a team.