On the Monday following a great performance in a blowout win over Illinois, Spartan junior linebacker Ike Reese sat listening to his head coach do something rare - publicly compliment a player's personality.
The player to whom Saban was referring his remarks was Reese, who sat not more than 50 feet from the podium where his coach was speaking.
The question posed to Saban by one reporter was: "What kind of maturity have you seen in Ike Reese both on and off the field?"
"I think Ike is one of the guys that I'm most proud of in the program," Saban answered. "He's doing much better in school, and I don't think he's had any problems off the field for a long, long time."
Saban didn't limit his praise of Reese to his off-the-field actions, however.
"He's having an outstanding year football-wise," Saban said. "We don't have any player on the team that works any harder than he does."
Reese leads the team with 63 tackles, has two sacks, four tackles for a loss and he picked off his first interception of the year against Illinois.
But Reese's newfound success did not come without its share of growing pains.
After a 1995 season full of nagging injuries, Reese decided it was time for a change. Taking on massive offensive linemen was too detrimental to Reese's health as a linebacker last season, so he put on 10 to 15 pounds of muscle over the summer.
He now tips the scales at an impressive 220 pounds.
"In Hank Bullough's defensive scheme (in 1994), my position was more of a pass rushing position," Reese said. "In the new system, I had to take on more offensive linemen looking to chop block me. I felt like I had to put the weight on."
Yet it has been Reese's development into a mature person and player that has caught attention this season.
"I did a lot of thinking in the off-season about some of the things I wanted to do, and some of the things I wanted to accomplish," Reese said. "I felt there were some changes I had to make in the way I handled things and in the way I dealt with things."
Reese made significant strides in making those changes in the last year and a half.
As a result, he is considered one of the main leaders of a revamped "Gang Green" defense.
Yet as Saban spoke of his improvements on and off the field, Reese sat quietly in the back of the room - almost as if he was embarrassed by the compliments.
Not exactly the reaction one might expect from an intense outside linebacker who's been known to do a sack dance every once in a while.
"It makes you feel good," Reese said of Saban's remarks. "I guess that's the type of reward you get for working hard."
Reese has been working hard since the summer of 1995 when his life as a football player - and as a person - was dealt a significant blow. He was involved in a brawl on June 1, 1995 outside Dooley's Restaurant and Sensations Nightclub.
The establishment has since been shut down for numerous violations, including citations for fights that occurred outside the bar.
As it turned out, that fateful summer night helped him make significant changes in his lifestyle.
Reese was arrested, along with four other people, for disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to two days in jail and received one year of probation.
Today, Reese does not discuss the incident in detail.
Instead, he opts to discuss his present situation as a team leader and role model.
"I don't want to talk about it," Reese said. "I don't want to discuss anything about the whole situation."
This is an understandable reaction from a player who went from Spartan freshman hero to trouble maker in the course of one night.
But Reese did come out of his shell a bit to talk about the struggle he faced in getting back to the top of his game and his life.
He said the fall from grace came quicker than what he expected.
"Before the incident happened, (I) was the doll of the MSU campus," Reese said. "After it happened, I'm a thug on the MSU football team from the George Perles era that coach Saban has to deal with."
How Saban would deal with Reese's mental mistake off the field was a hot topic of debate around the MSU campus last year. Many thought his MSU playing days might be numbered under the new coach.
Reese, who came to MSU from Cincinnati, would not say whether he was worried about that possibility. He did say, however, that the incident changed his life.
"You can't constantly be in the public eye negatively and be successful," Reese said. "I have a son (three-year old Michael), and school became more important for me. I'm going to be 23 years old, and I want to get my degree for my mother and my son."
Reese's role as a leader on the team is not going unnoticed by his teammates either.
Sixth-year senior tailback Duane Goulbourne said Reese's improvement as a player and as an individual is clearly marked.
"He's matured a lot," Goulbourne said. "Now he's still intense, but he's more in control. You can see it in his eyes, and in his performance."
Senior defensive tackle Chris Smith said Reese's improved maturity level is like night and day compared to his previous seasons.
"From his first year to now, there's just been a 100 percent turnaround," Smith said. "He's always been a good athlete, but now he really sets a good example for the young kids."
Judging from Reese's presence on a defensive squad that stuffs the run this year instead of getting run over, he's evidently found the secret to success on the field.
"Nobody prepares to play well in the game any better than he does," Saban said. "We're very pleased with the progress that Ike made.
"That makes you feel good as a coach - when you have someone that has that kind of success across the board."