Patriots head coach Bill Belichick says there's no one in football he respects more than Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban. Saban served as the defensive coordinator on Belichick's coaching staff with the Cleveland Browns from 1991-1994.

FOXBORO – “There’s nobody I have more respect for in football than Nick Saban. Period.”

That was Bill Belichick’s “mic drop moment” when asked Monday if he’d had the opportunity to watch his good friend and former assistant guide top-ranked Alabama to its 35-28 come-from-behind victory over Georgia on Saturday.

“We were in here during that game preparing for the Minnesota game (Sunday’s 24-10 win over the Vikings at Gillette Stadium),” the Patriots head coach said during a conference call with the media. “I got to see a little bit of the end of it. Didn’t get to see the whole game.”

Belichick then proceeded to heap praise on Saban, who served as the defensive coordinator on his Cleveland Browns coaching staff from 1991-1994.

In 1995, Saban returned to the head coaching ranks in college football he’d left when he resigned as Toledo’s head coach after one season to work for Belichick.

Saban coached at Michigan State from 1995-1999 and Louisiana State University from 2000-2004 (winning a national championship in 2003) before returning to the NFL as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2005.

In the aftermath of a 6-10 finish in 2006 that left him at 15-17 over two seasons with the Dolphins, Saban left the NFL to return to college ball, taking the position at Alabama he’s held since then, winning five national championships with the Crimson Tide and bidding for another this year as the top seed in the upcoming college football playoffs with a date with fourth-seeded Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 29 at 8 p.m.

“I don’t think anybody has done it any better than he has,” said Belichick. “I think probably every coach in football is trying to do it as well as he does it and has done it. They do a tremendous job there. Nick’s a tremendous coach. I certainly learned a lot from him during the time we were together and he’s been a great friend and a coach that I have tremendous respect and admiration for.”

Belichick called the Crimson Tide’s victory over the Bulldogs “a tremendous win just like they had last year in the national championship, but they win almost every game they play, anyway.

“It’s really incredible what he’s done there, the program that he’s built, how consistent he is and the way he does it with a lot of class and great discipline and great execution and passion,” said Belichick. “There’s nobody I have more respect for in football than Nick Saban. Period.”

‘Victory Monday’: Sunday’s win over the Vikings, the Patriots’ second straight since they returned from their bye, earned players a “Victory Monday,” an unscheduled day off.

With Tuesday their scheduled day off for the week, players will return to work on Wednesday.