Championship Coaching - Nick Saban Pearls

Don't worship at the altar of Nick Saban, but recognize the whys and hows of a seven times National Championship coach. Steal parts of his ethos and leave the rubbish behind.

As a child, he worked at his father's gas station while his mother and sister worked at the Dairy Queen. His father had him wash cars and if he missed a spot, Dad had him rewash the whole car. That spawned his attention to detail. Monte Burke's biographical take..."the impossible-to-please father pushing his son for an impossible-to-achieve perfection." 

He's beyond consistent. If you want to find Alabama in the National Rankings, you know where to look. 

But it's more than that. He starts every day with a shower and two Little Debbie Oatmeal Snack cakes. At precisely noon, he has a turkey sandwich. 

He has a way with words. My favorite Saban quote, "are you investing your time or are you spending it?"

Players know they are representing Alabama. Take this epic quote from Monte Burke's unauthorized bio, "you never want to sleep with anybody who has less to lose than you do...so, ultimately, if I'm ever going to sleep around on Miss Terry, it's going to be with Hillary #$%&ing Rodham Clinton." A player said, "And it was actually a great lesson." 

Focus. It's about that play. "The average play...lasted about seven seconds. The players would concentrate only on winning those seconds."

Saban quotes:

"You gotta notice what you don't notice."

"If you want to be happy with the results, I'm happy with the results. If you want to be happy with the process, I'm not." (The Saban Way is called The Process.)

"Playing sports is like a metaphor of life." 

"Successful people have consistency in performance." 

If you're a ten year-old at football camp, do you expect a break? Watch the whole video, but if nothing else go to 2:10. "When a coach is talking to you, he's teaching you." At Alabama if you're having a bad day, Saban will be on you, sometimes with "second helpings" and "third helpings." 

You might argue that Alabama pays too much for a football coach. Here's why they pay him too little. 

1. He has raised over $500 million for the University. 

2. His presence has elevated the caliber of students attending Alabama. 

Alabama is in the top five universities in attracting National Merit Scholars. 

Lagniappe. Watch video every day to reinforce your knowledge. Beating the hard hedge from Slappin' Glass.