“Josh Jacobs Had No Stars”: When Nick Saban Told Ryan Clark What He Learned From Bill Belichick as a Head Coach

Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. Those are two of the best coaches in football history. Between the two, Belichick has eight NFL Super Bowl wins as a coach and Saban has seven national championship titles as a college coach. 

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, the duo coached together in Cleveland from 1991-1994. Belichick was the head coach for five seasons and Saban was his offensive coordinator from 1991-1994. After the mid-90s, both Saban and Belichick left the Browns and resumed their respective coaching careers elsewhere. 

Joining the Pivot Podcast on an episode three months ago, Saban spoke to the panel of former NFL players about an array of football topics. Belichick was brought up in the conversation as well.

Ryan Clark told Saban that Belichick said he had “no peers” in college coaching, meaning he was in a class of his own in terms of greatness. This caused Saban to respond humbly by saying everything he knows in how a team is supposed to be structured was what he picked up from Belichick after observing and working with him closely.   

“Some of the best things that I know and my development as a coach came from him and it’s defining every part of the team, every part of the organization,” said Saban. Through all these years, how he defined what you’re looking for for players.”

Saban then spoke about what certain qualities in players Belichick would look for. If a player didn’t meet their requirements, they wouldn’t be interested in adding that player.

Citing Belichick, Saban also spoke about how he learnt that it also didn’t matter if a guy was 5-star or not, if they met their team’s requirements and gifts, they’d go after him. That’s how players such as Josh Jacobs and Damien Harris were recruited to Alabama. 

“When you look at the film to bring a guy in, I don’t care if it’s at Alabama, or wherever I coached since I coached with him, we didn’t recruit that guy,” Saban added. “He might have been a five-star, Josh Jacobs had no stars. But he fit what we wanted as a running back.”

Saban retired from coaching following the 2023 season. He now serves as an analyst for ESPN College GameDay and he now covers the sport of college football instead of coaching it. 

Meanwhile, Belichick and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to part ways following the 2023 season. He took last year away from coaching and will begin his next stint as the University of North Carolina’s head coach while making his debut as a college coach.