If motivating and guiding human beings were an art form, then Nick Saban might be regarded as our modern equivalent to Picasso. The former face of the Alabama Crimson Tide and the LSU Tigers has won more national championships than any other head coach in the history of college football, and his public speaking skills often rival those of his play-calling.
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The 74-year-old was officially inducted into the NFF College Football Hall of Fame this week, and in typical Saban fashion, he made sure to leave us with a rather poignant story about his childhood. “Little did I know,” Saban started,
“As a kid growing up in West Virginia at my dad’s service station, some of those lessons that I learned were beyond my imagination that I would ever end up here, in the College Football Hall of Fame, and also that those lessons would lead me to a process of helping people develop their full potential,” he recalled. “Players, coaches, I always wanted to have a program to help people be more successful in life and reach their goals and aspirations.”
Now that he’s finally being allowed to rest on his laurels and reflect on what is undoubtedly one of the most decorated resumes in the history of his profession, it seems as if things managed to come full circle for Saban in the end. Those humble beginnings with his dad, Nick Saban Sr., never left him, and the stories and characters that he collected throughout his early days ended up carrying him all the way through to the end.
In what was an incredibly humanizing moment for a man who is often perceived as a legend, Saban noted that the lessons are actually some rather “simple ones,” and he believes that anyone else would do well to follow them as well.
“First of all, compassion for other people. Treat people like you would like to be treated. Treat people nicely on the way up; you might meet them on the way down. It’s nice to be important, more important to be nice. The second thing is, regardless of what responsibility I was ever given as a kid… There was a reckoning for what I did, and I think that helped me tremendously from an accountability standpoint, because my dad used to always say, ‘If you didn’t have time to do it right the first time, then how are you going to find the time to do it again?'” he added.
Throughout his 28 years as a play caller, Saban ultimately finished with a career record of 297-71-1, seven national championships, a pair of AP Coach of the Year awards, and more than $150-million worth of contracts. In addition to making Alabama one of the most premier programs in all of college football, Saban also managed to set new standards for everything ranging from play calling to accountability at the podium.
He demanded excellence, but more importantly, he knew how to derive it from his players, and that’s why he’ll now go down as the most deserving member of the College Football Hall of Fame.
