Nick Saban opens up on how he has changed as a coach during his career

Nick Saban isn’t the same man who first put on a headset over four decades ago. During an appearance on the “Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show,” the Alabama head coach revealed how his coaching style has changed over the years.

“When I first started coaching, I was a lot more result-oriented. Everything was about winning,” Saban said. “[But], I never really taught anybody how to win. I’ve told the story many times. In 1998, we played Ohio State, so I won’t bore everybody with that, but I thought we had no chance in the game.

“Ohio State was No. 1 for a long, long time. We were 4-5 or something like that. It was our 10th game of the season, and I actually thought I might get fired at the end of the year. I talked to our sports psychiatry guy, and he said, ‘Hey, just tell the players to play one play at a time. Don’t look at the scoreboard. Do the best they can, one play at a time, and nothing else matters.

“That’s how we played and we actually beat the No. 1 team in the country,” Saban said. “They had fun, they didn’t look at the scoreboard. They didn’t worry about winning. They didn’t worry about losing. I didn’t worry about winning. I didn’t worry about losing and we won. So that was a lesson to me.”

The lesson clearly paid dividends. The next season, Saban led Michigan State to a 10-2 record, which led to him joining LSU for the 2000 season. We know the rest of the story. Saban has won seven national titles, has been named National Coach of the Year twice and is considered by many to be the greatest collegiate coach of all time.

Nick Saban uses his wisdom now

Nonetheless, Saban’s final page has not been written. And this year’s team could use help from a lesson revealed earlier in the story. After losing 34-24 to Texas in Week 2, Alabama was berated with doubt.

Many claimed they didn’t have the talent, Saban was out of touch, or, worse, the dynasty was over altogether. Nonetheless, Saban and Co. turned back the clock in Week 4 with a convincing 24-10 win over No. 15 Ole Miss.

Further, they did it with smiles on their faces. Suddenly, Saban’s past philosophies seemed to be more relevant than ever. The 71-year-old coach never doubted his process.

“There’s never been a sign up in all the years we’ve been here that says, ‘Win the SEC.’ There’s not a sign up in our building that says, ‘Win the national championship,'” Saban said. “Everything’s about being a champion. Doing the things you need to do to be the best you can be.

“We obviously have our challenges with this team. I believe in this team and we got to do a better job with this team, so that we can play more consistently, and everybody’s working hard to try to do that.”