Nick Saban cites culture as main factor in sustained success at Alabama

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has established himself as one of the best coaches in college football history.

Saban has won seven national championships, 10 SEC titles and has won at least 10 games for 15 consecutive seasons. The 71-year-old joined The Pat McAfee Show on Friday and shared how he has been able to sustain success. It’s no surprise that Saban cited culture as the main reason.

“The number one thing… it’s culture,” Nick Saban said. “Everybody says it, but really what it’s about is having people in the organization who understand what they want to accomplish and what they want to do.”

Alabama routinely signs elite recruiting class, and Saban and his staff are as good as anybody at coaching that talent up.

Saban is also an elite motivator. He explained that a part of his strategy as far as motivating players is asking a simple question to each of his players.

“Every player that comes to Alabama, I always ask them, ‘What do you want to accomplish?’ or ‘What do you want to do?’” Saban explained. “And they say, ‘I wanna graduate. I wanna play in the NFL some day.’ So I ask them, ‘What does that entail?’ So now we define exactly a process of things that they have to do to be able to accomplish those things.”

Once that process is established, Saban routinely checks in to ensure that progress is being made. It’s a method that has worked out great for him throughout his career and currently has the Crimson Tide ranked No. 3.

“I’ll periodically ask them, ‘Are you happy with the progress that you’re making?’” Saban said. “If a guy says, ‘Yea.’ I say, ‘Why?’ He tells me why. He’s learning how to self-assess. If he says, ‘No.’ I say Why?’ He tells me and he’s learning how to self-assess. But you’ve gotta have discipline to execute every day. That’s the most important thing.”