Nick Saban details his OCD-like daily routine, why Sunday is a 'difficult day' for him

Alabama head coach Nick Saban has found more success than any other coach in modern college football. There are a lot of reasons for that success. However, one of the biggest reasons why he’s found all of that success is his daily routine.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban broke down his routine and explained that it’s something he focuses on, especially during the season.

“I stay focused this way all of the time because I try to prepare with a certain routine every day,” Nick Saban said. “I get up every day, I let the dog out, I have a cup of coffee, I get two Little Debbie cookies. That’s how I start. I shower, I shave. Same thing when I go to work every day. So, routine sort of helps people stay in the moment. That’s what I focus on, that’s what I try to get our players to focus on, that’s how we try to prepare our players.”

This week, Alabama is getting set to play Chattanooga. It’s the type of game that could be relatively easy to overlook. However, Nick Saban is hoping that keeping the team in a routine can avoid that kind of letdown.

For Saban, his routine has been something that’s gone on as long as he can remember in coaching.

“I’ve been doing this for so long, I can’t remember how long. Somebody asked me that question way back when and I couldn’t remember then. So, like I said to you guys before, I’m sure that back when I was growing up, they didn’t have such things as obsessive-compulsive personalities, that like to do the same things in the same routine all the time and have everything in a certain order, but I’m sure that if I got diagnosed that would be the [result].”

"I might have an extra Little Debbie on Sunday" 😂😂 ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive https://t.co/TT6CsgTles pic.twitter.com/GdTIFlqrJq

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 16, 2023

At that point, McAfee joked about how neat Saban’s desk was and asked if he ever took a Sunday off to reset.

“Every day. We don’t take Sundays off, not during the season at least. That’s probably one of the most challenging days for you as a college coach,” Saban said.

“You’ve got to clean up the last game, grade the last game, make corrections. Then you’ve got to start on the next opponent so you can make those corrections with the players on Monday as well as start to install a new gameplan for the next opponent. So, Sunday is a really difficult day for us. I might even eat a little extra Debbie on Sunday.”

That makes three Little Debbies on a Sunday for breakfast, a true breakfast of champions.

Nick Saban reveals the mindset Alabama must approach Chattanooga with

It might be easy to overlook an FCS opponent. That’s why Nick Saban has a specific mindset he wants Alabama to approach Chattanooga with.

“Chattanooga, obviously, has had a really good season. Their players play hard, they compete well. Rusty Wright has done a really good job there. I think they’re like second in their league. 7-3, only lost two games in their league. Like always, this is a great opportunity for these guys to play in a game that they probably dream about,” Saban said.

“For our team? This is either a game that you focus on correctly, you go out and practice and prepare correctly. You build on the momentum that you’ve improved with over the last weeks. That helps you get better for what’s coming up in the future. If you don’t do that, you don’t have a good showing? You sort of lose your rhythm. Rhythm is a little bit like momentum. Sometimes, when you lose momentum in a game, it’s hard to get it back. You’ve always go to play the next play and keep answering the bell. That’s really kind of how we need to approach this game in terms of what our focus is and how we want to continue to improve as a team.”