Nick Saban explains unique method of getting players to tune out outside noise

Alabama coach Nick Saban has a relatively simple way of letting his players know they need to stay in the moment and they can’t get caught up in the outside noise.

And he uses his art skills to convey that message.

“On Friday I put a circle on the board,” Saban said Thursday on the Pat McAfee Show. “And then I put a smaller circle inside that circle. And then I put a rectangle inside the second circle and I said, and I colored it in red, and I said, ‘This is what matters, what happens on the field. All this gray area between these two circles, that’s all the external noise and all the external things that you can focus on and think about that’s not going to help you play better, it’s not going to help us get where we want to get. So let’s focus on what we do on the field.'”

So far this season, Saban’s method sure seems to be working out all right. Following a loss to Texas early in the season, Alabama has managed to go undefeated.

The Crimson Tide remain in the thick of the SEC title hunt, as well as the College Football Playoff hunt. Even if Saban has sometimes scribbled outside the lines.

“I’m not much of an artist, I can tell you,” Saban joked. “Miss Terry is pretty good at all that.”

In all reality, though, Alabama is a team that’s in playoff contention. With three regular season games remaining and a likely conference title game against Georgia, there’s plenty to play for.

And Saban was adamant about his team staying in the moment and not looking ahead.

“I don’t really think a lot about that kind of stuff, because if we don’t do what we’re supposed to do, if we don’t take care of business in terms of the next three games that we play, if we’re fortunate enough to get in the SEC Championship Game, try to take care of business in that game, none of it really matters,” Nick Saban said.

“So to focus on each day, each hour that you have and have gratitude for the fact that you have an opportunity to do it and be in this situation — and that’s how our players should look at it as well — I think that’s what our players should try to stay focused on.”