Nick Saban gives Joel Klatt life, career advice

Nick Saban, in his more than 70 years on earth and decades stalking a college football sideline has learned a thing or two. And the Alabama coach was dispensing the wisdom during a recent interview with Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt.

The duo got on the topic of what’s fulfilling about coaching and the chase for championships, which got Klatt in a reflective mood. He shared that he misses getting to revel in victories in the locker room — as a broadcaster, there’s a week of build off but the payoff isn’t the same.

“So I’m going to ask you the same thing I ask our players. I ask them: Why’d you come to Alabama. They tell me they want to graduate, they want to play in the NFL, and all that. And you know what my next question is: Do you understand what that entails? Aight,” Saban said. “So you’ve got this nice job that you have right now and you want to be in the locker room and you want to compete and you want to have an outcome. But do you understand what that entails? Are you willing work from seven in the morning until 10 o’clock at night four, five days a week? Not be around your kids very much. Don’t see them grow up, aight, or any of that.”

The overriding message: The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. And if it is, it might be because someone is working overtime to manicure it.

Klatt acknowledged the extreme grind of college football coaching kept him away.

“And that’s what I was unwilling to do. So mine was the whole family, decision for me in terms of the industry,” Klatt said.

Saban followed up, noting he just wanted to make sure everybody was clear on that, much like he might finish up a discussion with a recruit or newly-enrolled freshman.

“Crystal. I love it,” Klatt said, eliciting a laugh from Saban.

Saban and Klatt also discussed how the coach keeps up in the ever-evolving land of college football

College football is constantly changing, and Saban has adapted as well as anyone. Saban and the Crimson Tide signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country for 2023, according to the On3 Industry rankings. And Alabama has also won three of the past eight national titles.

Saban discussed the bigger picture changes that have occurred off the field.

“Off the field… whether it’s transfer portal, whether it’s Name, Image and Likeness, whether it’s expanding the playoffs, whether it’s bowl games not being as significant as they were before and guys opting out of playing in them… so there’s a lot of changes that are ongoing that you have to adapt to,” Saban said. “And I think that rather than complain about it – which a lot of people sit around and complain. Complaining is actually a distraction to the solution. And I think you’ve gotta spend most of your time trying to figure out, ‘What is the solution? How can we adapt?’”