Nick Saban most proud of impact on young men’s character throughout career

Nick Saban’s on-field accomplishments as a football coach are unrivaled, but he’s more proud of his impact on the character of his players throughout his legendary career.

During an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Saban elaborated on why his greatest joy as a coach is seeing the tremendous young men he coached blossom into caring adults who’ve helped their communities and the less fortune in times of need. The winning and the championships are tremendous, but this is what Saban remembers more fondly than anything.

“We had this little pyramid that said, ‘Be a champion,’ and it was all about, you know, team and respecting the principles and values of the organization. Being positive, being responsible for your own self determination. Working to dominate the competition. All those things that made you successful. But those same things would make you successful in your life. That was always the number one goal with the program, ‘How can we help you be more successful in life, because you’re involved in the program?’ Now, not so much in pro ball, because guys were already there, but in college, in terms of developing people, students and graduating,” Saban explained.

“We had 668 degrees at Alabama in 17 years. Do the math on that. But 98% of the guys don’t play in the NFL. So you know, what are you going to do when you can’t play? Even if you do play, what are you going to do when you can’t play? Then, how many guys can you develop, so they have a career as football players? But the thing that makes me most proud is, you know, we have a Nick’s Kids Foundation, which we had at LSU when we were there. It’s gotten huge through the years. We had it in Miami. Nobody knew much about it, because it was all just helping these kids organizations. But the number of players that were involved in that.

“Like, we built 22 houses for people who needed a home, and all that kind of stuff. The players would come and do it. … I’m just saying now, we have lots of players who have foundations, and have compassion for other people and helping other people, especially kids, having a better opportunity to have a chance to be successful in life. How self fulfilling that was. Then, when they got out there and had some money, they did it.

“That’s the thing that I probably am most proud of. That example, that leadership example. Had nothing to do with football. You know, helping them gain compassion for other people, and helping other people.”

All told, it’s easy to see why that would be more important to Nick Saban than any of the play on the field from his team throughout his coaching career. He provided a magnificent example for his players throughout his time in college football and the NFL, and it’s only right that many of his athletes paid it forward.