Nick Saban reveals the most important lesson he has learned from Miss Terry

Nick Saban never fails to credit his wife, Miss Terry, for his success on the field. Thursday night was no exception. During an appearance on the “Hey Coach & the Nick Saban Show,” the Alabama head coach divulged the most important lesson Miss Terry has ever taught him.

“She’s given me so much advice through the years,” Saban said. “Probably the greatest advice really wasn’t about something in football but when I was first a coach at Michigan State, I had this Attila the Hun reputation with the media. I would go home and I would say, ‘Man, this is not like me. I don’t know why they portray me this way. This is not really how I am.’

“She looked at me and she said, ‘Well, do you ever watch yourself?’ She says, ‘You’re nervous. You’re anxious. You don’t treat them very well. You don’t smile. You don’t ever joke with them. You’re disrespectful to them. You act like they’re not asking good questions sometimes. Why would they like you? I mean, why would they?'”

Obviously, Miss Terry isn’t one to mince words. In Saban’s defense, he wasn’t exactly in paradise at Michigan State. He inherited a program that had not had a winning season since 1990. Additionally, the Spartans faced NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations that were committed under his predecessor.

Nonetheless, Saban soaked in Terry’s words, even if it wasn’t easy to do.

“I got really mad that she said that,” Saban said. “But then, like a lot of times when somebody says something to you, you go think about it. And really changed. That changed my whole image as a coach, and it started with changing my image with the media.

“It helped so many ways in recruiting and relationships with players and all kinds of things,” Saban said. “[Media people] have a job to do but you also have a way that you can project who someone is by how they treat you and what they do. That’s probably the most important lesson she ever gave me.”

Although Saban’s relationship with the press remains questionable at times, the 71-year-old head coach’s success is unquestionable. With seven national championships under his belt, six of which came at Alabama, Saban is often considered the greatest collegiate coach of all time.

Saban will look to add another win to collection this weekend. On Saturday, Alabama will square off with No. 17 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on CBS.