Nick Saban shares his message to the team, sends strong message to the fans

At the end of his weekly radio show, “Hey Coach & The Nick Saban Show,” the Alabama head coach had an impassioned, lengthy soliloquy about what his team can do better. And how fans can help along the way.

Saban wants his team to pay more attention to detail and become process-oriented, not concerned with the outcome of the game. So much of what he wants to get right with his Alabama team is between the ears.

“There’s an old saying that people say some times: ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff.’ But, I think attention to detail and sweating the small stuff is really what our team needs to do better. Too many penalties. Eliminate bad plays. You know, win this play. Win this play, focus on this play, win this play. Do simple better. Don’t make things so complicated,” Saban said. “Just focus on ‘Here’s my lineman, here’s my responsibility, here’s my technique.’ And do that one play at a time. I think sometimes you get too result-oriented. When you get result oriented, you’re worried about what you’re going to score in golf or ‘Are we going to win the game?’ Rather than focusing on the process of what you actually have to do.”

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Much of this comes down to preparation. Better preparation breeds confidence and confidence breeds better play on the field, Saban said. It’s something Alabama hasn’t done consistently this year.

After getting razed by Tennessee last week, Saban knows his players can use all the confidence and juice they can get.

As he wrapped up his message and really got on a roll to wrap the show, Saban turned his message to the Alabama faithful.

“But I do think that our fans have a lot to do with making our players feel appreciated for the hard work that they do,” Saban said. “And you do a lot to help them stay in the right psychological disposition so that they can gain confidence. Because momentum, aight, psychological momentum, aight, is really important in competition and I think that our fans, our stadium really helps us do that well. And I think if we can do that well at home, maybe we can learn how to play well on the road. So I hope we have a great stadium, a great atmosphere and I hope you all continue to support our players in a really positive way.”