Nick Saban shares passionate speech to Alabama players from Larry Fitzgerald

Nick Saban spoke on Wednesday about a passionate speech that NFL star Larry Fitzgerald gave to his players about work habits and practicing. The Alabama coach used the opportunity to hammer home to the Crimson Tide players how important it was to treat practice as if it was the most important thing — and that the greatest players in program history embraced the process without running from it.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to the On3 YouTube channel today for all of the latest news on college football, recruiting, NIL, more!

Nick Saban shares Larry Fitzgerald’s message

“We had a really interesting speaker last night, Larry Fitzgerald. And he made a point that I’d never really ever thought of,” explained Saban. “One of the players asked him, ‘How did you stay motivated when you had so much success for so long?’ And he said, ‘I love the process. I love watching film, I love to practice, I caught extra balls before practice. I ran routes with the quarterback after practice. I love the process. And then when the game came it was really, really easy.’

“So you know, that’s kinda interesting. Because some of our best players, some of our really good players that we’ve had here traditionally in the past — that’s exactly how they were. And that’s exactly how a lot of the guys on our team right now that are really good players, that’s how they are. But we need to have everybody be that way. We don’t need anybody trying to get out of drills or practicing or whatever. And if they love the process of what it takes, not to win a game, but to do the things you need to do to be able to win a game.

“Not just think about being a starter, but what do you do to be a starter? What does a starter act like? How does a starter practice, how does a starter go about being responsible to do his job? And I think that was a really good message.”

Saban’s press conference started with his fiery coaching moment, and it’s clear that he challenged his players to follow the example by Fitzgerald and the Alabama players who achieved greatness before them. He finished his recap of Fitzgerald’s speech by explaining that “loving the process” was a sentiment that hit home for him as a coach, and how it applies beyond just football practice.

“Larry made a point of this that — it’s the same thing in your life. Being a good parent, being a good husband, doing a good job in whatever it is you do. So it was kinda interesting. But I get asked a lot, I never ever thought of this — how do you stay motivated? And I never really could answer it. But I love the process. I love practicing, I like getting ready for practice, I like coaching the players on the field [and] trying to get them to play as good as they can be so they have the best chance to be successful. We have the best chance to be successful. So hopefully, we can get a whole team full of guys getting ready to do that.”