Nick Saban addresses challenges coaches, players face during heated rivalry games

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban knows all about coaching in rivalry games. The college football legend was involved in two of the best rivalries in the sport in Alabama vs. Auburn and Alabama vs. LSU for years.

Saban recently spoke on The Pat McAfee Show about what it’s like coaching in a rivalry game and how it can be challenging for coaches and players. Saban shared that his philosophy was always to treat it like any other game, even though that can be hard for players to do.

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“You know, I’m probably a bad guy to ask that question, because we prepared for every game the same. So if there was a better way to prepare for a game, we’d do it every week, because winning every game is really important,” Nick Saban said. “But I do think for the players, when they understand the rivalry. But players understand rivalries based on – like LSU was not the biggest rivalry for Alabama when I first came there. But it became that because they were always really good and we got to where we were pretty good.

“So it became a big rivalry game. And I think Iowa and Iowa State probably, you know, for the fans, having the state pride and all of that to go with it… and it’s the same thing with Alabama and the Iron Bowl. But at the same time, you want your players to stay focused on what they need to do to play well.”

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There are a couple of big rivalry games this weekend in Iowa vs. Iowa State and Colorado vs. Nebraska.

Nick Saban believes it’s important for players to keep their emotions in check in order to be successful.

“One of the things in these games that you’ve got to control as a coach is players being too emotional,” Saban said. “I mean players get so emotional they start making bad decisions and you start getting penalties and things like that.

“When you’re emotional you don’t do intelligent things, you do dumb things. And that’s something you’ve really got to control. You want to play with great intensity, but you can’t get emotional where you don’t make good choices and decisions about doing your job.”