The Crimson White Print Edition - September 7, 2023

2B
It’s no secret The University
of Alabama’s football team is
one of the best in the country.
Head coach Nick Saban and
his coaching staff value
discipline, responsibility, work
ethic and attention to detail,
but the family-like dynamic
seen between each player and
the coaching staff may be the
secret to success.
Year after year, during the
summer, Saban hosts a lake
day full of fun, with water
sports and activities for his
leadership groups and players
at his private Lake Tuscaloosa
home. Saban is able to bring
his team together off the field,
which ultimately brings the
team benefits on the field.
When building a team
that continually competes
in championship games, it’s
tempting to focus on just the
sport. But Saban has made
it clear that these off-field
components are just
as important.
“Our philosophy is that
we’re going to create more
value for them personally,
academically and athletically,”
Saban said during Hey Coach
last year. “That’s the reason
you go to college.”
For Saban, developing his
players and encouraging team
building means inviting them
to his lake house.
“I feel like I’m away from
football when I’m here,”
Saban said in an interview
at his lake house. “I don’t get
away from it completely like
it doesn’t exist. I know for a
couple hours, I can get back to
it, but the rest of the time my
mind is completely clear of it.
The level of relaxation is so
healthy for me.”
Between Saban’s lake
days, hosting players on
Thanksgiving, and gettogethers
for recruits and
their families at his home
(where he’s been known to
dance the Cupid Shuffle),
Alabama football is more than
just a title-winning team. It’s
a family.
The family dynamic
extends even outside a
player’s career at Alabama,
and Saban said that he loves
having former players return.
“They all really like to
come back,” Saban said. “We
welcome them with open
arms when they come back.
I think they appreciate all
the people on the team here.
There’s a lot of folks here
who help our players become
successful.”
Former players have been
known to come back and
help grow the program, like
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide
receiver Julio Jones last year.
Saban said that when Jones
saw a current player behaving
rudely on the field, he
corrected him, saying, “That’s
not the way we do it here.”
The family dynamic
that current and former
players take part in enforces
a standard of excellence.
Together, these elements
could be called the backbone
of Saban’s philosophy.
“The players that played
before you, no matter when
they played, they have an
expectation because they
created a standard, a standard
of excellence, whether it was
the effort that they played
with, the character that they
played with, the competitive
nature that they played with,”
Saban said at Hey Coach.
“No matter what, there’s an
expectation for how you’re
supposed to represent this
institution and how you’re
supposed to represent them.”
sports
Building a familial bond is the secret to Saban’s success
Noelle Jordan
Contributing Writer
The Crimson Crossword
Nick Saban during the SEC championship game against Georgia on Dec. 4, 2021. CW File
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Across
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6. World-domination board game
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12. Comparable with
14. University of Alabama college with a geography department
16. Tiny tot
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Down
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3. Yemen neighbor
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6. Shampoo step before repeat
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8. Women in ____
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14. Emotion experienced by many Grand Canyon visitors
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