Coaching Lessons From Nick Saban
How to coach your players to lead and develop others (and themselves)
Legendary football coach Nick Saban completely overhauled his coaching style during his career. Just like he demanded his players improve and evolve, Saban did the same with his coaching.
On the show ‘Hard Knocks,’ Saban spoke with current Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus about recent 1st overall pick QB Caleb Williams (For context, Saban coached Eberflus at the University of Toledo in 1990).
Eberflus asked Saban if he ever did anything special with his quarterbacks. Saban then unloaded a ton of golden nuggets:
Lesson #1 - Get Their Perspective
It doesn’t matter what you know. It’s about what the players know and perceive.
“I always stood behind the quarterback. I always wanted to hear their version of what was happening. I was never negative with him in front of the rest of the team.”
Saban would stand behind the quarterbacks in practice because he wanted to get their perspective:
What did you see on this play?
What do you think went right?
What do you think went wrong?
Lesson #2 - Praise in Public, Criticize in Private
Saban would never admonish a quarterback or make them feel less than if something didn’t happen the way that it was supposed to or was drawn up in practice.
Simply telling a player what they’re doing wrong doesn’t work well. Positive coaching is much more effective. One way to do that is through video evidence.
"I was never negative with them in front of the rest of the team. It was always more effective to me to show them than it was to tell them.”
Lesson #3 - Elevate Those Around You
“Your position is hard to play if the people around you don't play well. So, what are you going to do to enhance that? How are you going to get the guys around you to play well?
The best compliment you can give any athlete is that they make those around them better. There are many ways to do that, including being easier to pass to and reading off your teammates well.
Lesson #4 - Be a Transformational Leader
You've got to have a good work ethic, you've got to be able to overcome adversity, and you've got to reinforce positive performance from the other players. You can't be a transactional leader."
Stand behind the quarterback.
Want to hear from the player. “What did you see?”
Never negative in public. Praise in public.
Show, don’t tell. Power of video.
Need to enhance those around you. Work ethic and overcome adversity.
Reinforce positive performance from others.
Transactional vs Transformational
Judging process, not results
Realistic Expectations
Rookies that come in and are immediate difference makers are anomalies and true outliers. Most struggle and build themselves into what they’ll eventually become.
A lot of the conversation revolved around Williams. Saban acknowledged that quarterbacks fail at a very high rate in the NFL but he has a theory why.
“To me, expectations are a killer. This kid you got — this kid’s got so much media, so much hype, so much expectation on doing well. And he has to develop so quickly to meet the expectations that everybody has for him, it’s almost impossible. The expectations are a killer, but yet — to use your word — development is the key for him.
Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions when he was a rookie. It’s the most in the history of all. But it didn’t affect him, just like the scoreboard. Scoreboard don’t mean anything until the game’s over.”
Transactional vs Transformational Coach
In the next video, Saban discusses his evolution from a transactional coach to a transformational coach.
Transactional:
All about winning and losing.
“Negative experiences without teaching kills morale.”
Transformational:
Care about the players for their benefit, not just your benefit.
Vision for what to accomplish and how to accomplish that.
Value-based principles to be successful beyond the field/arena.
Saban’s coaching career changed after the switch from transactional to transformational.
"Transformational leadership means you're going to set a good example. You're going to be somebody that somebody can emulate, and you care about other people to help them for their benefit, not your benefit, for their benefit," Saban says.
Saban is undoubtedly a great coach. He’s won on the field and off the field helping his people succeed in many facets of life. These are great lessons we can all take and implement into our lives.
Further Reading