Nick Saban If Nick Saban were running a company instead of a football program, he would be a top manager. Alabama football is big business, and it will continue to get bigger under Saban. “In 2006, the year before he arrived in Tuscaloosa, the athletic department brought in $67.7 million in revenue, mostly from football, and spent $60.6 million. Last year revenue was $124.5 million and expenditures were $105.1 million -- leaving a $19.4 million profit, according to figures compiled by USA Today. During Saban's tenure, Alabama has expanded the capacity of Bryant-Denny Stadium from 92,000 to 101,000, including the addition of new luxury (i.e., more expensive) seating”(O'Keefe, 2012). It was an obvious decision for the school to give him a two-year contract extension along with a significant raise earlier last year. With a salary package that averages $5.6 million a year over the next eight years, Saban is among the highest paid coaches in college football. “Nick Saban, the undisputed emperor of college football, has everything he could ever want in Tuscaloosa: Three national titles in four seasons; a great shot at another one a year from now; the best players; no static from anyone, including the browbeaten reporters who cover him; and the whole world kissing his feet”(Silver, 2013). Nick Saban is no doubt one of the best college football coaches in America. His passion, work ethic, persistence, and humility have got him to where he is today. These characteristics started when he was a young age. It is said that Nick Saban got a “D” on his report card and his father made him quit sports until his grades improved. Not only did he make him quit sports, his father followed up the lesson by taking Nick to a West Virginia coalmine to show him where he could end up if did not want to put forth the necessary effort into his work. Nick Saban has created a dynasty at the University of Alabama by winning three of the last four national championships. With college football starting back up in a few weeks and the first game less than two months away, it is looking like the Alabama Crimson Tide is the favorite to win the National Championship for the third straight year. “Saban’s main obstacle looms between the ears of a team that knows it’s a dynasty, a team and program that has been lauded for the last four months”(Cooper, 2013). The questions have been coming in about how Nick Saban will keep his team humble enough to win another National Championship. Will Saban be able to figure out what makes his team tick? Saban’s is not known for his trick plays or being lucky, he known what for what they call “The Process” at the University of Alabama. “It is his comprehensive, rigorous approach to focusing his players on execution rather than winning. In short, he tries to keep his team’s attention on the current play rather than the next game, this week’s test rather than passing the class, the game they’re playing rather the conference they want to win”(McGregor, 2012). By keeping the focus of his players on staff on the matter at hand he is able to get their maximum abilities from them because they only have one thing on their mind and not all the things that need to be done to get to the National Championship. “Well, the process is really what you have to do day in and day out to be successful,” he said. “We try to define the standard that we want everybody to sort of work toward, adhere to, and do it on a consistent basis. And the things that I talked about before, being responsible for your own self-determination, having a positive attitude, having great work ethic, having discipline to be able to execute on a consistent basis, whatever it is you’re trying to do, those are the things that we try to focus on, and we don’t try to focus as much on the outcomes as we do on being all that you can be. Eliminate the clutter and all the things that are going on outside and focus on the things that you can control with how you sort of go about and take care of your business. That’s something that’s ongoing, and it can never change. So it’s the process of what it takes to be successful, very simply” (Bishop, 2013). Saban makes this process sound simple, yet it has taken him forty years to perfect. Saban’s process shows that the next game or the last game does not matter. The only thing that matters is what you are doing right now. Instead of thinking about the scoreboard, think about dominating the man across the line of scrimmage from you. Instead of thinking about the conference title, think about finishing a fifth rep in the weight room. If you do not take care of what you are currently doing first, you might never get to the last game. An article by Monte Burke from Forbes magazine titled Five Leadership Lessons from Nick Saban gives insight on how CEO’s or any leaders could learn some lessons from Nick Saban. First, surround yourself with talent. Saban is consistently ranked in the top three recruiting classes in the country. By getting the best recruits in, he is able to make what is now called a dynasty. He gets these top recruits by appealing to the decision-makers, which is normally the parents of the recruit. Secondly, create a “process.” This focuses on taking one step at a time and being able to manage your time well. Thirdly, manage the message. Saban personally authorizes all media interviews with players and assistant coaches. He understands that it would be nice to have one message with multiple voices but it is easier to control with only one voice. Part of the message he says, is leading by example. Saban proved that it is unacceptable to miss practice no matter what when he turned down a dinner invitation with then President, George W. Bush, because he had a practice to attend. Fourth, keep it simple. Saban knows the game of football very well and knows that football is as simple as blocking and tackling. Nothing he does on either side of the ball is tricky. He has coached long enough and knows what works and what does not work. Lastly, make wise investments in the future. The Crimson Tide recently opened a brand new nine million dollar weight room, the football stadium underwent an eighty million dollar renovation, which included expansion, and also extended their deal with Nike, which is worth thirty million dollars. By doings these things for the football program he is making it possible to continue to bring in the best recruits possible. He knows what recruits look for and want and he is making sure they have everything they could ever need. “Saban's use of motivation, interaction, and leading by example express a path-goal leadership style”(McCulloh, 2013). “Where Saban stands apart is the execution at all levels of his operation. That means defining expectations for his players athletically, academically, and personally, and -- and this is critical -- always following through. Saban wants to know what his players are doing in their workouts each day of the summer, down to the specific lift and weight. If a lineman is above his target body-fat percentage, Saban wants to know what the staff is doing to fix it”(O'Keefe, 2012). Nick Saban is a coach that cares about each of his players, if something is not right, he will get the necessary tools to fix it. He understands if he the coaches and players are not taken care of, they will not be able to perform at their maximum potential. “When there's a football camp on campus, he has an opinion -- a strong opinion -- about where the welcome tent should be placed”(O'Keefe, 2012). Saban wants everything on his campus to go smoothly, no matter if it is for his football team or for a summer camp. He knows that some of his best recruits will be at his camps and he wants them to have the best experience. In other words, he micromanages but only because he wants the best from everyone and for everyone. “He sets expectations so that everyone understands what he wants, and then he can pull back”(O'Keefe, 2012). Saban has the same routine every day, even down to his lunch. By having the same routine, his players and staff will always know what is expected from them. Once the staff knows what is expected from them they are able to think about what might make something better. Saban said, “Like we met on this camp today. The first year I was here we met for eight hours on how we were going to do the camp. Now everybody else in that room knows how I want the camp run, so we don't need to spend eight hours on it"(O'Keefe, 2012). Nick Saban knows that he expects a lot out of his players and his staff and drives everyone to be prepared. Saban must be careful that he is too overbearing when it is time for action. “Before each game the coaches have what they call a what-if meeting. (What if this happens? What if that happens?) And Saban makes sure to express his confidence in the staff, says defensive coordinator Kirby Smart”(O'Keefe, 2012). Smart says, "He'll be like, 'Look, guys, tomorrow the plan's there. You, as the guy making the calls, are not going to make or not make the play. So have confidence in it; believe in it. If the kids don't make the plays, we'll live with it. And it's all on me.' It's always one voice. That's all we've got here: one voice coming out of that chair. If we ever screw it up, he has always taken the blame and never pointed at a coach or a person or a kid. And I think that helps the whole organization. It gives you confidence before the game that, 'Hey, we've got a plan. We've outworked everybody at this point. Let's go execute it and do it.' " Saban clearly has the faith in his coaches because he has lead them and taught them how to be like him. He doesn’t put pressure on anyone except himself. If the team messes up he takes the blame, for he feels that he has not prepared the team or coaches well enough. Throughout Nick Saban’s coaching career he has had many successful stories but one in particular lead him to where he is today. Saban was the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans from 1995-1999 and during a game in 1998 vs. the number one ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, Saban had a key moment in his evolution as a coach. “During practice that week Saban told his team that they weren't going to worry about winning the game. They would treat every play in the game as if it had a history and a life of its own. And regardless of what happened in the play before, they were going to focus only on the next play"(O'Keefe, 2012). Upon telling his players this he could tell that they were much more loose and seemed more confident. Saban went on to lead his unranked team to a victory and ever since then he has stopped talking about the importance of winning and focuses more on his process-oriented approach. Saban knows that winning is still very important to the coaches, players, university, boosters, and fans but he realized it is better for people not to worry about the opposition and to focus on how to do their job correctly. If they can do that, rather than thinking the other person is going to decide the outcome, they will be successful. Nick Saban is able manage his time very well which has made him into the leader he is today. He orders the exact same meal every day for lunch, not because it is the only thing he likes but because he has calculated the amount of time he loses in week ordering off a menu. He had an electronic door opener/closer installed in his office so he does not waste time getting up to close or open his door for people. Most people would see this as lazy but Nick Saban is far from lazy. Nick Saban knows what is important and constantly looks for ways to make his process better. In Nick Saban’s book How Good Do You Want To Be? (Saban, 2007). Saban focuses on fourteen lessons on how to be a great leader, here are a couple major ones: 1. Great leaders stand up when adversity arises. When you are a leader, not everything is going to come easy and have a simple answer. In these times of adversity is when followers will look to the leader and ask the question, “What do we do now?” Leading when times are good is easy but leading in bad times are when you show how good of a leader you really are. 
 2. Great leaders allow the team to take ownership of the rules. As a leader or head coach of a football team, you must realize that you are not the only person on the team. Leaders must listen to what other coaches or players have to say and they encourage these players to take ownership. 3. Great leaders embrace future leaders. As a leader you always want the people that work for you to fulfill their dream and you have an obligation to help them get there. Leaders must encourage employees to grow and then you have the opportunity to replace them with new workers to bring new ideas and excitement to the job. 4. Great leaders lead the orchestra but let them play. Coaches must know when each player is ready to take the field. If they try to control every detail, they will end up hold backing assistants and players. 5. Great leaders do not rush to make change because of failure. Throughout a coach’s lifetime, they will have losing games or even losing seasons. These hard times are what make a coach great. Just because you lost the game does not mean you need to change everything you are doing. All coaches must be patient after failure and learn from it. 6. Great leaders make tough decisions. As a coach, you will be forced to make many tough decisions such as suspending a player from practice, from a game, or even from the program. A leader must realize what is best for the program but be fair and honest with the player(s) involved. 7. Great leaders must insist on excellence. In order to be excellent, you must demand excellence from yourself first. You can not expect others to do something if you yourself is unwilling to do it. As a head coach, Nick Saban has had many players play for him that he has transformed into leaders to lead the team on the field. Saban’s most current leader is quarterback A.J. McCarron. Saban has mentored A.J. as he has matured and developed through his three years in Tuscaloosa. A.J. has been on two of the National Championship teams and knows what is expected to be leader and have players look up to him. McCarron is a leader on and expects the best from the veteran players. When a player messes up, he lets them know about it but just as all good leaders criticize, he knows how to praise as well. When the players do a good job, he lets them know it. “But I expect them to do the right thing – and that’s the biggest thing with me”(Gribble, 2013). Coming into the 2013 football season, all Southeastern Conference coaches and athletic directors met in Destin, Florida for a conference meeting. The main discussion topic for this meeting was to expand the Southeastern Conference schedule from eight conference games a year to nine conference games a year. As Saban being the leader that he is and always wanting a challenge, he was the only coach in the conference to agree to the nine game schedule. The conference will remain with eight conference games a year through 2014. “Franklin said the eight-game schedule "is in the best interest of the SEC and in the best interest of Vandy." But Saban disagreed, saying expansion to 14 schools made adding a game imperative to retain conference identity. He also touched indirectly on another agenda item for the week when he noted entertaining matchups were important to maintain fan interest”(Schroeder, 2013). Saban understands what the fans what and as a leader, he wants to give it to them. Two other conferences in the NCAA have nine conference games on their schedule and when the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) goes to pick who gets what bowl, the eight game conference schedule could possibly hurt the Southeastern Conference. Saban does not want to be left behind and will do whatever he needs to stay on top. Along with setting records on the field as a football coach, he is also setting records in the classroom. “Saban can also claim to have one of the best graduation rates in the SEC. Last year, his team set a record when 38 players took home Academic All-SEC honors”(Loosvelt, 2013). Not only did they have the highest graduation rate in the Southeastern Conference for the past three years, but also they were ranked second nationally in football graduates behind Stanford. Saban not only wants his players to succeed on the field but off the field as well. His leadership style not only works for his players but also in the classroom. Saban understands that not all of his players will go play professional football and make millions of dollars and never have to work an office job. Saban said, “Caring for others is a key element to leadership. In discussing academics, he said his greatest commitment to his players is not to teach them success in football. The number one thing is for them to have a career off the field," Nick Saban is also heavily involved in charities to help kids. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and help kids and with the roll as a college coach. When Nick started coaching his mother encouraged him to get involved into charities. “Saban stressed the importance of giving back to the community. Nick's Kids, a charity created by he and his wife, Terry, has raised more than $2 million for children's causes. He also has raised $750,000 for tornado relief for Tuscaloosa, which continues to rebuild from the April 27 tornadoes”(Delinski, 2013). Nick and Terry Saban started Nick's Kids Fund in 1998 at Michigan State University. Nick and Terry continued Nick’s Kids from Michigan State to Louisiana State University to the Miami Dolphins and to where Nick is now, the University of Alabama. Nick and Terry are pleased to be a part of The University of Alabama family and plan to continue their spirit of giving. “To date, the Saban's and the Nick's Kids Fund have distributed over $1.5 million to more than 150 local charities. The mission statement of Nick and Terry Saban's Charity, Nick's Kids, is "To work together in the spirit of faith and giving in our community. To promote and support children, family, teacher and student causes. It's all about the kids"(Saban, 2011)! Along with “Nick’s Kids” he also has events such as, Chipping for Charity and Birdie for Charity, which are two golf tournaments held to raise money for “Nick’s Kids”. Saban's ability to lead and motivate his team has made him one of the highest paid and most successful coaches in college football. He strives to better his team year by year. Even when they win, they study what they could have done better and plan how to improve it next time. In the words of Nick Saban, "drive and motivation makes you understand the next challenge is that you're going to be a target, and you really need to focus on the things that helped you be successful and continue to improve. Otherwise somebody's going to pass you up" (O'Keefe, 2012).

References:
Cooper, J. (2013). How is Nick Saban going to motivate the 2013 Alabama team? Retrieved from http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2013/alabama-football-2013-motivation/

McGregor, J. (2012). How Nick Saban leads the crimson tide. Retrieved from http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-30/national/35584573_1_nick-saban-national-title-coach

Bishop, G. (2013). Saban is keen to explain ‘process’. Retrieved from http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/saban-is-keen-to-explain-process/

O'Keefe, B. (2012). Leadership lessons from Nick Saban. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/07/news/companies/alabama-coach-saban.fortune/index.html?goback=.gde_94664_member_170555251

McCulloh, K. (2013). Nick Saban: Leading the tide. Retrieved from http://www.personal.psu.edu/bfr3/blogs/leader/2013/07/nick-saban-leading-the-tide.html

Gribble, A. (2013). Already one of alabama's top leaders, A.J. McCarron has 'really taken command' as tide heads into a-day. Retrieved from http://www.al.com/alabamafootball/index.ssf/2013/04/aj_mccarron_alabama_football.html

Silver, M. (2013). Dictator Nick Saban indeed better off staying in school instead of returning to nfl. Retrieved from http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--dictator-nick-saban-indeed-better-off-staying-in-school-and-not-returning-to-nfl--040935838.html

Saban, N. (2007). How good do you want to be. (pp. 127-142). New York: Ballantine.

Loosvelt, D. (2013). Alabama's Nick Saban and the art of micromanagement. Retrieved from http://blogs.vault.com/blog/workplace-issues/alabamas-nick-saban-and-the-art-of-micromanagement/
Delinski, B. (2013). Saban stresses academics, community during speech. Retrieved from http://blogs.vault.com/blog/workplace-issues/alabamas-nick-saban-and-the-art-of-micromanagement/

Saban, N. (2011). About us. Retrieved from http://www.nickskidsfund.com/about.html

Schroeder, G. (2013). Alabama's nick saban calls for sec to expand schedule. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/sec/2013/05/28/nick-saban-alabama-crimson-tide-sec-schedule-southeastern-conference/2367961/