Nick Saban has raised the bar for success at Alabama to the highest possible level. But how does he feel about the expectations placed on his players every year?
Appearing on Marty and McGee this week, Saban said he does not place expectations on his players. He explained that the most important thing to him is developing them
“We work hard not to have expectations for players,” Saban said, via 247Sports. “I think that’s one of the biggest things we have to overcome with players when they come in the program, the media and the attention they get as high school players whether they’re five stars, four stars, whatever they are. And then they come here with a great expectation for themselves of what they want to try to accomplish. And sometime they want immediate self-gratification, start right away. So they don’t really understand what it takes to develop. So what we really try to emphasize with our players is not to create expectations for them, but simply say ‘OK, this is what this guy needs to do to develop, this is what he needs to improve on, whether it’s physically or in terms of knowledge of the experience so that he can do his job on the field.’”
Nick Saban feels that his system of not having expectations is better for everyone. He doesn’t want his staff or the players to feel discouraged by failing to meet them since he believes it could hinder their development.
“I think that works a little better… If we have expectations then we get disappointed and the kids know we’re disappointed in them, they get frustrated and that doesn’t help their development.”
The sentiment mirrors similar comments Saban made back in 2018. The man is nothing if not consistent.
Nick Saban on Expectations
“A lot of these guys get alot of self gratification from the attention that they get. But, when it sets an expectation & standard for what they think they ought to be able to accomplish, they lose the focus on what do I have to do to be a good player.” pic.twitter.com/yxyvxrQazQ
— CoachTube.com (@thecoachtube) September 28, 2018
Saban has been at Alabama since 2007 and has overseen dozens of players make the jump from college to the pros. Many of those players have gone on to make Pro Bowls and Super Bowls.
If that’s the way Saban runs his team then who are we to judge?
The post Nick Saban Has Honest Comment On “Expectations” At Alabama appeared first on The Spun.
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