Saban & Swinney Know What Matters Most

Tonight is the big game! Alabama and Clemson play in the college football national championship. Their coaches, Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney, were interviewed together on ESPN. In just five minutes it was clear that they both have a pretty good idea of what matters most in life:

Learn & grow

Nick Saban said, “I’m always trying to learn more from younger people in our profession who do things a different way. We’re trying to learn all the time and grow.”

Don’t look back

When the interviewer mentioned the scoreboard, Saban responded, “We never want them to look at the scoreboard. The scoreboard is the definition of the history of what happened, even during a game. It has nothing to do with what’s going to happen in the future, on the next play or in the next year of your life.”

Make a positive impact

Dabo Swinney said, “I believe that if we teach these guys the right things, if we instill the right values, if we are truly developing men then we are going to win.” Saban agreed. When asked what makes him happy he said, “Seeing young people having a chance to be more successful because they were involved in the program. Those guys changing and evolving from the time they came to when they left. There are things more important in life than a game. We are trying to develop people to be successful.”

Relationships

Saban mentioned that both he and Swinney “share the importance of relationship, family . . . the older you get the more important some of those things become to you relative to winning games or being some kind of really good coach.”

Clearly Saban and Swinney are both really good coaches who have built and inspired winning teams. Knowing what matters most has surely helped them to make it this far. We’ll find out soon who the winner of this year’s title is. And since I’m from Alabama I’ll close with a “Roll Tide Roll”!