Nick Saban Quotes

There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you'll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.

It's not human nature to be great. It's human nature to survive, to be average and do what you have to do to get by. That is normal. When you have something good happen, it's the special people that can stay focused and keep paying attention to detail, working to get better and not being satisfied with what they have accomplished.

The process is really what you have to do day in and day out to be successful, 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.

Success doesn't come from pie-in-the-sky thinking. It's the result of consciously doing something each day that will add to your overall excellence.

Becoming a champion is not an easy process... It is done by focusing on what it takes to get there and not on getting there.

We create a standard for how we want to do things and everybody's got to buy into that standard or you really can't have any team chemistry. Mediocre people don't like high-achievers and high-achievers don't like mediocre people.

What happened yesterday is history. What happens tomorrow is a mystery. What we do today makes a difference - the precious present moment.

I think everybody should take the attitude that we're working to be a champion, that we want to be a champion in everything that we do. Every choice, every decision, everything that we do every day, we want to be a champion.

We're not going to talk about what we're going to accomplish, we're going to talk about how we're going to do it.

One thing about championship teams is that they're resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.

Live by the creed that a strong work ethic, playing by the rules, and doing things the right way will bring about opportunities for success and, ultimately, happiness.

Focus on the process of what it takes to be successful.

We have three kinds of guys on our team. We have guys that get it; they play good; they understand how to play winning football. We have some guys that are trying to get it, and they are working hard every day? We are supporting them, and we want the guys that have it to support them. Then we have some guys that don't get it and don't know that they don't get it. We are trying to replace them. We only have a couple left.

Mediocre people hate high achievers, and high achievers hate mediocre people.

I don’t care what you did yesterday. If you’re happy with that, you have bigger problems.

Your character is your accumulation of your thoughts, habits and priorities on a day-to-day basis.

We have got to use every opportunity to improve individually so we can improve collectively.

You can't win together if you don't work together.

People who are role models for the principles and values of the organization, who buy in and understand the vision of what the organization is trying to accomplish, and have the personality to inspire other people to the vision. You know, that’s what team chemistry and leadership is all about.

Be all you can be in whatever you choose to do. The sky is the limit, so go for it. And do not create any self-imposed limitations.

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.

The formula for success is every guy can make a difference for the entire team in whatever his role is. And to do it right, to get it right, is a critical factor in being successful.

There is no continuum for success. Focus on the progress, not the results.

I'm tired of hearing all this talk from people who don't understand the process of hard work-like little kids in the back seat asking 'Are we there yet?' Get where you're going 1 mile-marker at a time.

The more one emphasizes winning, the less he or she is able to concentrate on what actually causes success.

Anyone who doesn't win their conference has no business playing in the national championship game.

Be on time because it shows you care.

Discipline is not punishment. Discipline is changing someone’s behavior.

Now, everybody always says there's no 'I' in team, but there is an 'I' in win, because the individuals make the team what it is, and how they think and what they do is important to the team. So when you act like the individual is not important, well, it is damn important who these people are and what they are.

If you don't get result-oriented with the kids, you can focus on the things in the process that are important to them being successful.

The number one thing on any team that will keep your players from being selfish is respect for the other players.

I asked my priest if it was a sin to play golf on Sunday. And he said, "It's a sin for you to play anytime."

Every choice, every decision, everything we do everyday, we want to be a champion

To be a great player, you have to affect the entire unit.

When you invest your time, you make a goal and a decision of something that you want to accomplish. Whether it's make good grades in school, be a good athlete, be a good person, go down and do some community service and help somebody who's in need, whatever it is you choose to do, you're investing your time in that.

A good process produces good results.

We have to compete within ourselves relative to the determination it takes to be successful.

It doesn’t matter what you are ranked until the end.

Do what you do and be who you are.

When you play against good people, that's when you focus your concentration. Your sense of urgency to be disciplined in your execution all become more critical. Sometimes you get away with doing things not quite right against lesser competition, but when you play against real good people that's when it shows up.

Teaching is the ability to inspire learning.

Mediocre people don't like high achievers and high achievers don't like mediocre people.

You can't get from A to Z by passing up B.

I don't think it's about who you play, I think it's about who you are.

I’ve never considered joining Twitter, nor do I know why anybody would.

In the NFL you get one first-round draft pick if you're lucky. You couldn't really outwork anybody else. In college I could recruit ten players with first-round talent every year.

The roster that we have today may change tomorrow. It is what it is for right now.

Any team that does not win it's conference championship game should not play in the BCS title game

It's about how the players play and compete. I know everybody is going to equate that on winning or losing, like they always do, but if we play hard and compete well in the game .. then I think we are building on something.

I don't control what people put on dot-com or anything else. So I'm just telling you there's no significance, in my opinion, about this, about me, about any interest that I have in anything other than being the coach here.