People throw stones at Nick Saban’s lack of success in the National Football League; nevertheless, he coached at the highest level of football for eight years.
He was in the green room for eight NFL Drafts and had to perform countless hours of evaluations.
Before he enters his 15th season as the head coach of the University of Alabama, Saban is teaching a new wave of draft picks the two most important words in the evaluation process. He knows how owners, general managers, and coaches think when it comes to selecting players.
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On Sunday, Saban had a call with the Louisiana Football Coaches Association. The conversation was about the NFL Draft, and the words he highlighted were “and” and “but.”
According to him, Saban wants his players to create positive value for themselves.
Nick Saban discusses the two most important words (“And” & “But”) in the NFL Draft evaluation process.
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— Touchdown Alabama (@TDAlabamaMag) April 26, 2021
“I always taught the players about how I spent eight years in the NFL,” Saban said.
“That means I sat through eight drafts, which meant it’s not just a draft, it’s two weeks of preparing for the draft. And then it is two more weeks of getting questions answered. And then it is two more weeks of preparing for the draft. I am listening to 1,000 draft reports, and I tell our players all the time the two most compelling words in the draft report are ‘and’ and ‘but.’ So, they read the player and I’ll take a defensive back. He’s got quick feet, change of direction, he’s got good long speed, can play man-to-man, he’s a good tackler, he’s got toughness, he’s got really good ball judgment and really good ball skills, and he’s a good person, he was a leader on the team, he graduated from school, and coaches loved him. Read the same player, but he’s got a positive drug test, he’s got a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend, got in a fight at a bar when he was a freshman, strength coach said he would not piss on him if he was on fire. Who do you want on your team? And or But? What I tell players is you don’t realize that as soon as you apply for a job, as soon as you put your name in for the draft, people are looking for reasons not to pick you.”
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The meaning behind Saban’s message is don’t give people any reason to say “but.”
“It’s the only way you can create value for yourself,” he said. “That and or but, what came after that had nothing to do with what the player was, but it had a significant impact on where the player got picked. This is an analogy I use all the time with players to try to get them to understand how do I create value for myself and my future. It goes back to I might have to edit my behavior.”
Saban is trying to tie the 2004 Miami Hurricanes in having six players taken in the first round of the draft.
Most pundits have the Crimson Tide getting four players in, but we will see what happens.
The fun starts on Thursday night.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
