For Nick Saban, Simple is Better

He sat in the first seat of the second bus waiting to head to the airport after every road game, his emotions the same regardless of the result. He would carefully unwrap his mayonnaise to put on his turkey sandwich, meticulous in his preparation, before taking a single bite. Once he finished the sandwich, then-Cleveland Browns Defensive Coordinator Nick Saban would share his commentary with those around him on the game played. He would give an honest, pure, simple explanation of what transpired, good or bad, with amazing accuracy, deep thought and a tremendous level of humility. He made everything seem so easy.

Now, 29 years later, not much has changed for Saban in terms of preparation. But a great deal has changed in terms of success. He’s now a six-time college national champion, one of the winningest coaches in college football and is looking to add one more title to his trophy case tonight when Alabama faces Ohio State for the National Championship.

“Everybody hears about the process, and really simple terms, it’s about the ability to be excellent in everything you do one day at a time,” Alabama tight end Miller Forristall recently said about Saban. “He attacks all the little things with the same intensity and ferocity that he attacks the big things. He is better at the little things than anybody else…thus, he’s better at the big things.”

Forristall, a redshirt senior from Cartersville, Ga., has seen Saban work for five years, paying close attention to his behavior, methods and uncanny ability to make something complex rather simple. During the run and shoot era in the early 1990s NFL, for example, most teams were worried about the run aspect of the offense, so they aligned six players near the line of scrimmage. Saban aligned just five, reasoning they only block five — why should we waste a player they will never block? A simple answer to a complex problem. Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Adding to the Einstein belief, Andy Beniot claims, “Most geniuses—especially those who lead others—prosper not by deconstructing intricate complexities, but exploiting unrecognized simplicities.”

Saban’s greatest strength is that he does not have complexity bias. He never searches for complex solutions and is instead pragmatic in his approach to large or small problems. They all look the same to him.

We all can learn from him to never overthink, to not search for the complex solution. Simple is not easy, but it’s often smarter.

Best of luck to both teams tonight.

Please forward and share this email with your friends and family.