Quotes from Nick Saban

First of all, you've got to have a vision of 'What kind of program do I want to have?' Then you've got to have a plan to implement it. Then you've got to set the example that you want, develop the principles and values that are important, and get people to buy into it.

College football is the only game in the country, of any kind, that the college game is longer than the pro game.

Talent is talent, and everybody knows somebody who has talent or ability, but they never really converted it into a productive performance for whatever reasons.

People talk about you won four national championships. Well, I feel like we've had good enough teams to win eight. So I feel like we failed four times. I feel like I failed four times.

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.

Focus on the play like it has a history and a life of its own.

I don't try to sensationalize anybody. I'm not trying to entertain. I'm trying to give information and give access to me and tell about our program.

I think a lot of times you have to face your fears. I think everybody has to face their fears.

I want what's best for people who want to improve the quality of their life. I hope whoever our leader is will do all that he can do to make our country safe and improve the quality of life for a lot of the people we have in our country, and I don't think I am qualified to determine who that should be.

All I know is that if we play well, we control our own destiny in terms of what we do.

Rex Ryan does a lot of the same kind of stuff that we do in terms of how they play in the secondary and what they do.

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.

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.

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

I don't think I'm complicated at all. I'm not political, and I'm not trying to be diplomatic. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, and I don't say bad things about people. There is no agenda. There's no trying to fool somebody.

As a coach, when it comes to football players, we're trying to change their behavior and make them better. As people, we're trying to change their behavior and make them better.

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.

I always ask myself the question, do you like to win, or do you hate to lose?

I don't Twitter. I don't text for those very reasons. I don't want anything to be misinterpreted. I would encourage our guys not to do that.

When you play quarterback, you have to process information quickly, get the ball out of your hand to the right guy.

I think when you win the national championship, it works throughout your team. Where human nature is to say, I did well. I got my quota this month. Now do I get some time off? Do I get a bonus? Do I get to go on a cruise? But it's not to keep trying to be the best. That's not necessarily human nature.

I don't believe you name a starter until the starter wins the team.

One thing I always tell players is that there are three bad things: Nothing good happens after midnight, nothing good happens when you're around guns unless you're going hunting, and you don't want to mess around with women that you don't know because a lot of times, bad things happen.