A run of six national championships in 15 seasons is the product of the “Alabama standard” that Nick Saban has spoken about himself and is part of fans’ lexicon.
But aspirations for a seventh title that accompanied Saban’s 16th season in Tuscaloosa were largely extinguished Saturday night in Baton Rouge, and on Monday, Saban was asked what the team needed to do to return to the program’s well-known standard.
“First of all, I don’t think it’s really fair to the team to create the kind of expectations that get created for the team before they ever have a body of work,” he responded. “But that’s kind of the nature of the beast in this day and age. I think being able to handle that, not putting pressure on yourself to try to live up to that expectation sort of creates a lot of anxiety in some cases. You put pressure on yourself, whatever it is, which means you’re really focused on outcomes, not process.
“I think that’s the biggest thing we got to get our players back to do. When I say, you got to focus on what it takes to win and enjoy winning, that’s what I’m talking about, not the pressure to win and then the relief when you win. Rather than the joy that you won. There’s a difference in all that.”
Saban continued that he is “not blaming anybody” for the expectations and, “it is what it is,” but players need to handle it better and not let it affect them.
“I’ve done, I guess, a pretty average job of getting our players out of that mode,” he said. “The pyramid downstairs doesn’t say ‘Win the SEC championship.’ It doesn’t say, ‘Win the national championship.’ It says, ‘Be a champion.’ These are the things that you have to do to be a champion. If you can do those things, you have a chance to win a championship.
“So, if your focus is on the championship, then are you really focused on doing the things you need to do to get there? I would say that’s the thing we need to do a better job of focusing on.”
Minutes later, two players spoke to reporters and referenced the “standard” of the program.
“Just trying to play to the standard we know we should be playing at, every single game,” defensive lineman Byron Young said.
Added guard Javion Cohen: “We still have a standard to uphold.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
