Listened today to an old press conference from Saban in 2013 where he was asked about maintaining a high level of recruiting four and five star talent and how that talent continues to be coached up to the point where Bama consistently took that four and five star talent to its highest level of potential while on the other hand, many schools struggle to take a four star recruit and get four star results on the field. (UGA would be a great example of this over the last 15 years). His answer sheds a lot of insight into what we're witnessing in year one of the CKS era:
You know...I tell all my guys that once they've committed to Alabama, stars really, they just..they just don't matter anymore. What matters is that everyone from myself down to our GAs and the office staff understand what we're working towards and seeking perfection in doing it. Are these kids gonna make mistakes? Sure. I make mistakes, my coaches make mistakes, but it's about the focus and putting in that relentless effort in practice every day until it becomes so natural to run the plays right. You know, you guys, you only see a few minutes of our practice because that's all I feel you need to see to get your stories. But our philosophy in practice is different from what you guys think practice is. You think practice is about doing a drill until we get it right and my thought - my philosophy - is that we do a drill until we practically can't get it wrong. And when we do that, we've seen guys who on paper, maybe they weren't a five star recruit that you guys wrote all kinds of love letters about when they were being recruited. Maybe they had to struggle to get on the team, but when they did, they bought into our philosophy and they excelled beyond their wildest imagination because they understood that getting it right and giving 100% effort at each moment is what will take them to the level that they want to be at. And when you multiply that result by 22 guys, then you've done it. I also think it's about getting the right kind of player, not only does that player have the physical attributes that we look for, but can that player be coached? If the player can be coached and has all the tools for his position, then it's a matter of time before he matures into the player, and as a whole, the players mature into the team that we put on the field."
