030 New Hope

The dawn broke, heralding a new day.

Saban arrived at the office early in the morning. Others saw Saban as having written countless legendary histories in the NCAA, and they assumed he could just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor, listening to praises and adulations. However, the reality was that he had never allowed his work to slacken for even a day.

Because Saban knew that in the world of competitive sports, coaches and players were alike; slacking off for even a day could mean being left behind.

In lower-level competitions, one could dominate merely by talent, but in higher and more professional events, talent became just an entry requirement. Everyone was a genius, every individual a powerhouse. At that point, what mattered were effort and focus. This was true in any competitive sport; those at the peak were geniuses, each one more relentless than the last.

This was also why Saban disliked the NFL—