The Process

He calls it simply "the process".  It all started when Nick Saban was the head coach at Michigan State University (he was there from 1995 to 1999).  His 1998 team wasn't doing very well (in fact, they were 4-4) and were scheduled to play the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on November 7, 1998.  Coach Saban turned to a psychiatrist with an interest in sports psychology named Lionel Rosen.  Saban had been working with Dr. Rosen the entire season, and his Spartan players had nicknamed the psychiatrist (who was a little eccentric), "Lonny Graybeard."  Coach Saban asked for Dr. Rosen's help with "the big game" against the Buckeyes.  Dr. Rosen taught the Spartan players a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy called "process thinking" in which they were to focus all of their efforts one play at a time.  Focus on the next play.  Nothing else.  Don't worry about the scoreboard.  Don't worry about the game clock.  Just worry about what you, as a player, are going to do on this play coming up right now.

Game day arrived.  And things didn't start very well for the Spartans.  By the third quarter, Michigan State trailed 24-9.  The players recalled what Dr. Rosen had taught them.  Don't worry about the scoreboard.  Don't worry about the game clock.  Worry about what you are going to do on this play coming up right now.  They did.  And they came back.  Michigan State ended up beating the number one ranked team in the country, 28-24.  They would go on to finish the season at 6-6.  And a legend was born.

The process boils down to these simple rules (as listed by Patrick Zeis ):

1. Focus all of your energy on the present moment.
2. Remember that everything matters ("attention to detail")
3. Eliminate distractions and outside noise.
4. Relinquish your attachment to outcomes
5. Develop toughness and discipline to face adversity
6. Compete against yourself while being accountable to others
7. Refuse to get comfortable

Coach Saban describes it this way, "The process is really what you have to do day in and day out to be successful.  We try to define the standard that we want everybody to sort of work toward, adhere to, and do it on a consistent basis.  And the things that I talked about before, being responsible for your own self-determination, having a positive attitude, having great work ethic, having discipline to be able to execute on a consistent basis, whatever it is you're trying to do, those are the things that we try to focus on, and we don't try to focus as much on the outcomes as we do on being all that you can be."

Coach Saban's "process thinking" has been compared to the philosophy of the ancient Stoics (see in particular the book, The Obstacle is the Way, by Ryan Holiday, in which Coach Saban's "Process" is featured).  Saban continues to adhere to the principles outlined by Dr. Rosen, even to this day.  Whenever his team, the University of Alabama, wins the national championship (and they have done just that five times in the last nine years), Coach is back at work again the next day.  "Relinquish your attachment to outcomes" and "Focus all of your energy on the present moment." 

It's really quite simple when you think about it.  And quite beautiful.