Tonight the Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide will compete for college’s football national championship. Both teams are led by two of the greatest leaders in all of sports, Dabo Swinney and Nick Saban respectively. I recently took a deeper look at each in my post Comparing And Contrasting Nick Saban And Dabo Swinney’s Leadership Styles.
With this game taking place on college football’s biggest stage, I wanted to capture the leadership thoughts leading into ESPN’s coverage of the game. I felt these insights were important for all leaders to help us know how to be successful when we are needed the most.
The following are 22 Championship Pre-Game Leadership Quotes From Nick Saban, Dabo Swinney And Others from ESPN’s pre-game coverage:
- “Nick Saban is like college football’s Bill Belichick. Can Dabo Swinney become college football’s Tom Coughlin?” – Desmond Howard
- “I want to prove I’m the best player on the field.” – Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson
- “Florida State was undefeated (in 2014) and knew how to win football games.” – Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly
- “He’s (Watson) got to precise in throwing the football.” – Kelly
- “Someone’s got to make the bad play a good play.” – Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer
- “The last four seasons when Alabama gives up a touchdown pass of 20 yards or longer, they’re 8-5. That’s pedestrian. When they don’t, 41-1.” – Reece Davis
- “The most important thing is for players to stay focused on what they need to do to play well…Now’s the time for you to be your best as a football player and that’s what you’ve got to focus on.” – Saban
- “If you’re not ready for a game like this I don’t know how you get ready.” – Saban
- “Be who you are. Just cut it loose.” – Swinney
- “How do I define family? People who care about each other. Love each other. Have respect for one another.” -Swinney
- “My family was so broken.” – Swinney
- “I’m going to love my dad no matter what. I’m going to quit judging him. I’m going to quit worrying about what I cannot control.” – Swinney
- “Big Irv (Dabo’s dad) checks out and goes on to Heaven and we’re undefeated.” – Swinney, his dad died five months ago in August.
- “He (Swinney) has an edge to him. He’s a family man. He’s a Christian man.” – Kirk Herbstreit
- “The most valuable thing about Lane Kiffin (Alabama’s offensive coordinator) is he finds out who his go-to guy is.” – Herbstreit
- “One of Dabo’s gifts is motivating young men.” – Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze
- “When they first called it my heart dropped.” – Watson when Derrick Henry won the Heisman Trophy
- “I’m prepared and the pressure comes off my back.” – Watson
- “He (Derrick Henry) gets stronger as the game goes on.” – David Pollack
- “At every level of championship football, the quarterback that can extend plays when plays break down wins the game.” – Meyer
- “This is the defining moment for this team.” – Alabama defensive back Cyrus Jone
- “You’re only as good as your last play. You’re only as good as your last game and that’s how we’re going to be remembered.” – Saban
Additional Quotes – The following are 13 leadership quotes from ESPN’s College Gameday from December 31st, the day of college football’s semi-finals:
- “We’re sitting at the #1 seed for a reason.” – Watson
- “We might now be favored in the game but we ain’t no underdog.” -Swinney
- “We didn’t prepare for that game (2104 semi-final against Ohio State) like I would have like us to.” – Saban
- “If you didn’t prepare well and you don’t have the right mindset, you just can’t turn it on.” – Saban
- “I need stay composed. Pray for wisdom. Stay composed and make sure you make good adjustments. Stay ultra-positive and keep people moving in the right direction because they’re going to look to you and our senior leaders on how to handle adverse situations.” – Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio
- “The focus our team has shown here has been really good. We try to get the players to not spend their time on what they need to do how to prepare for this game but invest their time in practice and how to take care of themselves.” – Saban
- “Our players can never relax in this game. They need to be prepared to play a 60-minute game.” – Saban
- “Nick’s not going to change that much. They’ll make some adjustments but they believe in what they’re doing.” – former Texas head coach Mack Brown
- “I got to keep trying to make a difference in these young men’s lives.” – new Miami Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt
- “I believe it’s God’s design for me to be in Miami.” – Richt
- “My goal is not to be fast. My goal is to be right.” – Richt
- “The greatest plays are usually a normal play you’ve done over and over at a spectacular time.” – Richt
- “You can’t go 15-0 until you’re 14-0. It’s all about this game.” – Swinney
So who do you think will win tonight’s game?
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