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- Nick Saban gave a powerful speech about people being apprehensive of becoming leaders.
- The Alabama head coach also used Henry Ruggs’ situation as an example during the speech.
- Be sure to check out more sports stories at BroBible here.
Nick Saban didn’t become the greatest coach in college football history just because he’s a football genius. While he obviously knows the x’s and o’s of football better than most coaches ever have, or will, he’s also a proven leader.
Saban has led college athletes to become professional athletes and along the way, as cliche as it sounds, helped mold boys into men along the way.
With the longtime Alabama head football coach being a leader himself, he knows what it takes for others to become leaders both on and off the football field.
During a recent speech with the Alabama Football Coache’s Association, Saban explained why he thinks young people today are more apprehensive than ever to actually become leaders.
“People are more apprehensive about being leaders than they’ve ever been before,” Saban explained. “They’re worried about what everybody thinks. The greatest example is you asking one of your players ‘hey you have to get up in front of 1,000 people to give a speech, are you going to be nervous and anxious?’ he’s going to say ‘hell yeah.’ Why is that? Because you’re afraid of what everybody out there thinks of you.”
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Saban went on to use Henry Ruggs, a player he coached at Alabama, as an example. In November of 2021, Ruggs killed someone in a car crash while driving over 150 mph. His blood-alcohol level was also well over the legal limit and a loaded gun was found inside his vehicle. He was released by the Raiders and, as Saban says, he has no future.
“If there was a player in Las Vegas who was drinking at 3 o’clock in the morning with his buddies and his girlfriend, and someone would’ve taken his keys away. It probably would have pissed him off, probably would have made him mad, probably would’ve thought very much of you for doing that. But would he be better off now, or is he better off where he was going 156 mph, running his ass into somebody and killing them?”
Talk about a powerful, powerful speech.