One of the things everyone knows about Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher is that no detail is too small for them. We got an example of that on Friday.
In an interview with the Sports Illustrated Campus Rush podcast, mental coach Trevor Moawad explains the work he does with programs to maximize players' mindsets for game day. Two of his top clients are Florida State and Alabama, where, Moawad said, the involvement of Saban and Jimbo Fisher goes into choosing the movie the team will watch on Friday night.
Rather than a tool to simply keep mischief at bay in the hours before game day, Saban use that opportunity as an elongated pre-game speech.
"The great thing about any time you're involved with Coach Saban or Coach Fisher is: those details matter. I was with a program where they just take the guys to the theater and they pick them up four hours later. That's an opportunity to influence your players and to reinforce your mission. Why not take advantage of it? That's where I think the quote-unquote Nick Saban infrastructure... is so far above, they are doing so many things that most programs don't even know they're not doing."
Saban explained his team's favorites in 2013:
"The players really like 'Cinderella Man, they like 'Seabiscuit,' they like 'Secretariat,' they like 'Gladiator,' and Tom Cruise being the samurai soldier, 'The Last Samurai," Saban said. "Those are probably the five of the ones we've watched before big games that the players really, really like. That's kind of the go-to five."
Looking for a film you may not know about? Here's the trailer for the movie Florida State watched the night before beating Michigan in the Orange Bowl.
Since Florida State and Alabama play each other to open this season, one has to wonder if Moawad will suggest the same movie for each team.
Listen to the full podcast below. The above section begins around the 17-minute mark.=