Winning a single national championship is difficult; winning seven, more so. And if the price former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban had to pay for it was to become a tough, strict coach to his players, then he was worth it. But beyond strict, Saban did so much that his players became afraid of him, as San Francisco 49ers QB Mac Jones recalled.

“I guess Saban was really strict,” Jones said of his former coach on Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “But like, just the standard was there, like you knew, like you’re not going to be late. You’re almost scared of him. A lot of guys were.”

Talking about lateness to class, Jones responded, “No. [I] never was. We used to get points, bad points for being late to class. I don’t think I ever got a point. I was a good boy. But Saban… he’s cooler than what you would think, but it’s just college guys. You can control them a little bit more.”

Next to his reputation as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time is the recognition he has for his strict coaching methods. Even his assistant coaches were not left out of such strict standards. The way Saban celebrated his national championships was to hold staff meetings at 7:30 a.m. the next morning. In Lane Kiffin’s words in a one-on-one interview with Theo Von, “the standards never changed, no matter what”.

Jones was one of the players whom Saban held to a very strict standard. And the pair shared a fiery but mutually beneficial relationship, as Jones also had a tough personality himself. It was a clash of two difficult men. In fact, Saban gave him the moniker “John McEnroe” after a famous tennis player who was just as hot-headed as Jones, as Jones would often throw tantrums when things were not going his way.

The end result of such a high standard was Jones getting picked with the 15th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Again, Jones fell into the hands of Bill Belichick, another serial winner. And their conflicts led to a broken relationship that made Jones leave the team after two seasons. He found it hard working with men like himself.

Even when he was recruiting prospects, Saban was not one who would promise players heaven and earth to win them over. He was down-to-earth and factual.

It was the same for former Alabama center Ryan Kelly, who was picked with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Before joining Alabama, Saban had a video call with the highly coveted recruit, and all he promised was that he was going to give him all the resources he needed to be successful at Alabama. This was in contrast with other coaches who went as far as promising Kelly starting spots through his four collegiate years.

Despite his strict standards, Saban always tried to strike a balance. Lane Kiffin noted that he had a culture of being calm after losses. But after huge victories, when they were all feeling good about themselves, it was his hobby to “bring them down”.