4th and Goal Every Day: Alabama’s Relentless Pursuit of Perfection

Between 2008 and 2016, University of Alabama’s Nick Saban—one of college football’s winningest coaches—led his team to four national championships. This “textbook on Saban’s way of doing business at Alabama”—when recruiting, for example, he looks for players with the “bubble,” a large rear end that allows for more powerful tackling and blocking—focuses on Alabama’s evolution from a team that had had four coaches in five years before Saban arrived. Savage practically canonizes Saban. Savage was general manager of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns when Saban was that team’s defensive coordinator and is now an analyst for the Crimson Tide Radio Network, working with Saban on a regular basis and emailing the coach scouting reports on upcoming opponents (a role Savage mentions repeatedly). Savage, writing with Glier (How the SEC Became Goliath), tells the story from an insider’s perspective, including details on the recruiting process, skills development, practice sessions, and notable coaching decisions—including the living room chats where Saban encourages prospects to “make a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision,” to the backstory of the Tide’s famous onside kick against Clemson in the 2015 National Championship Game. Although loaded with roster lists and stats that Alabaman fans will devour, the book at times veers toward a catalogue of Savage’s own accomplishments. [em](Aug.) [/em]