04/28/2026
Nick Saban won 7 national championships at University of Alabama football and never threw a pass, never carried the ball, and never made a tackle.
I heard him speak recently to a room full of business leaders, and it has stuck with me.
He could have stayed in the game. He could have taken over when things got tight. He could have said, “I will just do it myself.” Most of us have done exactly that. Head down, hands on everything, and the team we meant to build never quite gets built.
Saban chose a different path. He stepped back, trusted people, and developed them even when they were not perfect. Then, when they were ready, he let them carry the ball.
There are two types of work. Deliverables are what gets done today. Multipliers are what make everything better tomorrow. Most of us stay stuck in deliverables because they are loud and immediate. Multipliers are quieter, slower, and harder to measure, but they are where real growth happens.
So here is the hard question. When you step in and just handle it, are you helping your business or holding it back? Are you solving a problem, or taking an opportunity away from someone who needed to grow?
Football forces leaders to stay off the field. Business does not. We can always jump back in. The real question is whether we should.
Twenty years into running a business, this hit me hard. Saban did not win because he did everything. He won because he built people who could.
His closing prayer said it best. Help me be the best person I can be, and help me help others be the best they can be.
Seven titles. He never carried the ball.
