CECIL HURT: Preparation is more than just of the physical kind

There was an old theory, one enshrined in Alabama lore (or at least Paul “Bear” Bryant lore, which is almost the same thing even if events actually occurred at Texas A&M) by The Junction Boys, that preseason practice is a grueling war of attrition in which the last 11 men standing form a football team.

Times have changed. They had changed even before Bryant retired. The August practices that Nick Saban now conducts at Alabama are still tough and demanding, but they are not designed to whittle a roster down to a desperate band of survivors. The plan, instead, is to build a football team in every aspect. There is certainly preparation for the first game, and the season — but it is not just physical preparation. Instead, the schedule is designed for maximum participation, maximum learning and — as was the case at Wednesday night’s team meeting — some motivational messages as well.

During the course of the preseason practices, at least until school starts on August 19, the team has heard from speakers on various topics, ranging for New York Yankees intervention specialist Ron Dock to Rogers Redding, who spoke about rules changes for the coming year.

Wednesday night’s speaker was a perennially popular visitor, the motivational speaker Dr. Kevin Elko. For years, Elko has worked as a sports psychologist for teams ranging from the Dallas Cowboys to the U.S. Olympic Committee. He has written four books, including one — “Touchdown” — that was released last week.

Elko started his relationship with Saban while Saban was coaching at LSU in 2003.

“The first year he had me work with the team, they won the national championship,” Elko noted with a smile.

Since then, Elko has visited with all of Saban’s teams. His presentation on Wednesday night — and there is no way to do justice to his rapid-fire, eye-catching speaking style in print — was all about issues like “freeing yourself from mental clutter” and “taking accountability for yourself.”

Through the course of the 35-minute talk, he invoked names from Jaromir Jagr to Nelson Mandela, but he made it all relevant to his audience of football players. He even ended with a nod to Bryant, telling young players about the former coach’s famous AT&T long-distance commercial (“Have you called your mama? I sure wish I could call mine.”) as an example of the limited time we all have, especially college football players who have just a few short seasons to realize their dreams.

“I love coming here,” Elko said afterwards. “I love speaking to the college players. They are more open to a message. A lot of the pro players, they feel like they know everything there is to know. The way you get their attention is to point out that 4 per cent of all NFL players end up as multi-millionaires after their career, but 96 percent end up having to work, or they end up with nothing. But the college players are more willing to listen. That’s especially true at Alabama. The players are humble. They listen.”

It’s not just a case where the players sit for a half-hour, laugh at the jokes and applaud at the end, Elko said.

“What I teach is a system and the best person I know at putting a system into place is Nick Saban,” Elko said. “He is the absolute best. We talk about what I am going to say beforehand and again after I finish and then he takes that through the season and keeps reinforcing it.

“That’s the difference in a mediocre coach and a great coach. They both have 500 chances to talk to players, but the mediocre coach says 500 different things and the great coach says the same thing 500 times. That’s what Coach Saban does. He reinforces the message. That is why he is so successful at what he does.”