With seven national championships to his name, Nick Saban knows a thing or two about winning big football games. The legend has been around long enough to understand how to properly coach football players. More importantly, he knows how to bring along young quarterbacks.
That made him a perfect guest to the Chicago Bears’ headquarters at Halas Hall during the first episode of Hard Knocks.
The sequence captured on camera features Saban telling Chicago head coach Matt Eberflus what has to happen for a rookie like Caleb Williams to reach his full potential. (Note: Eberflus played for Saban as a linebacker in Toledo in 1990.) Saban touches on various critical points, from the quarterback being insulated from negativity in front of his teammates to cultivating a healthy relationship between gradual growth and the weight of expectations from fans and the media.
It’s a meaningful discussion that Eberflus clearly takes very seriously while he listens to Saban in a snippet below:
Nick Saban talks to Matt Eberflus about the high expectations on rookie QB, @CALEBcsw.#HardKnocks with the @ChicagoBears premieres tonight at 9pm ET on @StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/2xqtJyrOHy
— NFL (@NFL) August 6, 2024
Getting Williams to reach his full potential is how the Bears will become a championship contender again. Everyone within the organization knows it. Failure to do so is not an option. And if someone like Saban has thoughts on the matter, you stop whatever you’re doing to listen.
Featured image courtesy of NFL Films/HBO
