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FivevaluescreatecornerstoneofTide's
success
ByTommyDeas
ExecutiveSportsEditor
Published:Monday,February1,2010at3:30a.m.

TUSCALOOSA|TheUniversityofAlabama
footballteamwasaheadbyafieldgoalwithjust
overtwominutestogo,facingthirdandgoalat
the1yardlineattheRoseBowl,whenTexas
calledtimeout.
AsCrimsonTideplayerslookedtothesideline,
AlabamastrengthandconditioningcoachScott
Cochranboundedontothefield,hoppingupand
downwithbothhandsextendedoverhishead,
fourfingerspointingtowardtheskyandhis
thumbcrossinghispalm.

TuscaloosaNews/RobertSutton
StrengthcoachScottCochransignals
fourthquarterintheBCSnational
cham pionshipgam eagainstTexas.
Alabam abeattheTexasLonghorns3 7 2 1 .

Cochranwassendingasignalthatharkenedbacktonearlyayearbeforewhen
preseasonconditioningdrillsbeganwithgruelingdailyworkouts.Themessagewasn't
thetraditionalfourthquarterisourscommonlysignifiedbythefourfingersalute
lateingames,butsomethingfarmorespecific.
OnthecoveroftheworkoutmanualissuedtoUAplayersnearly12monthsbefore
theBCSNationalChampionshipGamewasplayedistheimageofaglovedhand,with
eachdigitmarkedwithoneoffivevalues.Thosefivevaluesweredesignatedbyhead
coachNickSabanasthebuildingblocksoftheprogramfromthemomenthewas
hiredinJanuaryof2007withthemissionoftakingtheCrimsonTidebacktothe
nationaltitlegame.
Discipline,commitmentandeffortandtoughnessthat'sthefourfingers,Cochran
said.Thethumbispride.
Sowhenyouputthefourfingersup,that'swhatit'sallabout.Itmeansfourth
quarter,butthere'salotmoretoit.
Alotindeed.
WhenHeismanTrophywinnerMarkIngrambulldozedhiswayintotheendzone
withasecondefforttouchdownontheplayafterthetimeouttoextendAlabama's
leadto10pointsandputthenationaltitlegameonice,itmarkedtheculminationofa
year'sworthofworkdesignedtoprepareUAplayersforjustsuchamoment.
AndbehindtheCrimsonTide'snationalchampionshipseasonweretheconceptsof
commitment,discipline,effort,toughnessandpride.
Ithinkthatintangiblesareprobablyreallyimportanttobeingagoodcompetitor,
SabansaidthedayafterthevictoryoverTexas,andIthinkthatmostpeoplewho
havepassionforsomethingasimportanttothemiswhatgetsthemtocommitto
something,andyourmindkindofdoeswhateveryoutellittodo.

Soonceyouhavethepassionandthecommitment,atleastyou'regoingtobe
movingintherightdirectionwhenitcomestoworkethic,discipline,tryingtomake
goodchoicesaboutwhatyoudoandwhatyoudon'tdo.
Theeffort,thetoughnessandthedisciplinetoexecuteareprobablythekey
ingredientstoanysport....Ithinkthosearepartofyourcharacterandwhoyouare,
andIthinkthesameingredientswouldbenecessarytobesuccessfulinanything.
CONSTANTTHEME
Alabamaplayerswereconditionedtoembracethefivevaluesnotjustaswords,but
asguidelines.Thevalueswereconstantlyunderscoredduringtheteam'soffseason
workoutsandinmeetings.Theywereonthecoverofthespringworkoutbook
distributedtoeveryplayerandreinforcedseveraltimesthroughoutitspages.
Motivationalspeakerswerebroughtintofurtherbolsterthemessage.
Onehundredpercentreinforcement,Cochransaid.You'regoingtoseeme
teachingitintheclassroomtothem...thenthenextthingyouhaveiswe'reonthe
fieldandyouhearitagain.
Soyou'rehearingitfourorfivetimes.You'rehearingallaboutthatcommitment,
thateffort,thatdiscipline,thattoughness,thatpride.
Sabandidn'tsettleonthefivevalueswhenhegottoAlabama.Theywerealsokeyto
his2003nationaltitlerunatLSU.
Thesecorevalues,whenappliedtooffseasonconditioning,allowourplayerstobeat
theirbestinthefourthquarterofgames,whenthegameisontheline,Sabanwrote
inhis2004book,HowGoodDoYouWanttoBe?
Whenwetaketheleadintothefourthquarter,wearevirtuallyunbeatablebecause
ofourprogram.Playersandcoachesraisefourfingersatthestartofthefourth
quarteranditmeanssomethingtoallofus.Beyondthefield,thesefiveintangible
valuesarewhatweexpectouryoungmentoexhibitintheclassroomandinlife.
COMMITMENT
Commitmentisbeingcommittedtotheprogram,Cochransaid.That'stheplayers
committedtotheprogram,havingthecoachescommitted.
ReceiverMarquisMaze,whojustcompletedhissophomoreseason,learnedabout
commitmentbeforeheeversetfootonthefieldforAlabama.Hearrivedin2007asa
highlytoutedprospectwhohadproducedmorethan3,000yardsand30
touchdownsinhisfinaltwoseasonsinhighschool,butsatouthisfirstseasonasa
redshirt.
AttimeswhenIwassittingoutIwantedtoleave,Mazesaid.Iwantedtogo
somewhereelse,butIstuckaroundanditpaiddividendsformebecauseIwas
committedtotheprogram.Italkedtomymomandshewascommitted.Shetoldme,
Youjustneedtowaityourturn.'
Thatcommitmentgoesbeyondfootball.
Inordertobeasuccessfulstudentathlete,you'vegottobecommittedtotime
management,saidpunterP.J.Fitzgerald.It'snotjustonthefieldstuff,it's
everywhere.
You'vegottobecommittedtogetgoodgrades.You'vegottobecommittedonthe
fieldtolearnyourassignmentsandexecutethem.Justbecommittedtotheprogram
andyourselfandyou'llbesuccessful.

DISCIPLINE
Thevalueofdisciplineisaboutmakingtherightchoicesandfollowingthemwith
action.
Disciplineistodowhatyou'resupposedtodothewayit'ssupposedtobedone,
Cochransaid.
ApageinAlabama's2009springworkoutmanualaddressestheconcept:
Everythingyoudo,everythingyouhave,everythingyoubecomeisultimatelythe
resultofthechoicesyouhavemade,itreads.Youhavethepowertodirectyour
life.Howwillyouuseit?What'syourchoice?
IfthereisonevalueSabanstressesaboveallotherswhenheaddresseshisplayers,it
maywellbediscipline.
CoachSabanalwaystalksaboutdiscipline,saidoffensivelinemanJohnMichael
Boswell,whojustcompletedhissophomoreseason.Youhavetohavedisciplinein
everythingyoudoinlife.Disciplineisoneofthemostimportantaspectsyoucan
have,doingtherightthingandhavingthedisciplinetodoitallthetime.That'swhat
isgoingtomakeyousuccessful.
Youhavetohavedisciplinetodothingsonyourown.There'snotalwaysgoingtobe
someonetomakeyoudoit.Youhavetohavedisciplinetodoityourself.That'sabig
partofit,rightthere.
EFFORT
Youcan'tcoacheffort,Cochransaid.That'ssomethingeverybodyhastobring,
everyplayer.
Eventhosewhodon'tgettoplayhavetodemonstrateeffort.
Everybody'sgotarolegoingdownfromthestartingquarterbackeventothewater
boys,saidTravisSikes,awidereceiverwhojustcompletedhisjuniorseasonandhas
beenonthefieldforonlyahandfulofplaysinhiscareer.Ifyouhavetodoscout
teamwork,youhavetohaveefforttodoyourworkandgivethe(starters)agood
looksotheycandotheirjobduringthegame.Itdoesn'tmatterwhoyouare.
Ofthefivevalues,effortistheoneplayersaremostexpectedtocultivateontheir
own.
Nobodyisbornwithit,saidreceiverMikeMcCoy,whojustcompletedhissenior
season.You'vejustgottogiveit.
Effortiswhatseparatesplayersintheweightroom,inconditioningdrillsandonthe
practicefield.Effortturnsgoodplayersintobetterones.
Ifyoudon'tgiveeffort,saidMaze,talentalonewon'tgetitonthislevel.Youhave
togiveefforttodoanythinginthisworld,really.
TOUGHNESS
Alabama'stoughnesswasforgedbytherigorousoffseasonconditioningprogramthat
beganlastJanuary.
There'sphysicaltoughness,obviously,butthere'smentaltoughness,saiddefensive
linemanLorenzoWashington,asenioronthenationaltitleteam.Justpushing
yourselfthroughthatlastrepandthatlastsprintduringwinterconditioningor
summerconditioning,battlingthatheat,orbeingabletobalanceallyourschoolstuff

withpracticeandbeingabletoblockoutsidedistractionsduringtheyear,ornotgoing
outandpartyingandallthatkindofstuff,that'stoughness.
LinebackerCoryReamer,another2009senior,wastoughenedbythesameprocess.
Whenyou'reoutthererunninganditgetshardandyou'requestioningyourselfon
whetheryoucandothisornot,you'vegottohavethetoughnesstopushthrough,he
said.
Cochran,thecoachwhoadministersAlabama'sconditioningregimen,saidthe
programwasdesignedwithtoughnessinmind.
We'regoingtomakeitdifficultsoit'sgoingtobetough,hesaid.We'regoingto
developallthat.
WhenAlabamawasholdingoninthefinalminutesofits1210victoryover
Tennessee,toughnesscameintoplay.TerrenceCodyblockedalastplayfieldgoal
attempttopreservetheTide'sperfectrecord.
Wejusthadtofinishthegame,Washingtonsaid.Onthelastplayofthegame,
peopleweretired,everybodywasfatigued.Wejusthadtoputeverythingontheline.
Justpushingthroughwhateveradversityyouhave,that'swhattoughnessmeans.
PRIDE
Alabama'sfootballhistory,withtheschoolnowclaiming13nationalchampionships,is
steepedinpride.
Prideissomethingyouhaveassoonasyoucometothisprogram,saidAll
AmericanoffensivelinemanMikeJohnson,whojustcompletedhisseniorseason.
It'ssomethingwhenyousignonthedottedlinetocomeplaywithaprogramlike
Alabama,youautomaticallyhaveasenseofpride.
Eventheschool'sfightsong,YeaAlabama,promotesthisvalue:
You'reDixie'sfootballpride,CrimsonTide,itproclaims.
InthegamewhereAlabamacameclosesttodefeat,theCrimsonTidetrailedAuburn
fromtheopeningmomentsuntilscoringthegamewinningtouchdownwith1:24to
go.The15play,79yarddrivetothatscorewasfueledbypride,Johnsonsaid.
Whenyou'redowninthefourthquarteragainstAuburnandthey'rethreateningto
ruinyourseason,you'vegottopointtopride,hesaid.It'sjustputtingitallonthe
linetocomeupwithawin,andthatgivesyouatremendoussenseofprideandsense
ofaccomplishment.
THEGLUE
Alabama'snationalchampionshiprunwasaproductofsuccessfulschemingby
coachesandathleticplaybyplayers,buttheconstantreinforcementofthevaluesof
commitment,discipline,effort,toughnessandprideservedasafoundation.
Itgluesyouinonwhatyouwantandtellsyoutonevergiveupbecausethereisa
biggergoalandbiggerprizeattheend,saidrunningbackRoyUpchurch,a2009
senior.
WhenSabantalksaboutplayersbuyingintotheprogram,heistalkinginlargepart
aboutembracingthosevalues.
There'salotofstuffyouhavetobuyintoandIthinkthosefivethingsarewhatyou
talkaboutthemost,saidReamer.Youalwayshearthosewordscomingoutof

CoachSaban'smouth.Heemphasizesitaprettygoodbit.Theyallgohandinhand
witheverythingwedointhisprogram.
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