Alabama football just added to its stacked cast of offseason speakers. On Friday, former NBA head coach Doc Rivers spoke to the Crimson Tide.
Rivers spent 14 seasons as a player in the NBA, averaging 10.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per outing. However, Rivers truly made his name from the sideline, not in-between the lines. Doc Rivers has coached for the Orlando Magic, the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers. Rivers’ lone title came in 2008 with the Celtics.
Rivers is only the latest of Alabama’s long tradition of team speakers. Earlier this week, head coach Nick Saban brought in former NFL offensive lineman-turned-motivational speaker C.L. “Shep” Shepherd.
Earlier this offseason, Saban also brought in the MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose. The name isn’t even the largest Saban has convinced to speak to his team. Over the years, Crimson Tide players have heard from Ray Lewis, Kobe Bryant and Michael Phelps.
“We try to get the best speakers that we possibly can that address issues that we’re facing in college football,” Saban said during a press conference at fall camp. “As well as people who can help create a mindset that’s going to help you be more consistent so that you can get the results that you want relative to the commitments that you make. So I think we have a really good blend of all those types of people.”
Alabama using the motivation
With the help of the occasional extra motivation, Saban has been happy with Alabama’s offseason progress.
“We’ve had a very good off-season with our team. Good off-season program. Good spring practice. Very good summer. The team is taking shape,” Saban said at SEC Media Days. “We are still evolving as a team. Lots of new players, some experienced players to go with some of the good, young players that we have in the program.
“New coaches evolving into the system, and trying to get the young players on our team to be able to develop in the system and so far the players are very enthusiastic and very committed to developing the talent that we have on our team.”
While Saban isn’t afraid to brag on his team, he isn’t making any bold predictions for the upcoming season.
“I’m not here to create expectations for our team. Lots of people will do that. But expectations in some way are a premeditated way to create disappointment,” Saban said. “You can look at it in your life and that’s why I say we need to say process-oriented, not focused on the outcome, but focused on the things that we need to do to get the outcome that we want.
“If you have high expectations for what you want to accomplish and it doesn’t work out, it makes you focus on the outcome and it doesn’t work out and you’re very disappointed,” Saban said. “We would rather stay focused on what we need to do to get the outcome to be the best we can be as a team at every position and with every player.”
