Former Alabama football star Dont’a Hightower recently said that his life is better for having head coaches Nick Saban & Bill Belichick guide his career.
Middle linebackers are like the quarterbacks of the defense: they have to be smart and manage the rest of the defenders on the field. Being a coach on the field, the MLB has to read the offensive formations and call out what the other defenders should prepare for when the ball is snapped. He is the eyes for his defensive coordinator, expressing his judgement about what he thinks he sees from the opposition.
In Dont’a Hightower’s case, those eyes are of a seasoned veteran Pro Bowler, with two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots and two national college championships with Alabama. It’s fair to say that Hightower’s judgement is pretty good, indeed.
Hightower has had two head coaches since playing college football, and he believes that they have been a great help to his success. And, much of it is because the two men, Saban and Belichick, are so similar.
Mark Inabinett of AL.com reported Hightower’s words when asked about having these two legendary coaches as his mentors: “I’m very lucky and blessed […] It’s worth it, but it’s been hell — and I’d be lying if I said anything different. Nick and Bill were obviously close friends when they coached together in Cleveland. It doesn’t surprise me how much success they have whenever you look at how much they live, breathe and die football. They’re literally the exact same.”
Hyperbole when stating that the two coaches are exactly the same, but Hightower’s judgement is correct about how Saban and Belichick prepare players for a game.
The two men coached four seasons together with the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1994. There, Saban was Belichick’s defensive coordinator during the time that Belichick was revolutionizing how an NFL football team was to be run. Much of Saban’s frustrations over working for previous head coaches and how they handled teams were quelled as he came on board with Belichick’s ideology.
That’s where the ‘hell’ comes into Hightower’s ‘blessing’. While both coaches distribute the message differently, the meaning to the message is the same: Do your job. That’s it. Focus on what is in front of you on every play. Emotion can be a distraction, so put it to the side. Football is a thinking-man’s game, as long as he’s physically fit for anything.
The readiness is all. No, this isn’t Hamlet, it’s football; however, the logic is the same. Saban and Belichick wanted fast, physical, smart football players on their teams. Hightower was one of them. In his mind, Hightower believes both men drilled hard work and mental toughness into his talented, football body, which is what gave him the success he now has in the NFL.
Next: Practice begins for Fresno State
Not bad having two of the greatest coaches in the game for your entire career, so far. Yet, no time to rest. The NFL season starts soon, and Hightower has to keep going, if Belichick has anything to say. It’s not like Saban’s going to have any sympathy for him either, as he did the same to Hightower those distant years ago for Alabama football.
*** Check out BamaHammer.com this weekend for a closer look at the relationship between Saban and Belichick during the Browns years to see how it has affected life in Alabama.