Alabama HC Nick Saban breaks down 5 choices from his wisdom book, one can use to seek greatness in life

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is possibly the greatest college football coach ever, so naturally he has several nuggets of wisdom to share about success.

He recently broke down various concepts that can be used to pursue greatness in life in his wisdom book. Saban specified five qualities required to be considered elite in whatever one does in life:

"If you're going to be excellent or elite, you got to do special things. You have to have special intensity, you have to have special focus, you have to have a special commitment and drive and passion. I like to do things at a high level and a high standard all the time. It doesn't matter what God-given ability that you have."

If there's anyone who knows about consistent success, it is Nick Saban. Under his tutelage, Alabama has won six national championships.

He has tutored four Heisman Trophy winners, the latest being the Carolina Panthers Bryce Young. Of the players he has coached, 44 have been picked in the first round of the NFL draft.

But even Saban has had his own regrets in his storied career, the foremost being leaving the LSU job to take up the Miami Dolphins job. He said:

"As it turns out, what I learned from that experience in hindsight was, it was a huge mistake to leave college football," Saban said. "And I know a lot of LSU fans think I left for whatever reasons, but I left because I wanted to be a pro coach, or thought I wanted to be a pro coach. We loved LSU. We worked hard to build the program. If there was one thing professionally that I would do over again, it would've been not to leave LSU."

Nick Saban's coaching tree

The Nick Saban coaching tree is one of college football's most interesting aspects. Over a career that has spanned decades, Saban has built up a wealth of knowledge and experience and passed it on to various staff members.

Several of the people who learned under him have gone on to become great successes in their own capacities as head coaches.

Perhaps the most prominent is Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs. He revitalized the program and won back-to-back national championships.

Jimbo Fisher was the first of Saban's assistants to win a national championship with Florida State in 2013.

Lane Kiffin left for the Ole Miss job after helping to sharpen Nick Saban's offense into the most lethal one in the country.

Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns won the Broyles Award for the country's best assistant during his time as Saban's offensive coordinator.