"He would run through the wall" - 7X national champ Nick Saban details the changes that occurred in players' mindsets over the years

Former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban has been lauded for his insightful analysis on ESPN's "College GameDay," a role that he took on after retiring in January. Saban has become a fan favorite for his anecdotes about coaching through the years.

During his weekly appearance on the popular "Pat McAfee Show," the seven-time national championship-winning coach revealed how he adapted his coaching to different players' motivations over the years.

“I changed a lot through the years because the players actually changed in terms of what their commitment was, what their purpose was in terms of why were they going to college," Nick Saban said. "What were they trying to accomplish? You had to kind of adapt your program and the way you approached them.

“You had to make things ... when I first started coaching, if you told a guy to do something, he would run through the wall for you because you said to do it,” Saban said. “It‘s not like that anymore. You‘ve kind of got to show these guys where it’s going to benefit them.”

Nick Saban reveals how he was able to motivate his teams to win

Nick Saban is one of the modern coaching legends, with seven national championships accumulated over stints as coach of the LSU Tigers and the Crimson Tide.

During his weekly appearance on the "Pat McAfee Show," Saban revealed how he was able to continue to motivate his teams to keep winning despite being highly ranked throughout the season.

“You’re hearing, ‘You’re No. 1. You’re No. 1,’ but it doesn’t really mean anything, because it doesn’t matter to be No. 1 until you’re No. 1 at the end," Nick Saban said. "You have to keep focused on what you need to do to continue to improve, to play better. I always tried to get guys to play to a standard.

"In other words, I never talked about winning, I never talked about winning the SEC. I never talked about winning the national championship. I said, 'This is the standard that we want to play. If we can play to the standard, then we’ll beat the teams we’re supposed to beat, and we’ll put ourselves in a position to have a chance to play for a championship.’"

Every weekend, football fans are getting a firsthand peek behind the curtains of one of college football's only modern dynasties from the man who built it from the ground up.