It is always the biggest stage that produces the most memorable moments. The culmination of this year’s college football season took place last Monday, in the form of the College Football Playoff National Championship game. Nick Saban’s Alabama came from 13-0 down at halftime to defeat Georgia, thus emulating their professional state counterparts, the Atlanta Falcons. Yet that is not what is to be taken from this game. With this victory, coach Saban took his sixth national title – his fifth in the last nine years. He has equalled legendary Bama coach Paul ‘Bear’ Brynant’s tally, yet he took 13 fewer years to do it.

Saban’s achievements have left pundits and fans alike – not to mention rival coaches – desperately trying to find the key to his success. It would appear that the magic ingredient is single-mindedness in the pursuit of success. The beauty of his coaching style is its simplicity.

“Following the win over Georgia, legendary S&C coach Scott Cochran was reported to have destroyed last year’s second place trophy with a sledgehammer. Enough said really”

The hero of last week’s game, back-up quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, is a perfect example of Saban’s mentality. The freshman came off the bench to throw the title-winning 41-yard walk-off touchdown in overtime, seconds after being sacked for a 16-yard loss. The youngster out of Hawaii had started the evening sitting on the bench behind junior Jalen Hurts, who boasts a 25-2 record as the Crimson Tide’s signal caller. Hurts, however, could not find any rhythm leading the offence; his struggle prompted Saban to replace him at halftime with Bama 13 points in arrears. This was a bold move to say the least. Hurts is the current SEC Offensive Player of the Year, with career numbers of 6,500 yards and 61 touchdowns to his name, not to mention that this was his second year in a row guiding the Tide to the title game. Yet Saban had no hesitation in replacing him, illustrating his ruthlessly pragmatic approach to achieving success.  For a long period of time now, freshmen have been redshirted and rookies in the NFL have been benched, not afforded the opportunity to play due to age or lack of experience. Yet, Saban does not let these factors cloud his judgement. For him, the best man plays, regardless, leading to the fearless decision to put Tagovailoa in the game.

The other quality that makes Saban and Alabama unique is the depth at their disposal, which stems not only from his skills as a recruiter, but again from a certain clarity of thought in recognising what exactly he is looking for in a player. In the past Saban has stated that there is a reason there are classifications in boxing – you don’t put middleweights in with heavyweights – and Saban wants heavyweights at every position. He looks for the biggest, fastest, and strongest high school recruits, and as many of them as possible. Alabama physically dominates their opponents: “Roll Tide, Roll” is a rallying cry with context – the Tide steamroll opponents. This is particularly the case on the defensive side of the ball, and heavy recruiting means that every player on the roster is a physical specimen. Take defensive tackle Raekwon Davis who, at 6’7” and 306 pounds wouldn’t blend in anywhere; that is exactly what happens when he lines up next to his superhuman teammates. You only need to look at this season’s injury list as further proof of this top-quality depth. In game one, linebackers Terrel Lewis and Christian Miller went down. Then they lost Alabama native, senior and starting middle linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton to a knee injury vs LSU, before backup Mack Wilson went down with a foot injury. Safety Hootie Jones and OLB Anfernee Jennings followed their teammates into the treatment room as the season went on, compelling the Tide to rely on their depth to earn success. Saban knows precisely what he wants, and he has communicated that beautifully to his recruiters and scouts on the road.

Then, there is the culture and attitude that has been instilled in this programme. Winning begets winning, and no matter the personnel, this never changes in Tuscaloosa. Players and staff alike know that if everything is not given over to the cause, there will always be someone ready to step up and fill the void. There is never any question of Alabama’s effort, one never sees anything remotely resembling a lack of energy or hustle on their players’ highlights reels. All this has led to an insatiable desire to win. Following the win over Clemson, legendary strength and conditioning coach Scott Cochran was reported to have destroyed last year’s second place trophy with a sledgehammer. Enough said really.

What brings all of these elements together beautifully is Saban’s on-field football mind. His tactics, for the most part, are as simple as football tactics can in all earnest be. He is a master of identifying weakness in the opposition, and when he finds it, he throws everything he has at that one spot on the field. Last week’s victim was Georgia cornerback Malkom Parish who, at 5’10”, gave up 5 inches to the man he found himself covering frequently, 6’3” Devonta Smith. Like much of Saban’s philosophy it seems simple really, throw the ball to the bigger man, but it worked. Smith burned Parish to catch the game-winning score in overtime, cementing this generation of Alabama football’s, and Nick Saban’s, place in college football folklore. Under Saban, Alabama has become a dynasty in the truest sense of the word

This article originally stated that Alabama lost last year's national championship to Georgia. This has been corrected.