January 10, 2024 must have been an ordinary day for most people, but it was a special day for football.
Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, and Pete Carroll – legendary coaches – all left their long-held positions, within a 24 hour span.
Per the ESPN article (link in comment), the three coaches’ careers have been intertwined in interesting ways:
“Saban succeeded Pete Carroll as the Ohio State secondary coach in 1980; when Belichick was head coach in Cleveland, he worked with Saban from 1991 to 1994; and Belichick replaced Carroll as the Patriots’ head coach in 2000, decades before all three vacated their long-standing jobs this week in a 24-hour period.”
“Belichick helped lead the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl titles; Saban led Alabama to nine SEC titles and six national championships.” (What a remarkable coincidence)
My quick takeaways:
- In the top echelon, it’s sometimes a very small circle
- A small circle competing fiercely amongst themselves for excellence could sometimes lead to all of them becoming world class players
- Football, or sports in general, is often one of the best sources of business and life lessons