Hi Nie!

As much as it pains me to say it (I'm a Gator through and through, even when we don't have a coach or a winning r), Nick Saban—the former head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide—is almost universally regarded as the best college football head coach of all time. He was always in the running for a National Championship, and he consistently put together one of the most talented teams and coaching staffs year in and year out. In the college football playoff era, he won 3/6 of the national title games he played in—and he only missed the playoff twice (2019, 2022). He was also a strategic savant, almost always doing the right thing at the right time so his team has the best possible chance to win.

But even by his own high standards, Saban made an incredibly difficult and pivotal decision in the 2018 National Championship game: He benched his starting quarterback and brought in a backup for the second half of the most important game of the season.

It's hard to describe how crazy this was because it had never happened before.

Football coaches are notoriously stubborn. They learn a system that they like, and they hold onto that system at all costs. And this often gets them fired as they start losing games to newer coaches who have figured out how to beat their go-to system.

But Nick Saban isn't an ordinary coach. He's considered the best college football coach ever because he constantly evaluated the situation and found for opportunities to adjust.

In this game—the most important game of the season—he evaluated his game plan, said THIS ISN'T WORKING and switched to a completely different game plan at half time.

I call this "optionality"—maximizing the number of options available at any time, and having a plan to choose and execute the right option for a given situation.

This wasn't some sort of knee-jerk reaction to falling behind: They had practiced for this, and they ran a totally different offense with their backup quarterback in the second half.

AND IT WORKED! The Tide, came back and won the game!

Optionality begets optionality

What's even more remarkable is that Jalen Hurts, the quarterback who Nick Saban benched at half time in the National Championship game, patiently played the backup role for the entire next season. Then during the 2019 offseason, he transferred to Oklahoma, where he almost won a Heisman trophy, and now he's in the NFL where he has proven to be an excellent quarterback.

He exercised optionally too! When he went from starter to backup, he kept his eyes open for a better opportunity to improve and showcase his talent. And now he's playing in the NFL.

Optionality and your career

We can all learn a lot from Nick Saban's strategy in the 2018 National Championship, and even from Jalen Hurts' decision to transfer away from the best team in college football. If I had to sum it up in one sentence, I would say...

Always keep an eye out for new options and have a plan to take advantage of the best options when your current plan isn't working.

An easy way to increase your career optionality is learning a new skill—a programming language, software tool, or soft skill—so you're ready for an opportunity that might be available soon. A harder way is to earn an advanced degree (like an MBA) or certification.

The next-level version of this type of thinking is to look for new opportunities that offer potentially better outcomes even when your current plan is working. That's extremely difficult to do, but the very best coaches, innovators, and managers are adept at it.

This is a big shift in thinking, but it's worth it: Instead of just waiting for new opportunities to present themselves, you can proactively look for new options to take advantage of them.

That's how you improve the trajectory of your career.

Have a great week!

Josh