How 1998 Michigan State upset vs Ohio State was dawn of new Nick Saban

Former Alabama coach and current ESPN “College GameDay” analyst Nick Saban won seven national championships after leaving Michigan State football, however, he credits the Spartans for sparking his success.

Saban, speaking about his time with Michigan State from 1995-99, was reflecting on upsetting Ohio State in 1998, 26 years before the Spartans take on the Buckeyes on Saturday.

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“That 1998 game changed my whole coaching philosophy,” Saban said Saturday. “Because I thought we had no chance to win the game. Lee (Corso), no chance. So, I called the sports psychiatrist and said, ‘how do I approach the team?’ And he made me get to be a transformational leader in terms of making people focus on the process and not the outcome.

“That changed my whole coaching career.”

Saban has been consistent throughout his career of focusing on the process, which he has noted multiple times as an important aspect of his coaching philosophy over the year. One of college football’s most successful coaches ever won a national championship at LSU and won six at Alabama before retiring after the 2023 season.

The 72-year-old former coach said the unranked Spartans’ 28-24 upset win over then-No. 1 Ohio State completely changed him.

“That was the dawn of a new Nick,” Saban said.

Michigan State is hoping for the same magic from first-year coach Jonathan Smith on Saturday that it received from Saban in 1998, as the Spartans have only beat Ohio State twice in Columbus since then, also winning in 2011 and 2015. Ohio State has also won eight consecutive games against the Spartans dating back to 2015.

Saban finished his Michigan State tenure with a 34-24 record, ending the 1999 season with a 9-2 record and a win in the Citrus Bowl over Florida. The Spartans ended the year ranked No. 9 in the Coaches and AP Top 25 poll, which earned him a job at LSU for the next season.