How Nick Saban, Thanksgiving helped Western Michigan prep for MAC title game

As he began to prepare for the MAC title game against Miami (OH), Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor decided to ask his first boss in college coaching for some guidance. 

Because, after all, Nick Saban has coached for a trophy or two in his day. 

Saban, the former head coach at LSU and Alabama — the latter being Taylor’s alma mater, where he worked as a GA for two seasons in 2007 and 2008 under Saban — won national titles and a rash of SEC crowns.

There’s maybe no living being in college football who has a longer track record of preparing teams for championship games, and then going and winning them. So entering his first time coaching a team in a conference title game as the head coach, Taylor knew just who to call (among a few others.)

“Their advice was ‘Be consistent,’” Taylor said of speaking to Saban, among other mentors. “And help your players really focus on the process each day. Stay where your feet are. Don’t worry about the outcome of the game. Don’t worry about the scoreboard. When you worry about each day and each play, the scoreboard takes care of itself. I think you see more of these games lost, teams beating themselves by trying to do too much, or trying to make a play in a big moment or the moment being too big.” 

Taylor and Western Michigan (8-4, 7-1 MAC) had a unique challenge in prepping for the MAC title game this Saturday at Ford Field against Miami (OH). The Broncos last played on Nov. 25, a 10-day layoff between games. And in between games came Thanksgiving and then, this week, National Signing Day. And until the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, the Broncos didn’t even know who the opponent would be. 

So with so much going on and such a long lead up to over analyze, overthink and get into their own heads, Taylor and his team made a conscious effort not to minimize the moment or the stakes, but to get lost in the process and preparation that has gotten them to this point in the first place. 

“These weeks, you’ve gotta say, ‘Woah,’ not ‘Go,’” Taylor said, referencing what one says to slow up a horse. “They know how much it means. They’re excited to play in this game. This is one of their goals and they are super excited.”

After beating Eastern Michigan last Tuesday, the Broncos had a title game bid locked up. It would be another three-plus days until the Broncos found out that Miami (OH) would be the title game opponent. 

So Taylor gave the team Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off to rest, get their legs back under them, and come back on Saturday with a one-day headstart on the Redhawks. 

And the decision to step back over the Thanksgiving holiday had two big benefits outside of the rest and relaxation. 

For one, Taylor and his staff set aside time late last week to get ahead of the curve on National Signing Day, finishing up last minute recruiting odds and ends so they could get to Wednesday seamlessly, and without disrupting the week of game prep. 

“We took a couple days there to carve out time recruiting to get ahead this week,” Taylor said Wednesday. “But one thing I’ll tell you that all the parents, student-athlete signees said as we FaceTimed them this morning, ‘Coach, good luck on Saturday but we’re coming to win more championships.’”

The pause for the holiday also saved the Broncos from “paralysis by analysis,” Taylor said.

Western Michigan knew after beating Eastern Michigan that the eventual title game opponent was going to be Miami (OH), Ohio, Toledo or Central Michigan, all teams the Broncos had already played (and beaten, in the case of the latter three.)

When there’s a game of tape to go back and watch and countless coaching decisions to revisit and relitigate, there’s a risk of getting lost in the sauce. Rather than getting lost in the weeds digging into Toledo’s run defense or Ohio’s 3rd down offense, especially when they might not even play them, the Broncos sat back for a few days and didn’t worry about the opponent until they knew who it would be. 

“I think that’s always a tricky, slippery slope as well, when you play somebody that you’ve already played,” Taylor said. “You try to over analyze what we did, what they did, what are they going to do. So you sometimes do too much. So I thought it was the exact right thing, what we needed. Our players were able to go home, truly take a break, able to celebrate the Eastern Michigan win, clinching a spot in the MAC championship game.”

And not focusing on the opponent, but themselves, is one of the biggest keys for Western Michigan this week. 

As Taylor described it, one could hear the echoes of Saban and his adherence to “the process” coming through in the messaging. 

“You have to play the game or play the play, not the occasion,” Taylor said. “And if you worry about, because it’s a championship game, what the consequences are for the outcome, ‘If we win, if we lose’ — none of that matters. What we have to do is focus on our job and really be disciplined, be dialed in to do that.” 

Center Raheem Anderson, who transferred to Western Michigan ahead of this season after spending four years at Michigan, winning three Big Ten titles and the 2023 national championship, knows what championship prep looks like.

The Broncos have a good recipe, he said. 

And, much like his head coach, Anderson preached the importance of being focused on assignments and plays, not the moment or the stakes. 

“I just learned, be in the moment and be the moment,” Anderson said. “No moment is bigger than another. It’s just another game. It’s obviously higher stakes, but as long as you do your job, then you’ll come out successful.”

Super senior safety Tate Hallock, who played high school football in the state but has never played at Ford Field, ultimately summed it up very simply, sharing a mindset the Broncos have been deploying for most of the second half of the season, ever since their lone MAC loss, to Miami (OH). 

“Just focus on 1-0 each day,” Hallock said.