GLENDALE, Ariz. The clock wound down on the fifth time this has happened, another in the growing and expected finality of exultation that has dangerously morphed into exhalation.That was Nick Saban on the sideline, doused in celebratory water and grabbing a towel from a sideline lacky to angrily wipe his face. When youve done it all and won it all, when youve set the bar and become the standard, the very least you could expect would be to get the damn thing right.MORE BAMA: | There were still 10 seconds left on Alabama 45, Clemson 40, and if weve learned anything about the world according to Nick, Vince Wilfork Jersey you dont win your fifth national title in 11 years by a suming anything.He hates those Gatorade baths, anyway, Terry Saban, Nicks forever bride says.But he loved this team, this moment in a coaching career that officially and unequivocally has left him with no equal, unlike any other.Ive never been more prouder of a group of guys in my life, Saban said.Because this Alabama team, unlike Sabans three national championship teams before them; unlike his 2003 LSU national championship team that started this run toward pa sing the unreachable in the eyes of all things Alabama, actually overachieved to make it happen. Right down to the seconds in the last game of the season.We didnt exactly make it easy on ourselves, said Alabama quarterback Jake Coker.They did it despite giving up the most points since the lo s to Ole Mi s in September that defined this season; despite giving up six sacks and getting outplayed everywhere on the field.CHAMPIONSHIP: They did it by taking advantage of three colo sal Clemson mistakes, three coverage busts that led to three touchdowns. They did it with an onside kick, a succe sful surprise in the third quarter that not only stalled Clemsons momentum, it gave Alabamas ga sed defense a chance to breathe again. that will go down as the ballsiest, brashest coaching decision in the history of Sabans Death Star career. You just dont make that kind of call in a national championship game.Especially when the guy Darius Anderson Jersey who caught the kick (freshman Marlon Humphrey) cant ever catch the thing in practice, and for the love of all things pigskin, mi sed it again in the pre-game walk-through.Went right through my hands, Humphrey said.But that scenario, everyone, is the how and why of winning big games. When youre not afraid to pull the trigger, not afraid to make the call and accept the consequences and more than anything, when you trust your players completely and the next thing you know, the ball floats into the waiting hands of a freshman to give a dog-tired team new life.Two plays later, with the game tied at 24, Coker hit tight end O.J. Howard on an inside screen another play where Clemson busted a coverage for a 51-yard touchdown and Alabama never trailed again.When I got to the sideline, Howard said, I told everyone to wake me up, because I didnt think it was real.Its all real. The 24-point fourth-quarter against a top 10 defense. Breaking Clemsons streak of 51 straight wins when leading in the fourth quarter.Using tempo, the very thing Saban complained about only three years ago Is this really what we want the game to be? he said then to take advantage of a flaw in the Clemson defense exposed by offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin.Kiffin noticed that Tytus Howard Jersey Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables waits until the last po sible moment to change defenses and get his unit into position. So Kiffin convinced Saban that tempo could lead to mismatches in the secondary by using bunch formations especially with the athletic and freakish Howard.Clemson couldnt adjust to the tempo, couldnt figure out the bunch formations, and Alabama made the Tigers pay time after time with busted coverages.MORE: | | Those four coverage busts including a perfectly thrown deep ball to ArDarius Stewart were so impactful, it turned Cokers truly average game (and thats being generous) into one that, on the stat sheet, looked spectacular (career-high 335 yards pa sing).At one point, during the first coverage bust, Kiffin had his hands raised in the air signaling touchdown before Howard caught the first of his two touchdown pa ses. We saw something we could use, Kiffin simply said.This is the same Kiffin who Houston Texans Hoodies Sweatshirts was hired two years ago by Saban when he was toxic after getting fired by USC. The same Kiffin who coddled and cajoled Coker all season, and found a way to keep him in the game Monday night despite getting constantly hara sed by the stout Clemson front four.He kept telling me, dont get lost in whats going on around you, Coker said. He kept saying stay in the moment.Because its always about now for these Saban teams. Players change, a sistant coaches change, but the Saban way never veers off course. It hasnt since that ugly 40-point lo s to Nebraska during his first season at Michigan State when he didnt think hed everwin another game.It hasnt through rebuilding a broken-down LSU program and winning it all in 2003, and hasnt since he returned to the college game in 2007 after two years in the NFL in the most demanding job of all.Saban is the best at what he does; hes better than all of those before him yep, including The Bear and all of his current peers, because no one reaches players and treats preparing and winning quite like he does.Everyone has a job, everyone will perform their job. Because if everyone doesnt, the whole becomes the fractured few and before you know it, the most talented team Saban has ever coached finishes the season with three lo ses.If you really want a turning point in when it all clicked for Saban at Alabama, look no further than the 2010 season. The foundation for the 2011-12 championships and this years title were built off the disappointment of a team with so many NFL players losing three games they shouldnt have.You want to know why Saban is the best there is in the history of the game? Because the bad stands out more than the good.Because the bad never lets you enjoy the good long enough to get lazy and sloppy and lose three games you shouldnt.I dont think anyone would say fun is a word used J.J. Watt Jersey around our program very much, Kiffin said. Youre not here to have fun. Youre here to win.MORE: Earlier this week during game preparation, the chain gang working the Alabama practice got the down marker wrong during a period of practice. Saban, to no ones surprise, went ballistic.Everyone gets it, doesnt matter who you are, says Alabama defensive end Tim Williams said. Hes a full-time competitor.It should come as no surprise then, that when this one was finally over, and after he was doused with water and had cameras shoved in his face for 30 minutes, Saban wa