Nick Saban’s retirement: Read Fortune’s 2012 profile of college football coaching great

Already a champion as coach of Michigan State, his Alabama sides won six more, including back-to-back victories in 2011 and 2012. That year, Fortune Executive Editor Brian O’Keefe sat down with Saban to learn the secrets of the process that made him such a modern titan of the game—and an example to leaders of any organization.

Here are some highlights of Fortune’s expansive profile. You can read the full piece here.

Efficiency to the smallest details—even lunch

Being detail-oriented helps Saban maximize his productivity, he told Fortune:

If you want to figure out what makes Nick Saban tick, start with the little things.

As he sits down at a small table in his expansive wood-paneled corner office, the coach grabs what looks like a garage-door opener and presses the button. Across the room, the door to his office softly whooshes shut. Boom! Nick Saban just saved three seconds. Multiply that enough times and you have a couple of extra months, or years, to recruit more high school stars.

Then there’s lunch itself. He has it down to a science — another in a series of small efficiency measures. Every day, Saban sits at this very table and works through his lunch hour while eating the same exact meal: a salad of iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes topped with turkey slices and fat-free honey Dijon dressing. No time wasted studying a menu.

Saban runs his schedule — and his entire program — with similar efficiency. Nothing is trivial or unimportant.

Admired by Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick admired Saban enough to copy his…