Posted by: Chris Vannini on January 9, 2013

It's a word being thrown a lot regarding Alabama: Dynasty.

Winning three national championships in four years, Alabama certainly is in the conversation as the latest dynasty of college football. But what does the coach think?

Nick Saban was asked on The Dan Patrick Show what he considers a dynasty and, expectedly, Saban was cautious with labels and was already looking ahead to next season.

"I don't really have a definition for it," he said. "I guess, if you look over the last five years, winning 61 games is pretty good for any program. Regardless of all that, the team I'm going to start coaching today or tomorrow or whatever day you want to say, they're 0-0, so we've got a lot of work to do, relative to the team that we have to coach next year.

"I think it's going to be pretty obvious that when you have that kind of success, everybody that you play, you're going to get their best game, because that's something they circle on their calendars as a game that can make (their) season. Players have to understand that. I think it's OK to appreciate what you've accomplished, because if you appreciate it, you understand what it takes to do it.

"If you revel in it, then you get lost, and you lose sight of where you're going and what you need to go to be successful. That's something we don't want people in our organization to do."

The Process never ends, but the 2012 season did. How did Saban sleep the night after winning the title?

"Not much, just a few hours," he sais. "But it's nice not to sleep when you're sort of wound up about enjoying an accomplishment rather than worrying about something."

You can listen to Saban's interview by clicking here.

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com