(CNN) -- Back in 2005, when he stopped studying third down tendencies long enough to work on a motivational self-help book, Nick Saban kept hammering on one phrase.





The book's title was "How Good Do You Want to Be? A Champion's Tips on How to Lead and Succeed at Work and in Life."





The phrase the University of Alabama's football coach was stuck on was mercifully shorter.





"Eliminate the clutter."





The clutter is you. The clutter is me. The clutter is this story, another horn in the vast media brass section trumpeting a college football game taking on Homeric proportions.





"It's everything out there that can take away from your focus," said Saban's co-writer, Brian Curtis.





This week Saban -- called "the most powerful coach in sports" by Forbes magazine in 2008 -- is up to his furrowed brow in clutter. His No. 2 Crimson Tide plays No. 1 Louisiana State Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in the most anticipated college football game in years. Both teams are undefeated, and it's the first ever SEC regular season game matching the country's two top teams.





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Saban, who just turned 60, is not exactly a willing contributor to the ruckus that surrounds big-time college football.





When his own players doused him with the traditional Gatorade victory shower after Alabama won the BCS Championship Game in January, 2010, he looked genuinely irked by the display.





Saban's no-nonsense nature -- he and a statue of him outside Alabama's football stadium are tied for number of memorable one-liners -- perfectly equips him for a moment like Saturday night.





"It's fun to play in games like this," Saban said this week. And then he broke out the wet blanket. "But I also think it's important to be able to stay focused on what you need to do to play well. You can't drain yourself emotionally because of all the things that are happening surrounding the game."





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The Saban method certainly has paid off. His overall college coaching record is 137-53-1, a .717 winning percentage. He has won as many national titles (two) as all-time major college wins leader Joe Paterno. But Saban is the only coach to win a BCS championship with two different programs.





It is a testament to both Saban's coaching genius and his tumbleweed past that his DNA is on both programs involved in Saturday's showdown. Here's how he got there:





The son of a West Virginia gas station owner, he began coaching as a grad assistant at alma mater Kent State in 1973. Over a lengthy career, he has been employed by nine different college programs, and three more NFL franchises.





Following four years as head coach at Michigan State, Saban was brought to Baton Rouge in 2000 after LSU had gone 7-15 the previous two seasons.





Within four years, Saban delivered a national title.





His professional travelogue didn't end there. Saban left to test himself as an NFL head coach with the Miami Dolphins in 2005. Two seasons there produced a 15-17 record, and then Saban was seduced by a once proud southern belle who had fallen into disrepute.





"I'm not going to be the Alabama coach," Saban infamously declared on December 21, 2006.





On January 4, 2007, he was introduced as the Crimson Tide's next coach.





He was apologizing for that one three years later in a Sporting News interview. Sort of. "I apologize for any professional mishandling that might have occurred," he said.





But there is a reason Alabama ponied up $4 million a year for Saban (university President Robert Witt makes a reported base of $490,000 a year). He is one rainmaker of a coach.





While perhaps not always so dedicated to the truth about his comings and goings,
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