The Nashville Predators are in the middle of hosting their development camp. New and familiar faces are hitting the ice, but there are activities other than hockey.

One thing the players got to do was hear from legendary football coach Nick Saban on July 1.

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“As we were preparing for development camp this year, we jointly acknowledged the desire to bring a guest speaker in to see our prospects,” Predators general manager Barry Trotz said. “And we’re pleased that one of the greatest coaches in all of sports was able to see the team today.”

Saban won seven national championships before he retired — six at Alabama and one at LSU. He became a Predators fan during their 2017 run to the Stanley Cup Final. Saban is also friends with former Gov. Bill Haslam, who is taking over as Predators majority owner in July.

“No one had any idea,” Brady Martin, the No. 5 overall draft pick, said of getting to hear Saban speak. “We had no idea he was coming. It was a bit of a surprise, but it was a very good one. I was dialed in, I don’t think I looked away once. He told us to be a sponge and soak everything in. Take everything in and enjoy every moment.”

“He knows the mental grind and physical grind,” defenseman Andrew Gibson said. “The talk he had with us was really awesome. Stay mentally tough. He said that talent isn’t talent without hard work. You can’t get there without working hard, the discipline and the sacrifices you make that people don’t see behind the scenes.”

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Saban impacted even those prospects who didn’t grow up following college football.

“Hockey is my sport so I didn’t watch too much football, but he’s a winner,” said defenseman Cameron Reid, whom the Predators picked at No. 21 in the draft. “To have him talk just about life in general, it was really, really cool. The biggest thing for me was adversity. To be the young guy coming in the league, you’re going to hit adversity, so I think the biggest thing was always pushing through. There’s things he said I can’t really explain, they just stuck with me as a feeling. “

Forward Aiden Fink said the talk gave him literal goosebumps.

“He’s a legend in college football and I’m a big college football fan,” Fink said. “Being able to hear him talk and give us lessons, it was awesome. The biggest thing I took away was that you have to fail to succeed. When I saw him, I just got the chills.”

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Trotz would like for Saban, now part of ESPN’s “College GameDay,” on football Saturdays, to talk with the Predators again.

“We would like to bring Coach back to our main training camp in the fall, but we understand his busy schedule at that time and are unsure if he will be able to join us then or not,” Trotz said. “He is welcome to join us for practice anytime that he’d like to attend.”

Alaina Morris is the summer sports intern for The Tennessean. Contact her at amorris@gannett.com or on X @alainammorris.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nick Saban visits Nashville Predators prospects development camp