Nick Saban is one of the few college coaches who makes his starters play special teams. After the way Alabama dominated FSU in the season opener, it's easy to understand why. (0:57)

Sometime this offseason, somewhere in a dimly lit room on Alabama's campus, an unknown football staffer likely burned up the pause and rewind buttons on the cowboy remote. Sizing up Florida State's punt blocking scheme over and over again on video, he saw it: the wide splits between linemen up front, the way three shield players -- set back from the line of scrimmage -- overloaded to the left side of the formation.

Upon further inspection, coach Nick Saban saw it, too: a weakness.

Leading up to the season opener, Saban told his special-teams unit to be ready for the specific alignment to present itself. "We knew we were coming after it," running back Damien Harris explained. "We practiced it all week." And sure enough, when Saturday came and No. 1-ranked Alabama faced No. 3 Florida State in Atlanta, the Seminoles stayed true to form.

On third down late in the third quarter, Harris and the punt team gathered around assistant coach Joe Pannunzio. After the defense held to bring up fourth down, Saban popped his head in the huddle. "Coach Saban was like, 'All right, let's go after it,'" Harris recalled. "He gave it a shot and it worked."

Damien Harris' block of a Florida State punt swung the game's momentum in Alabama's favor. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Harris lined up over the right guard and immediately split between him and the tackle. And because the shield players -- the last line of defense -- were overloaded to the left side, no one was able to slide to the right in time to stop the fleet-footed Harris, who laid out to block the punt. Dylan Moses, a former five-star recruit, recovered the fumble at the FSU 25-yard line, and Andy Pappanastos would later nail a chip-shot field goal to give the Tide a 13-7 lead.

On the very next play, Moses forced a fumble on the kickoff return and Keith Holcombe recovered. On first-and-10 from the 11-yard line, Harris rushed for a touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion pushed the lead to 14 points. The matchup of top-three teams was over in the blink of an eye, and it was all a testament to the methodical mind of Saban, who has been known to spend hours digging into the most remote and specific scenarios of games.

Saban, you see, isn't a hands-off type of coach. He's far from it. As a younger man, he once met with famed defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan and asked about the biggest difference between being a head coach and an assistant. Ryan, who never quite achieved the same success as a head coach, told him "I was always someone's best assistant" but "I was not my best assistant." When it came time for Saban to become a head coach, he decided to put his focus on defense and special teams. He'd be "bored to death" if he stood in a tower and watched practice from afar all day long, he said, so it's those two areas he spends the most time coaching.

Take the College Football Playoff National Championship in January 2016, for instance. When Alabama kicked off following a Derrick Henry touchdown run midway through the first quarter, Saban and his staff saw something in the way Clemson fielded the kick. The spacing was just right for a so-called pop kick. "OK, we've got that," Saban thought, and tucked it away in his back pocket. And when the fourth quarter came and Clemson had all the momentum, it was time to take what he called a "calculated risk," dialing up what would turn out to be a successful onside kick. Without it, it's likely that Saban wouldn't have won his fourth title at Alabama on that night.

"Special teams isn't a play off," Harris said. "We look to take advantage of that. We want to change the vertical field position. So the best guys are going to play. That's just kind of what [Saban's] motto is and how he goes about it."

Alabama Special Teams' Effect on Win Probability vs. FSU Before After Blocked FG 64% 71% Blocked punt 64% 82% Fumble rec. on kickoff 74% 89%

The fact that the best players participate on special teams makes the unit so lethal. After all, how many upperclassmen running backs with 1,000-yard seasons do you find playing on punt coverage? Harris does. Henry, who won the Heisman, did too. Even AJ McCarron, who might be the most decorated quarterback in school history, was the holder on field goal kicks his entire career.

Just take a look at a sampling of Alabama players who have blocked punts or field goals the last three seasons: Harris, Minkah Fitzpatrick, A'Shawn Robinson, Ronnie Harrison, Jonathan Allen, Kenyan Drake. All are either in the NFL or about to be.

Part of the reason for so many star players on special teams is self-interest, of course. Saban will correctly point out that as a rookie in the NFL, chances are you won't start or be a top reserve. So the best way to add value early is to be capable of contributing on special teams, where very few starters play at that level.

But the other draw is simply an attitude that has been instilled in the program. Harris said it's a point of pride that every Alabama running back since 2007, including Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson, has contributed on special teams.

"I think it's a tribute to how hard we work and that hunger we have to win and just make plays any way we can," Harris said. "Coach Saban always talks about how everybody has a role -- offensive, defense, special teams, and sometimes it might even be both. So guys are just willing to do anything, sell out, do anything to make a play."

Said starting middle linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton: "If you're one of the best players on the team or a leader, why not be on the field?"

Hearing a senior like Hamilton say that has to be music to Saban's ears. Because if Saban can find that edge -- if he can see a weakness in the too-often-forgotten field of special teams -- he has the best available weapons capable of exploiting it.

In football lingo, special teams is often referred to as the land of "hidden yardage." But when it comes to Saban and Alabama, there's nothing hidden about it.