BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - This was the same banquet room of the Harbert Center where third-year Alabama coach Anthony Grant speaks each season, but this was a different time and audience.

This is fall, not winter. Basketball practice still is nine days away. This was the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, not the Birmingham Tip Off Club.

This was a group of businessmen more than boosters, and Grant - who is all business all the time - spoke more about team building, motivation and culture than he spoke about power forwards, perimeter shoot and full-court presses.

To be victorious, he spelled out a need to understand five V's for success: values, vision, virtues, vehicles and vices.

Values are the core, established by the leader.

"We all understand the importance of talent. ... But talent without character, without work ethic, without the core values you need, it's really hard to be successful," Grant said.

"Talent is really important, but talent is never enough. You can be extremely talented, but if you're not willing to do the things that don't require talent, you can't be successful.

"But on the other hand, if you lack talent but you do the things that don't require talent, you can be successful. ... A simple thing like being on time, being a good teammate, those type of things that really require no talent ... to me, that's the difference."

Vision means identifying what an organization is trying to accomplish, Grant said.

"We want to build not necessarily a team, but a program," Grant said. "You can't have a championship-caliber program without championship-caliber people."

His vision is to win championships but also develop champions.

Virtues is another word for strengths.

One of Grant's virtues is teaching. He started coaching as an assistant at Miami Senior High School, his alma mater, where he also found fulfilling work as a math teacher.

"I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with young people," he said. "I enjoyed giving back to the kids where I'm from. At the end of the day, I'm a teacher. Teaching to me is the same as coaching. Coaching is the ability to inspire learning."

A good coach understands the strengths of his players, Grant said.

"All they want is for you to put them in positions where they can be successful," he said.

Vehicles are the plan for getting where one wants to go.

Grant's teams get there with a demanding style of basketball.

"The way we want to run our offense and defense takes a great amount of sacrifice and commitment," he said, "but it's a way players enjoy playing and fans enjoy watching."

Vices is another word for adversity.

Grant said adversity must be anticipated, and people must focus on controlling the things they can control.

He went on to talk about three types of buy-in: to the coach, to individual roles and to a cause.

"At the end of the day, the ultimate competitive advantage is teamwork, not talent," Grant said. "It's coming together for a common goal."