Alabama is the standard in college football. They recruit better players than any other school, coach them better, and end up in the national championship hunt every year.

For a high school football player, the idea of playing at Alabama must be attractive.

They must know they’ll receive an incredible education from Nick Saban’s staff, they’ll get to see what a winning program looks like, and they’ll get to play against incredible competition in practice every day.

But that’s not the only way to the NFL.

Plenty of successful players come from schools besides Alabama, and don’t even necessarily come from one of the Power 5 Conferences.

Just looking at two of the best young players in the game right now, Carson Wentz and Khalil Mack went to North Dakota State and Buffalo – certainly both a long way from Alabama.

Yet it’s not uncommon for star players to come from smaller schools like this.

 

Jumping to the professional world, the idea of working for a market leader is similarly attractive.

There are certainly benefits. The well-established market leaders usually pay well, have a well-thought-out organizational structure, run their business effectively, and provide the opportunity to work with some of the best talents in the industry.

But, just like football players don’t have to play at Alabama to have a great NFL career, this isn’t the only route in the professional world.

Smaller competitors tend to have a much different feel than the front-runners. They don’t necessarily have the resources to handle ever task the way a large company would, so they have to improvise.

This means that ambitious employees have the chance to take on responsibilities and learning opportunities that they probably wouldn’t see in a more established company. They can pave their own path, and should the company grow as intended, they’ll be in a great position to move into a leadership role.

Smaller challengers instill a type of scrappiness and well-rounded business understanding that’s hard to get elsewhere. They have to do what it takes to get by, and that tends to wear off on their employees.

That’s not to say it’s bad to work for the champions. There are plenty of people who have happily spent their careers with huge, lasting corporations.

It’s just worth noting that there’s another path.

-Brandon