First-year Miami Dolphins coach Adam Gase has a history with Alabama coach Nick Saban.

Gase was an assistant of Saban’s at both Michigan State and LSU before leaving for the Detroit Lions in 2003.

Now, as Saban’s Alabama squad prepares for Monday night’s national championship game and Gase’s Dolphins prepare for an AFC wildcard playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon, a couple of players who have played for both Gase and Saban say they see some similarities between the coaches.

Former Alabama RB Kenyan Drake told AL.com he sees the impact working with Saban has had on Gase’s coaching style:

“You can see the influence in coach Gase’s philosophy,” Drake told the Miami Herald. “It’s refreshing to have the same mentality going from college to the pros. …

“They say to always focus on the process instead of the outcome. If you repeat the process, the outcome will come out right.”

OL Alexander Steen, another current Dolphin who played for the Crimson Tide in college, agreed with Drake’s assessment of the two coaches:

“Coach Saban is old-school, hard nose, straight business,” Steen said. “Coach Gase has that straight-forward business-type, but at times he will jump around and play with us more. I have been fortunate playing for both.”

Saban said he doesn’t keep up with the NFL much, but added that he’s wishing Gase and some of his other former assistants the best in the playoffs:

“I’m happy for the Dolphins to be in the playoffs,” Saban said. “I don’t necessarily follow the NFL. Sunday is a really big workday when you’re in college football. It’s the day after you played on Saturday. You’re grading the film. You’re starting to get ready for the next game. I don’t know that I’ve watched an NFL game all season long, so other than checking the scores on Monday for five minutes, I couldn’t tell you much about who’s doing what.

“I always like to kind of check on our players and some of our coaches. (Dallas Cowboys coach) Jason Garrett or somebody like that or people that have coached for you in the past. You like to see them do well. Adam was on our staff, so I’m happy to see him doing well.”

The Dolphins are in Pittsburgh for a game against the Steelers on Sunday afternoon. The AFC wildcard game kicks off at 1:05 p.m. Eastern time and can be seen on CBS.