Every year Alabama head coach Nick Saban will invite a series of guest speakers to address the football team. Speakers that Saban hopes will inspire the Crimson Tide to reach greatness on and off the field.

Safety Jordan Battle heaped praise on several of the speakers that have come through Tuscaloosa. This includes Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps and future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

But Battle has one favorite above them all.

“I’d have to say (C.L. Shephard),” said Battle to James Fletcher III of On3 Sports. “He just came the other night. He was talking about something called ‘good, better, best’ and he defined greatness as the dirty work in the dark. So he’s been my favorite so far.”

Shepherd, who played in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers), is an author and motivational speaker. He left the NFL to take a chaplain position with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Several programs have brought Shepherd in this offseason. Last week he spoke the Florida Gators football team.