After spending 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, Nick Saban, one of college football’s all-time great coaches, won seven national championships, including six of those titles, and transformed Alabama back into a national powerhouse. On Wednesday, Saban announced his retirement.
“For Terry and me, the University of Alabama has been a very special place,” Saban stated in a statement. “We have cherished every second of our 17 years as Alabama’s head coaches and our integration into the Tuscaloosa community. It matters more than simply how many games we win and lose; it matters more about our legacy and method of operation. We always made an effort to do things correctly. Assisting players in adding more value for the future has always been the aim.
“Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home.”
After 17 seasons at Alabama, 72-year-old Nick Saban recently concluded his career there with a Rose Bowl defeat to eventual national champion Michigan. Bear Bryant, who won 232 games in his 25 seasons with Alabama, has the most wins at a single school in SEC history, with 201, tied with Vince Dooley (Georgia).
Alabama achieved dynastic heights under Bryant, taking home six national titles and 13 SEC championships. With nine conference titles and six more national titles, Saban brought the Crimson Tide back to those pinnacles.
Greg Byrne, athletic director of Alabama, stated, “Nick Saban is one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport.” He is the epitome of a leader, mentor, and coach, and his influence extends well beyond the football field. Even though his tenure as our coach is over, his influence will never fade. What a privilege it has been for us to watch one of the greatest to ever do it up close.
Sources told ESPN’s Chris Low that Saban insisted on informing his players of his retirement ahead of time, and he did so on Wednesday during a meeting at 5 p.m. ET. A regular team meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, but due to inclement weather, some players were unable to make it. As a result, the meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday. Saban returned to Tuscaloosa on Monday after spending the long weekend at their Florida home with his wife Terry.
For roughly fifteen minutes, Saban told the players and staff in the team room that he was retiring. Next he said that Byrne wished to speak with them. While Byrne was speaking, Saban left the room and spoke with his staff.
Almost everyone in the program was taken aback by Saban’s announcement and its timing. One hour before he announced his retirement to his players, he was conducting Zoom interviews with prospective assistant coaches. After deciding to retire, he had also conducted interviews with some candidates on Tuesday, and sources claim he didn’t want to go further in that direction.
During the meeting on Wednesday, Saban expressed his gratitude to his players for their support and assured them that he had given his choice careful consideration. However, he informed his players that the recruiting calendar was being extended, the transfer portal and tampering have changed in college football, and NIL is now being used as a front for bidding on transfers and high school players.
Low was informed by sources that Saban was becoming more and more irritated with “what college football had become.” The only thing that seems to matter these days, despite his emphasis on teamwork, player development, and winning in the NIL, is who can score the most points and land the biggest deal.”
Saban never had a losing season in his 28 years as a college head coach, a career that included seven national championships, 12 conference titles (11 SEC, 1 MAC), and 19 bowl game victories. His two worst seasons at Michigan State (finishing.500) came in 1996 and 1998.
He spent two years as an NFL player with the Miami Dolphins before coming back to college football to bring back a national championship to one of the school’s most illustrious programs that had not been won in fifteen years. In his seventeen seasons at Alabama, he won more games (201) than the Crimson Tide did in the twenty-four seasons that elapsed between Bryant’s retirement and Saban’s hiring (171).
With a 292-71-1 record as a college football coach, Nick Saban is ranked sixth all-time in the FBS in terms of wins and 12th overall in NCAA college football history, division-neutral. In 1990, his only year coaching Toledo, he guided the team to a MAC title. After serving for four seasons as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns under Bill Belichick, he was hired as the head coach of Michigan State, where he led his first three teams to bowl games and later led LSU to the 2003 national championship.
However, it was at Alabama that he solidified his reputation as one of the greatest college football coaches.
Following a 7-6 season in 2007, Alabama won 16 consecutive seasons with at least 10 games under head coach Nick Saban—the longest winning streak of any program in the AP poll era (since 1936). This is true even though, during Saban’s tenure, the program played 107 games against AP-ranked teams—14 more than any other program.
