College Football World In Shock As Alabama’s Legendary Coach Nick Saban Announces Retirement

The 72-year-old Alabama coach Nick Saban has made the decision to retire, capping one of the finest careers in college football history, the school said on Wednesday. The coach, who has won seven national titles, has spent the previous 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide before leaving the game.

College Football World In Shock As Alabama’s Legendary Coach Nick Saban Announces Retirement

In a team meeting on Wednesday, Saban gave the Tide the news of his decision, citing age and health concerns as the main causes for his resignation. In the 2023 College Football Playoff semifinal, Alabama lost to eventual national champion Michigan in overtime, 27-20, to finish their season.

“The University of Alabama has been a very special place to Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement. “We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it’s about the legacy and how we went about it. We always tried to do it the right way. The goal was always to help players create more value for their future, be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program.

“Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our home.”

Nick Saban, the head coach of Alabama and one of college football’s all-time greats, announced his resignation on Wednesday.

After taking over the Crimson Tide program in 2007, which was at its lowest point, Saban, 72, changed it into the most successful program of the twenty-first century and among the most successful in history in a matter of years.

During his career, Alabama had an incredible 201-29 record, winning six national titles, with 11 of those defeats occurring in Saban’s first four seasons. During that time, his teams have gone undefeated twice, lost no more than two games in a season (since 2008), and have been in the AP Top 10 each year.

Banana insisted on informing his players of his retirement ahead of time before it was made public, and he did so on Wednesday during a meeting at 5 p.m. ET, according to those who spoke with ESPN’s Chris Low. A normal team meeting was originally set for Tuesday, but due to weather delays, some players were unable to return in time, thus it was postponed for Wednesday. Saban returned to Tuscaloosa on Monday after spending the holiday weekend at their Florida home with his wife Terry.

For around 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. As Byrne was talking, Saban left the room and spoke with  his staff some more afterward.

For just about everybody in the program, the timing of Saban’s announcement was a surprise.

Aside from Bryant, Saban is the only coach to have won SEC Championships at two separate institutions. He is well-known for his strict coaching methods and furious yet confident demeanor. Saban has won 11 SEC championships, two at LSU (2001, 2003) and nine at Alabama (2009, 2012, 2014-16, 2018, 2020-21, 2023).

During the last 16 seasons of head coach Nick Saban’s tenure, Alabama won 10 or more games and was among the top 10 of the AP Top 25 every year. Since the beginning of the 2008 season, the Tide have been in the AP Top 25 for 260 straight weeks. Under head coach Nick Saban, the team has won 104 games against ranked opponents, which is a record.

His 292 wins — most among active coaches this past season — across a career that included stops leading Toledo (1990), Michigan State (1995-99), LSU (2000-04) and Alabama (2007-23) rank him as the 15th winningest coach in the game’s history.

During his tenure as head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Nick Saban guided four Heisman Trophy winners: Mark Ingram II (2009), Derrick Henry (2015), DeVonta Smith (2020), and Bryce Young (2021). He also set a record by coaching 49 first-round selections in the NFL Draft.

Alabama Under Nick Saban

FBS RANK
Wins 201* 1st
Win pct .874* 1st
Opp PPG 15.7 1st
PPG diff +22.0 1st
YPG diff +161 1st
*Does not include 5 vacated games in 2007
— ESPN Stats & Information

Even though Saban’s NFL career was cut short after just two seasons, he has continued to develop NFL talent after moving to Alabama. Three Crimson Tide players were chosen in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft, with Bryce Young becoming the team’s first overall selection (since 1967) in the common draft period. Over the common draft period, Saban has had the most players taken in the first round of any coach with 49, including 44 at Alabama.

In winning games on the field and in living rooms throughout the recruiting trail, Saban established the benchmark that all other programs in the sport strive to meet and sustained it. He accomplished this while nurturing the coaches who aspired to be like him and replenishing a squad that saw several starters leave for the NFL every year.

Saban once again became the highest-paid college football coach when he accepted a contract extension in August 2022 that would take him through February 2030 at a cost of around $94 million. Saban was prepared to respond when asked at the time if he would “still be here” for the duration of his contract renewal.

“Still alive?” he joked. “I sure plan to be here coaching.”

Greg Sankey, the commissioner of the SEC, believes Nick Saban isn’t done with college football yet.

“Knowing Nick? He’s not walking away from the game. He’s walking away from a role,” said Sankey, who was in Phoenix attending the NCAA convention when he heard the news about Saban’s retirement.

Director of athletics Greg Byrne of Alabama stated in a statement, “To put it simply, Nick Saban is one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport, and The University of Alabama is fortunate to have had him leading our football program for the past 17 seasons.” “Throughout his career as a head coach, his teams have won seven national championships, 11 conference championships and 312 games, and he’s developed an NCAA-record 49 NFL first-round draft picks and, most importantly, hundreds of college graduates. He is the consummate coach, mentor and leader, and his impact is felt far beyond the football field.”

 

 

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