PHILADELPHIA– Nick Saban is retiring, according to ESPN.
Alabama’s Hall of Fame coach is stepping down at age 72 after winning seven national championships– six with the Tide and one at LSU. Saban informed his team of his decision Wednesday afternoon.
Saban will go down as arguably the greatest college football coach in modern era. He won 292 games, 71 losses and one tie in 23 years. He won 11 Southeast
championships and produced 49 NFL first round picks.
No one can blame him. We are living in a changing world in college football, where the NIL and transfer portal have become facts of life.
Brand name coaches may not want to deal with it. There is already speculation that Jim Harbaugh of Michigan may leave for the NFL, reports that Kirby Smart
will talk to the Atlanta Falcons and the Seattle Seahawks might look at Kaelen DeBoer of Washington.
The SEC, which has dominated college football this century, has won six of the first ten college football playoffs. And it should be become more competitive next year, too with the addition of Texas and Oklahoma.
There is little question Saban is competitive enough to meet the challenge next season. He did a brilliant job maxing out his talent after an early loss to Texas, coming on to defeat two-time defending national champion Georgia. in the SEC championship game, then leapfrogging Florida State for a spot in the four-team playoff. Saban had the lead on Michigan until the final moments before losing in overtime in the national semi-finals at the Rose Bowl. He liked this team. He showed he can still recruit and relate to his players.
Most observers felt this might happen if Saban won another title, he might ride off into the sunset.
But few thought this bombshell might explode like this.
Whoever replaces Saban has big shoes to fill and huge expectations. In some ways, it will be like replacing a legend like Wooden.
Names like Dan Lanning or Oregon, who was a GA on Saban’s staff, Steve Sarkisian of Texas, who was a popular assistant on his staff are already being mentioned.
It most likely will be a coach from a younger generation who can navigate a brave, new world.
Saban coached college football at Toledo, Michigan State and LSU and spent two unremarkable years with the NFL Dolphins. But it was his time at Alabama that cemented his legacy.
When Saban left the Dolphins for Tuscaloosa in 2006, Alabama hadn’t won a national championship. Saban won more games in 17 seasons at Alabama (201) than the Tide won in 24 seasons before Bear Bryant’s retirement and Saban’s hiring (171). He coached four Heisman Trophy winners and won six of his seven national titles in Titletown.
Alabama has won at least 16 straight seasons under Saban, the longest streak of any program in the AP poll era (since 1936). This despite playing 107 games against
AP-ranked teams during Saban’s tenure, 14 more than any other program. The Tide reached the College Football Playoff in eight of the seasons in the CFP era.
