Nick Saban, the football coach of Alabama, announces his resignation.
One of college football’s all-time great coaches, Nick Saban, won seven national titles after spending 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, using six of those titles to turn Alabama back into a national powerhouse. Earlier this week, Saban declared his retirement.
“The University of Alabama has been a very important place for Terry and me,” Saban said in a statement. “Our 17 years as Alabama’s head coaches and our assimilation into the Tuscaloosa community have been moments we have treasured. It matters more about our legacy and operational style than it does about how many games we win and lose. We always tried to do things the right way. The goal has always been to be the best player you can be, to help players generate more value for their future, and to help them thrive in life as a result of being a member of the program.
“We hope that we have been successful in doing so, and Alabama will always be our home.”
The 72-year-old Nick Saban just ended his tenure at Alabama after 17 seasons, losing to eventual national champion Michigan in the Rose Bowl. His 201 victories tied Vince Dooley of Georgia for the second-highest total at one school in SEC history; only Bear Bryant’s 232 victories over his 25 seasons at Alabama exceeded his total.
Under Bryant, Alabama rose to historic heights, winning 13 SEC titles and six national titles. Saban returned the Crimson Tide to those heights with nine conference crowns and six more national championships.
The athletic director of Alabama, Greg Byrne, declared that Nick Saban is among the greatest coaches in history, regardless of the sport. He is the perfect example of a coach, mentor, and leader, and his impact is seen long beyond the football field. His effect will endure long after his time as our coach ends. What an honor it has been for us to witness firsthand one of the finest do it ever.
Saban insisted on telling his players in advance of his retirement, and he did so on Wednesday during a meeting at 5 p.m. ET, according to sources who spoke with ESPN’s Chris Low. Tuesday was meant to be a regular team meeting, but some players were unable to attend because of the bad weather. The meeting was rescheduled for Wednesday as a result. After spending the holiday weekend at their Florida home with his wife, Terry, Saban returned to Tuscaloosa on Monday.
In the team room, Saban announced his retirement to the players and staff for around fifteen minutes. He continued by saying that Byrne wanted to talk to them. While Byrne was talking, Saban left the room and continued talking with his employees.
The timing and content of Saban’s statement surprised almost every participant in the program. He was interviewing potential assistant coaches on Zoom one hour before he made his team’s retirement official. He interviewed a few candidates on Tuesday after deciding to step down, but reportedly he didn’t want to pursue it further.
In the Wednesday meeting, Saban thanked his players for their encouragement and gave them his word that he had thought carefully about his decision. He told his teammates that the developments in college football, such as the tampering and usage of the transfer site, the recruiting calendar extension, and the use of NIL as a front for high school players and transfers, warranted his resignation.
Sources told Low that Saban was growing increasingly frustrated with “what college football has become.” Despite his emphasis on winning in the NIL, player development, and collaboration, it seems like the only thing that matters these days is who can score the most points and sign the biggest contract.
In his 28 years as a college head coach, Nick Saban has never had a losing season. His resume includes seven national championships, twelve conference crowns (eight SEC, one MAC), and nineteen bowl game triumphs. His two worst Michigan State seasons, where he finished at.500, occurred in 1996 and 1998.
He returned to college football to revive one of its most prestigious colleges, which had not won a national title in fifteen years, after playing two seasons with the Miami Dolphins in the NFL. He was the winner of more games (201) during his seventeen seasons at Alabama than the Crimson Tide were in the twenty-four seasons that passed between Bryant’s departure and Saban’s hiring (171).
Nick Saban is rated 12th overall in NCAA college football history, division-neutral, and sixth all-time in the FBS in terms of victories as a college football coach with a 292-71-1 record. His lone season as Toledo’s coach, 1990, saw the squad win the MAC championship. Following four seasons with the Cleveland Browns as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator, he was appointed head coach of Michigan State, where he guided his first three squads to bowl games before leading LSU to the 2003 national title.
But he really made his name as one of the greatest college football coaches of all time at Alabama.
Under head coach Nick Saban, Alabama won 16 straight seasons with at least 10 victories after finishing 7-6 in 2007. This is the longest winning streak of any team in the history of the AP poll (since 1936). This is true despite the fact that the squad played 107 games against AP-ranked teams—14 more than any other program—during Saban’s tenure.
He led the Crimson Tide to two consecutive undefeated national championship seasons in 2009 (14-0) and 2020 (13-0), making him the first head coach in the BCS/CFP era (since 1998) with two such seasons. More than any other head coach since 1998, he has won seven BCS/CFP national titles. Urban Meyer is next with three (Florida, Ohio State), followed by Dabo Swinney of Clemson and Urban Meyert of Georgia with two each.
