Sources: Nick Saban, coach of Alabama, is retiring following a storied career.
According to sources who spoke with ESPN’s Chris Low on Wednesday, Nick Saban, one of college football’s all-time great coaches who won seven national championships and transformed Alabama into a national powerhouse with six of those victories, has informed the Crimson Tide that he is retiring.
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. His 201 victories in 17 seasons tied him with Georgia’s Vince Dooley for the second-most victories at one institution in SEC history, only surpassed by Alabama’s 25-year veteran Bear Bryant’s 232 victories.
Alabama to dynastic heights under Bryant, taking home six national crowns and 13 SEC championships. With nine conference titles and six more national titles, Saban brought the Crimson Tide back to those pinnacles.
Saban never had a losing season in his 28 years as a college head coach, a record that featured seven national championships, 12 conference titles (11 SEC, 1 MAC), and 19 bowl game victories. His two poorest seasons at Michigan State (finishing.500) came in 1996 and 1998.After spending two years in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, he went back to college football to bring back one of the most illustrious schools in the sport, which had not won a national championship in fifteen years. In his 17 seasons at Alabama, he won more games (201) than the Crimson Tide did in the 24 seasons that elapsed between Bryant’s retirement and Saban’s 2007 hire (171).
With a 292-71-1 record as a collegiate head coach, Nick Saban is ranked sixth all-time in the FBS in terms of wins and 12th overall in the history of NCAA college football, regardless of division. In his one season at Toledo, he won the Mid-American Conference championship in 1990. After serving for four seasons as defensive coordinator for NFL champion Bill Belichick’s Cleveland Browns, he became the first Michigan State coach to guide his first three teams to bowl games, and he later led LSU to the 2003 national championship.
But it was at Alabama that he truly established himself as one of the all-time great college football coaches.
Under Nick Saban, Alabama has won 16 straight seasons with at least 10 games won, the longest stretch 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.
During the BCS/CFP era, he was the only head coach to lead the Crimson Tide to consecutive seasons of national title success in both 2009 (14-0) and 2020 (13-0).
head coach with multiple undefeated national championship seasons during the BCS/CFP era (since 1998). Since 1998, he has won seven BCS/CFP national championships, more than any other head coach. Next with three (Florida, Ohio State) is Urban Meyer, followed by two apiece from Dabo Swinney of Clemson and Kirby Smart of Georgia.
Even though Saban only played in the NFL for two seasons, he has continued to develop NFL talent ever since 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 era. Of all coaches in the Common Draft period, Nick Saban has had the most first-round selections (49), with 44 of those players coming from Alabama.
In addition, he coached Alabama’s first four Heisman Trophy winners and was a formidable recruiter. Though he didn’t take over at Alabama until 2007, Nick Saban had eight of the 18 No. 1 overall classes during the ESPN 300 Era (since 2006). No coach has had more No. 1 recruiting classes than Saban. More than three No. 1 classes are held by no other head coach.
In addition, he coached Alabama’s first four Heisman Trophy winners and was a formidable recruiter. Though he didn’t take over at Alabama until 2007, Nick Saban had eight of the 18 No. 1 overall classes during the ESPN 300 Era (since 2006). No coach has had more No. 1 recruiting classes than Saban. More than three No. 1 classes are held by no other head coach.
As illustrious as Saban’s coaching background is his coaching tree, which he used to begin or revive the head coaching careers of Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin and Smart, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian. Among the other well-known coaches on Saban’s coaching staffs were Mike Locksley (head coach at Maryland), Dan Lanning (head coach at Oregon, where he served as Saban’s graduate assistant), Mario Cristobal (head coach at Miami), and Brent Key (head coach at Georgia Tech).
Eight of the ten seasons in the CFP history saw the Crimson Tide make it to the College Football Playoffs under head coach Nick Saban. In his final season, he came up just short of the top spot, steering the Tide from a rough start to an upset of then-No. 1 Georgia in the SEC title game and back into the College Football Playoffs before losing to Michigan in overtime in the Rose Bowl semifinal round.
In November, Saban told ESPN, “I’ve always said that if you’re thinking about retirement, you’re probably already retired, and I’m not there yet.” This didn’t sound like a coach wanting to leave the position any time soon.
Following Saban’s retirement, Mark Stoops of Kentucky is the SEC head coach with the longest tenure (2013).
next the news of Saban’s retirement, Alabama’s chances of winning the national championship the next season were revised from 6-1 to 8-1 at ESPN BET. The Crimson Tide, after Georgia and Ohio State, have the third-shortest odds.
The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information both contributed to this story.
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