Saban had a 2-1 record versus the Sooners, including some significant wins, but he will not be leading the Crimson Tide in Norman this autumn due to his retirement on Wednesday.
It appears that the GOAT will not be visiting Norman in 2019.
Naturally, the enduring joke in Sooner Nation is that Nick Saban opted to hang up his whistle after realizing Oklahoma will play Alabama this upcoming season.
According to several stories and ESPN’s Chris Low, Nick Saban abruptly announced his retirement on Wednesday, shocking the college football community.
When the Crimson Tide visits Norman on November 23, OU supporters were hoping to witness the Titan of Tuscaloosa at work.
However, it seemed that 72-year-old Saban didn’t want any part of it—not any part of Oklahoma, but also no part of Bama’s 18th season.
Six of Saban’s seven career national titles were earned at Alabama. In the Sugar Bowl of 2003, Saban led LSU to a 21-14 victory over Bob Stoops and the Sooners in the BCS Championship Game, earning him his first national championship.
With a 45-34 victory over Lincoln Riley and the Sooners in the Orange Bowl College Football Playoff in 2018, Nick Saban is 2-1 overall versus OU in his career.
His lone defeat to OU occurred on January 3, 2014, during the 2013 Sugar Bowl, which Stoops and the Sooners won 45–31.
Even though Saban and the Tide defeated Kyler Murray and Jason White, the Heisman Trophy winners from OU, Trevor Knight, an occasional backup, had a strong game.
By far the best game of Knight’s OU career, he threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns as the Sooners overcame a one-score deficit to win handily in the end.
The Tide weren’t especially motivated to play in a “consolation” bowl game in New Orleans, according to Saban, because they had just lost to Auburn in the famous “Kick Six” game, which ended their chances of winning a third consecutive national championship. However, the Sooners didn’t seem to care and handed the Tide their second straight loss.
Football underwent a transformation due to Saban’s continuous success, as coach slogans shifted to an unwavering commitment to “the process.” Every level of the game was influenced by that procedure and that success. You may hear it twenty or more times if you attend any coaching clinic.
In a manner, Saban’s historic run of titles also brought college football back to its historical origins, as more schools looked for defensive linemen with the kind of explosiveness that Saban had on hand rather than trying to copy his spread offense and fast-paced style.
In 2012, head coach Nick Saban said, “They’re snapping the ball as fast as you can go and you look out there and all your players are walking around, can’t even get lined up.” Guys are far more likely to get wounded at that point if they aren’t prepared to play.
Simply put, I believe there needs to be some equity when determining whether or not this is what football should be.
Naturally, Saban worked it out as he went on to win his second consecutive national championship that season, followed by three more in 2015, 2017 and 2020.
By the time his team faced Riley, the country’s most prolific scorer at the time, and Murray, the best player in America in 2018 (Bama ran out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter), Saban had grown weary of up-tempo spread attacks. By then, he had been the offensive coordinator for three seasons under Lane Kiffin. He had acclimated by then.
The third best thing about Saban, I think, was his adaptability.
Saban was an old-school coach who thrived on recruiting the best schoolboys in the country to Tuscaloosa. He was also open to change, as evidenced by his time as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator in Cleveland, his time as Michigan State’s head coach, his ability to finally bring back the roar at LSU, his willingness to take a chance with the Miami Dolphins, and his ability to build college football’s greatest dynasty at Alabama.
The coach’s wife, Miss Terry, whom he has made renowned by her first name, will soon retire.
And although that’s undoubtedly fantastic news for the GOAT and the Sabans, it makes Oklahoman fans a little unhappy.
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