Source: Kevin C. Cox / Getty
University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban has finally called it quits without any warning leaving the sports world shocked.
The day most Alabama fans dreaded has finally arrived. At 4 p.m. on January 10, one tweet broke the news that head coach Nick Saban was riding off into the sunset. After the tweet went out most considered it a troll after all this happens every off-season.
Nick Saban is retiring, sources tell ESPN. He won six national titles at Alabama.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 10, 2024
Something Saban told me last month rings pretty loud now: “Fourteen-hour days are a lot harder at 72 than they were at 62 when you want to make sure you’re on top of everything, which is more difficult than ever now as a head coach with everything you have to manage …”
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) January 11, 2024
Unfortunately this time it was legit and Saban was riding off into the sunset citing health concerns. When you say health concerns everyone thinks the worst. However, according to ESPN, it’s just the grind of college football took a toll on the coach. He broke this down in his sit-down with ESPN discussing his decision.
“Last season was difficult for me from just a health standpoint, not necessarily having anything major wrong, but just being able to sustain and do things the way I want to do them, the way I’ve always done them,” Saban told Low. “It just got a little bit harder. So you have to decide, ‘OK, this is sort of inevitable when you get to my age.’”
In a move that surprised no one, Saban showed up to work today at 8 a.m. with longtime Bama staffer Cedric by his side. A preview of what’s to come in the months at the University.
“I want to be there for the players, for the coaches, anything I can do to support them during this transition.”
“There are a lot of things to clean up, to help as we move forward. I’m still going to have a presence here at the university in some form and trying to figure out all that and how it works. This is a place that will never be too far away from Miss Terry’s and my hearts.”
Saban retired and still showed up to work the next day.
Does he not get how this works? pic.twitter.com/TnuvZeBjIn
— Nick Perkins (@NickyPerkss) January 11, 2024
Furthermore, Saban revealed to players he would still be around and is getting a new office above Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Great for the fans but might not be fun for the players and staff.
“I wanted them to know how much they meant to me,” said Saban, who won six national championships at Alabama and another one at LSU. “It was hard, all of it was. The last few days have been hard. But look, it’s kind of like I told the players. I was going to go in there and ask them to get 100 percent committed to coming back and trying to win a championship, but I’ve always said that I didn’t want to ride the program down, and I felt whether it was recruiting or hiring coaches, now that we have people leaving, the same old issue always sort of came up — how long are you going to do this for?”
Rece Davis reports that Nick Saban said he will be given an office above Bryant-Denny Stadium.
He told players, “I can get on your ass from there just as easy as I can get on your ass from here.”
— Sidelines – Bama (@SSN_Alabama) January 11, 2024
If you listen to Saban’s interview with ESPN it sounds like he is about to have a huge role in college sports. With NIL changing the game in ways many didn’t imagine someone has to oversee it. Who else better than the greatest football coach of all time?
You can watch his full interview below and click the next page to see some tributes to Goat Saban.
When you’re the winningest coach in all of College Football of course you’ve impacted more lives than you even remember. So when the news hit of Nick Saban’s retirement the tributes came rolling in. Let’s take a look at those tributes to the greatest coach of all time.
Thanks Coach Saban. The Crimson Tide will never be quite the same. All the best to you and Terry.
— Condoleezza Rice (@CondoleezzaRice) January 11, 2024
seeing him sit front and center setting the example for his entire squad. The bottom line is Nick Saban made me better, he made hundreds of young men better, and he made college football better. That’s all I have to say about his retirement…SO QUIT ASKIN!! pic.twitter.com/sBxtc7ov3e
— Maria Taylor (@MariaTaylor) January 10, 2024
Nick Saban will go down as one of the best in college football, and in Alabama, in our culture, that means something. He and Terry are also tremendous Alabamians who have given so much to the Tuscaloosa community and our entire state. For you, Coach, I’ll say: Roll Tide!
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) January 11, 2024
Tuscaloosa Mayor @WaltMaddox shares a Nick Saban story from the aftermath of the deadly 2011 tornado that you’ve probably never heard before. pic.twitter.com/JcjlJcrYiK
— Ryan Phillips (@JournoRyan) January 11, 2024
Nick Saban was a huge reason I ever made anything of myself professionally
Saved this story for this day pic.twitter.com/v8K8NDU6sa
— Josh Pate (@LateKickJosh) January 11, 2024
Here’s a little known story about Nick Saban I found while researching him: pic.twitter.com/l1TiPlAU6S
— Polina M. Pompliano (@polina_marinova) January 11, 2024
Terrion Arnold shares a few of his favorite Nick Saban stories hours after the announcement of Coach Saban’s retirement. @ArnoldTerrion @AlabamaFTBL pic.twitter.com/r151DrdUPE
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 11, 2024
