Nick Saban’s coaching reign has come to an finish. His dominance over faculty soccer, nonetheless, will ceaselessly linger within the lore of the game.
Saban, who gained seven national championships — greater than another main faculty soccer coach — and turned Alabama again right into a nationwide powerhouse with six of these titles in simply 17 seasons, is retiring, in keeping with a number of retailers.
The 72-year-old Saban restored a Crimson Tide program as soon as dominated by Paul “Bear” Bryant to the highest of school soccer after taking on in 2007. His determination to step away was reported Wednesday, first by ESPN after which by different retailers, ending a profession that has produced quite a few titles and helped launch or relaunch the top teaching careers of Georgia’s Kirby Smith, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian and Mississippi’s Lane Kiffin.
He completed just shy of the top in his ultimate season, main the Tide from a shaky begin to a Southeastern Conference championship and again into the College Football Playoff earlier than falling in time beyond regulation to Michigan in a semifinal sport on the Rose Bowl.
Saban led the Tide to 9 Southeastern Conference championships and gained his first nationwide title at Alabama with a 14-0 season in 2009. Titles got here once more in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. He additionally gained the SEC with LSU in 2001 and 2003.
Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrates with the trophy after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish within the 2013 Discover BCS National Championship sport at Sun Life Stadium on January 7, 2013, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Colorado coach Deion Sanders, who has appeared with Saban in a sequence of commercials, had a robust response to each the Alabama coach’s retirement and the state of school soccer.
“WOW! College Football just lost the GOAT to retirement,” Sanders posted on X. “WOW! I knew it would happen 1 day soon but not this soon. The game has change so much that it chased the GOAT away. College football let’s hold up our mirrors and say HONESTLY what u see.”
Saban made a two-year foray into the NFL with the Miami Dolphins earlier than returning to school soccer to revive one among faculty soccer’s most storied packages, which hadn’t gained a nationwide title in 15 years. Saban is 297-71-1 as a school head coach, with stops at Toledo, Michigan State and LSU, the place he additionally gained a nationwide title. But Alabama is the place he cemented his standing as one among faculty soccer’s biggest coaches.
Saban coached Alabama’s first 4 Heisman Trophy winners and churned out quite a few NFL gamers, going 206-29, a profitable clip of 87.7%. His groups produced 44 first-round draft picks, together with final yr’s No. 1 quarterback Bryce Young.
During that span, he additionally tailored to the altering instances of up-tempo offenses, churning out high-scoring groups after profitable with a few of the nation’s greatest defenses, together with the brand new NIL and switch guidelines.
Head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide is doused with Gatorade after defeating the Louisiana State University Tigers within the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 9, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
He led Toledo to a Mid-American Conference championship in 1990, his lone season as that program’s head coach. Saban labored as Bill Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns for 4 seasons earlier than changing into the primary Michigan State coach to steer his first three groups to bowl video games after which taking LSU to the 2003 nationwide title.
His newest crew handled loads of adversity early on, together with a loss to Texas, however rebounded with the emergence of quarterback Jalen Milroe to upset then-No. 1 Georgia within the SEC championship sport.
Saban didn’t sound like a coach trying to surrender the job any time quickly after the sport. But it wasn’t a foul technique to go, even with out the title.
“This is one of the most amazing seasons in Alabama football history in terms of where this team came from, what they were able to accomplish and what they were able to do, winning the SEC championship, and really, really proud of this group,” he stated.
“I just wish that I could have done more as a coach to help them be successful and help them finish, and all we can do now is learn from the lessons that sometimes failings bring to us.”
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