Alabama's Nick Saban Retiring As One Of Greatest Coaches Ever

Alabama football coach Nick Saban has coached his last game.

ESPN's Chris Low, who is Saban's closest friend in the media, reported Wednesday afternoon that Saban will be retiring. OutKick sources later confirmed Saban, 72, will not coach next season and does not plan to ever again.

OutKick reported in September that Saban was likely to retire after the 2023 or 2024 season, according to an exclusive interview with a good friend of Saban's from back in his days as LSU's coach from 2000-04.

Saban released a statement later Wednesday night.

"The University of Alabama has been a very special place to (wife) Terry and me," Saban began. "We have enjoyed every minute of our 17 years being the head coach at Alabama as well as becoming a part of the Tuscaloosa community. It is not just about how many games we won and lost, but it's about the legacy and how we went about it."

Saban won 201 games at Alabama and lost only 29 for an .873 winning percentage.

"We always tried to do it the right way," Saban said. "The goal was always to help players create more value for their future - be the best player they could be and be more successful in life because they were part of the program. Hopefully, we have done that, and we will always consider Alabama our game."

In 28 years as a head coach at four colleges, Saban was never investigated by the NCAA for anything significant.

"Simply put, Nick Saban is one of the greatest coaches of all time, in any sport, and the University of Alabama is fortunate to have had him leading our football program for the past 17 seasons," Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne said. "Throughout his career as a head coach, his teams have won seven national championships, 11 conference championships and 312 games, and he's developed an NCAA-record 49 NFL first-round draft picks. And, most importantly, hundreds of college graduates. He is the consummate coach, mentor and leader. And his impact is felt far beyond the football field."

Nick Saban Leads All With Seven National Championships

Saban has won more national championships in college football than anyone in history with seven - one at LSU in the 2003 season and six at Alabama (2009, '11, '12, '15, '17 and '20). Saban also finished as national championship runner-up three times in the 2016, '18 and '21 seasons. He won his first national title at Alabama in just his third season in 2009.

Former Alabama coach Bear Bryant won six national championships with the Tide from 1961-79 after taking over in Tuscaloosa in 1958.

Alabama's 2023 team won its ninth Southeastern Conference title under Saban and still reached the College Football Playoff final four after a slow start. Saban brought his team back after a 34-24 loss to Texas on Sept. 9 and a lackluster, 17-3 win at South Florida a week later to finish 12-1 and reach the CFP at No. 4 in the nation. That last season is believed to be perhaps his greatest coaching job.

But the Crimson lost, 27-20, in overtime to eventual national champion Michigan on Jan. 1 in the CFP national semifinal at the Rose Bowl.

"Wow, college football just lost the GOAT to retirement," Colorado coach Deion Sanders tweeted on Wednesday.

Sanders and Saban became friends in recent years while doing the humorous Aflac commercials.

"He's the greatest college football coach of all time," ESPN's Rece Davis said Wednesday on the Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network and ESPN.

Many in the sports media world were surprised at the news, though. Earlier on Finebaum's show Wednesday, a guest from AL.com that covers the Crimson Tide extremely well did not see Saban retiring at this point. He spoke of how Saban recruited prospects in person more last December than previously, and that was likely not a man about to leave.

Actually, though, Saban was likely trying to leave Alabama well stocked with prospects.

Saban exits just before dramatic change in college football goes into effect with a new 12-team playoff set for 2024. He never liked the NCAA Transfer Portal that started in the 2021 season, though he was good at getting players from it. And he did not like how Name, Image & Likeness worked, though he did agree with the concept of playing players.

It was Saban's eighth appearance in the 10-year history of the CFP. Saban won 11 SEC championships in all with two at LSU.

As a college coach, he finishes eight wins short of 300 at 292-71-1. Saban was 201-29 at Alabama from 2007-23, 48-16 at LSU from 2000-04, 34-24-1 at Michigan State from 1995-99 and 9-2 at Toledo in 1990.

Saban left LSU one season after winning the national championship in 2003 to coach the NFL Miami Dolphins, where he was 9-7 and 6-10 before breaking a lucrative contract and returning to college football at Alabama.

Who Should Replace Saban? Lane Kiffin

Now, Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has to try to replace Nick Saban. And whoever that will have one of the most difficult coaching jobs in college football history - replacing the best ever.

Byrne should look no farther than 166 miles northeast of Alabama to Oxford, Mississippi, and Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. It was Kiffin who dramatically turned around Saban's offenses at Alabama from 2014-16 and helped him win one of his national titles in the 2015 season.

Kiffin, 48, has won big at Ole Miss, turning in the program's first 10-win regular season in 2021 and going 11-2 this past season. And he has head coaching experience with the Oakland Raiders in the NFL and at Tennessee, USC and Florida Atlantic. It wasn't all good at those stops, but his performance at Ole Miss makes him ready.

Kiffin could do extremely well at Alabama. But he will not win six national championships as Nick Saban did after arriving at age 56.

As for Saban's Seven national titles overall. No one will ever match that.